DIY Oil burner tuneup/cleaning?

[MrEd]

Hi all.

Despite having my tarm up and running, I still need to keep my oil burner in working order - though I'll likely use less than 100 gallons of oil the whole year.

Besides changing the filter and cleaning out the chimney, is there anything else I need to do to keep in running cleanly? What else does the oil technician do when he does the annual tune-up? Mostly I am concerned about reliability - i.e. preventing it from shutting down and not restarting - because the only time it is going to need to run, is of course, when we are not here.

 

[lecomte38]

1. Open it up and brush and vacuum out the passages.
2. Replace fuel filter at the tank
3. Install a new nozzle and check the electrode adjustment

 

[WoodNotOil]

There is a little "eye" thing, not sure what it is really called, that determines if the burner has fired. My oil boiler is used so little that dust collects on the "eye" and it doesn't see the fire. It turns the burner off even if it is really going. I have to clean it with some alcohol every once and a while. Then everything works fine.

 

[pybyr]

google " boilerman.biz " and you'll find a guy in the trade who sells DVDs, marketed by system type and manufacturer, that walk you through the servicing techniques.

I bought a couple of his discs last fall and serviced my oil furnace myself, with good results. The discs will never win any Hollywood awards, but they're _full_ of good content, in terms of practical knowledge, suggestions, what to do, and what to avoid doing.

I'd invested in a Bacharach "wet kit" that I got new-old-stock in like new condition in good shape, and that instrumentation helps, but the fellow gives you spme pointers on how to be relatively likely to get things in proper pareneters without expensive instrumentation.

This is not an activity for anyone who isn't methodical and careful. It's not rocket science, but careless bull in a china shop approaches could yield a heat system that won't work, or a massive hazard.

 

[pybyr]

There is a little "eye" thing, not sure what it is really called, that determines if the burner has fired. My oil boiler is used so little that dust collects on the "eye" and it doesn't see the fire. It turns the burner off even if it is really going. I have to clean it with some alcohol every once and a while. Then everything works fine.

it's called the "cad cell" which is short for cadmium sulfide photocell.

sometimes the bracket they're on has been bent so that it is not looking straight at the fire, which can cause problems, or sometimes the cell (or the control that they are hooked to) just go flukey with age in ways that make them more susceptible than they should be to false shutdowns.

if I remember right, the cells are not expensive- you may want to try getting a new one and or making sure it is aimed to really look straight at the flame. or sometimes people are able to move them a little nearer to the flame.

I got into learning about oil burners because a year or so ago, I was hoping to convert my oil burner to run used cooking oil (some folks have done it); that project hit the wall because 'round these parts, there are already more people trying to use restaurant grease for fuel than there are people eating a steady diet of fried foods.