jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Thanks. Yes, I've heard that many times. Press the button once. I have it serviced every year, and I'm guessing they do what they're supposed to do because they spend a lot of time on it.

There is no filter. When the in-ground tank began leaking, they put the new tank in the garage. The fuel line runs up eight feet, through the crawl space/attic, and down into the boiler room. With a filter installed, they couldn't get it to run. Not ideal, I know. The alternative would be to cut a channel in the floor and run the line like that.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I have the switch on the wall to turn it off.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I'm subscribed!

Woodworm65 Loc: Lombard, IL

Not a very good idea, oil burners that require a reset often mean several things as follows:
1) If equipped with a fire eye the eye could be dirty and or possibly going bad.
2) The electrode that ignites the burner could be going bad.
2) Dirty atomizing nozzle.

All of the above can lead to the combustion chamber filling with oil and not firing and when it does fire it could lead to an explosion or a serious fire, my experience is a service tech for 44 years in the commercial industrial refrigeration and HVAC business so in conclusion repeatedly having to reset the burner is telling you there is a problem or the start of one.

stu352 Loc: MA/RI Border

Had that happen at my first house, shortly after the burner had been serviced. Middle of a cold night, of course. Pressing the reset wouldn't start the burner, so I lit my propane torch and stuck it in through an inspection port and hit reset. Started right up and warmed up the house. The service guy came the next day (different guy from before), and found the igniter contacts were incorrectly positioned, so sometimes there would be a spark, sometimes not.

My Mom had a similar issue back when I was still at home. The step up transformer for the igniter went intermittent. I still have that transformer, using it for a climbing arc. when it feels kike working, of course.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I understand. The last time it happened was during the previous winter, so it's not like a regular thing.

What exactly does that red button do?

alltoptom

I think I would hire him and Miss Molly!!😀🐶

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Jerry, I cut my teeth on servicing oil burners so perhaps this may help.

For YOUR safety, an oil burner (meaning an oil-fired furnace or boiler) must prove that it is actually burning otherwise it would continue to pump fuel oil until it empties the fuel tank.

The safety device is referred to as a "Stack Relay" which times out if it does not sense heat in the flue stack within a few moments of a "call for heat" which starts the burner motor that drives the combustion fan and turns the fuel pump. The ignition transformer sends a high voltage to the electrodes which spark at the gap between them igniting the fine mist of oil.

The stack relay has a "red reset button" on it. When it fails to sense heat, it trips that relay and it has to be manually reset which allows the system to "try again". DO NOT continue to press the reset if the heater does not fire for there will be an accumulation of oil in the combustion chamber. That will get exciting should it light off!

Now...Here's the trick. The stack relay operates by means of a spiral bi-metal element stuck into the flue pipe. When it heats, it expands and it is connected to a shaft that extends when hot and retacts when it cools. When the furnace sits idle for a period of time, the relay can get "out of sync" for the switch mechanism rides on that shaft which is "friction fit".

Look closely and you will see what looks like a metal lever. Take your finger and pull that lever toward you and slowly let it relax back. This will recalibrate the mechanism and everything will be right with the world.

You will pay a service technician handsomely for a few seconds of his time although hopefully, he will service the burner by changing the oil tank filter, setting the electrode gap, replacing the oil nozzle, and tuning the fuel to air ratio of the burner. That one thing alone will pay for itself for if the combustion ratio is not at its optimum you will not get the maximum heat efficiency from the oil burned. Also...having the correctly sized oil nozzle is a make-or-break deal too. Oil nozzles are listed by their flow rate in gallons per minute and the angle of spray, both of which must meet the design of the furnace the burner is connected to. Sadly, too many technicians replace the oil nozzle with ones that they happen to have handy rather than to match the specification of the furnace or boiler.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Oh, golly!

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Jerry, this is what your oil furnace or boiler stack relay looks like with the cover off. The reset sync lever is that "tab looking thing" at the top center of the picture. Pull it toward you and let it relax back into position and that will put the relay back into thermal neutral. Barring any other problems, this should allow the burner to fire again.

IF...the burner runs and there is no fire...then there is an ignition problem in which the electrode gap may be too wide or shorted out (the electrodes are like the car spark plug and they have porcelain insulators. If they get dirty the spark will ground out and it will not spark at the gap. No spark...no fire) or there is a problem with the ignition high-voltage transformer.

(Download)

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Thanks for that. I'll file it away. So far, it's been running fine.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Excellent!

TheShoe Loc: Lacey, WA

edrobinsonjr Loc: Boise, Idaho

Move all of the "stuff" blocking the entrance...

lhbpe Loc: North Carolina

I agree. Something is causing it to trip off.