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Photograph of a modern oil-fired heating boilerQ&A: Oil Burner Won't Run
Oil burner no-start diagnostic FAQs #3

  • POST a QUESTION or COMMENT about oil burner inspection, diagnosis, & repair, troubleshooting procedure, how to get the oil burner running again, best order of diagnostic steps.

Q&A on why an oil burner won't start or won't keep running: set #3.

These oil burners are used on heating boilers, furnaces, water heaters and some other heating appliances.

This article series escribes how to recognize common oil-fired heating appliance operating or safety defects, and how to save money on home heating costs

InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website.

Oil Burner Won't Run: Diagnostic Steps - what to check in what order

Oil burner schematic (C) Carson Dunlop AssociatesThis article series explains the inspection, diagnosis, & repair of oil burners used in heating appliances such as hot water boilers, steam boilers, & water heaters.

These questions about troubleshooting oil burners were posted originally at OIL BURNER WONT RUN - you definitely want to review the diagnostic suggestions given there.

If your heat is not working properly, and the problem does not seem to be the oil burner itself,

see NO HEAT - BOILER - hot water or steam heat

or see NO HEAT - FURNACE - forced warm air heat

On 2018-12-02 by (mod) - 4-5 attempts before the fan will start and then the boiler lights

So if by fan you mean the small squirrel cage blower inside the oil burner if that's not running then I wonder if the actual electric motor on a oil burner is going off on thermal overload or has a failing bearing.

Or if the motor runs but the fan doesn't spin then you probably have a bad coupling between the motor in the fan. In that case I would think that you also wouldn't be getting fuel to the burner.

On 2018-12-01 0 by Tel

Sorry, I should been clearer that it is an oil boiler

I have a firebird boiler which intermittently goes into lockout.

When I press reset I can hear whether the fan kicks in and after a lockout it may take 4-5 attempts before the fan will start and then the boiler lights.

I cannot find what make the difference on whether the fan starts or not. Sometimes it runs fine for a day, sometimes a hour or so. This can happen when the boiler is hot or cold so it is not to do with the thermostat. I have also checked the oil line which is fine. This only started 2 days ago, it has been fine before.

Any ideas on what may be causing the intermittent fan? Thanks

On 2018-11-28 by Bryan

Ok so here is my problem.
summer - A/C will come on but blower fan will not. I can and do manually turn on the blower and it runs all the time. When the desired temp is reached A/C will turn off but I have to leave the blower fan on all summer.

This just happened - thermostat was set to 21 and inside temp was 18. Went down and manually started the furnace and the flame came on, blower fan did not. Manually turned on blower fan and now heat is good.

Had to head to work so left blower on. Heading back in a bit to check things out.

In short everything is working ( good oil flow and fan works) however the automatic side of things in squirrelly.
Any advice?
thank you

On 2018-11-21 by (mod) - Beckett motor burner AFG on my oil furnace it doesn't suck out the oil from the tank

I can't diagnose the problem from the amount of information that I have in your note.

Some things to check would be

replacing the filter cartridge

and the strainer screen inside the fuel unit,

checking that the coupling between the driver motor and the fuel unit is working correctly,

and checking the oil flows from the line out of the tank just ahead of the oil filter.

Check that the motor runs of course

Check that the coupling between motor and fuel unit (oil pump) is working and not slipping

If the drive shaft on the fuel unit won't spin by hand it's shot.

On 2018-11-21 02:46:07.034570 by Gabe

The Beckett motor burner AFG on my oil furnace it doesn't suck out the oil from the tank. It is a bad motor? Or what I need to check and how to check. Any comments appreciated because we don't have heater in this winter time all because of that problem thanks

On 2018-11-10 by (mod) - do NOT keep pressing the reset button

Scott

Watch out: do NOT keep pressing the reset button - doing so risks ultimately a puffback explosion of un-burned oil in the combustion chamber.

Your oil burner needs service and repair by an on-site technician.

If "pressure" truly was 100 PSI in your boiler you're lucky to be alive. Because 30 psi is the maximum safe boiler pressure for a residential hot water heating system. An exploding boiler can kill you and destroy the home too.

I suspect you may be confusing temperature and pressure on the gauge.

On 2018-11-10 by Scott

My oil fired boiler will fire up by pushing restart button and run smooth for 5 minutes and cut off and will not restart unless I push restart button. It will then run about 5 minutes and cut off. It will not come on and off on its own. The pressure built to 19psi temperature was 100 when it cut off first time.

On 2018-10-15 by (mod) - water is coming out of your oil burner nozzle

If water is coming out of your oil burner nozzle then water has badly contaminated your oil tank and needs to be removed.

On 2018-10-15 by Anonymous

@Ed,
Should I continue to bleed it until oil comes or is it a bigger problem. I stuck my fuel talk. It is red and doesnt look diluted.

On 2018-10-15 by Ed

Water is coming out nozzle after I changed it. No oil

On 2018-10-07 by (mod) -

Probably not. The flame sensor cad cell rekay will turn off the burner after a 20-30 second period if there is no successful flame. It doesnt make the flame.

On 2018-10-06 by Brent

Have spark oil and new nozzle on a Becket won't fire could it be the flame sensor?

On 2018-10-05 by (mod) -

Gus

Have you tried the sequence of suggestions in the article above?

On 2018-10-05 by gus

oil furnace wont start only clicks at reset button

On 2018-08-26 by Barry

Installing an oil burner backup on a outdoor wood boiler would a Honeywell L6006 aqustat work for this thx

On 2018-04-10 by (mod) - can't get oil burner going after ran out of oil

Jason

That's a common problem if you've run completely out of heating oil. Even after the oil tank is filled, the oil piping, oil filter canister, and oil pump or fuel unit at the oil burner may have so much air in those components that the air needs to be bled out.

See OIL BURNER FUEL UNIT AIR BLEED PROCEDURE - https://inspectapedia.com/heat/Oil-Burner-Pump-Air-Bleed.php for detailed advice.

On 2018-04-10 by Jason

Can't get it to start up after I fueled the tank

On 2018-02-27 by Ronald Dooms

I run out of oil and furnace will not start

On 2018-04-10 by (mod) - Replaced a circulator, but the main floor won't heat up

Nina

If we're sure the circulator pump is running, then see AIR-BOUND HEATING SYSTEMS - home - as a reasonable place to start checking

On 2018-03-28 by Nina

Replaced a circulator, but the main floor won't heat up. the pipe coming out heats up, but doesn't run through main floor. What could be the problem?

On 2018-04-10 by (mod) - My boiler need reset after every run.

Jake

Let's start by trusting the service tech. If there's oil (and perhaps sludge and debris) in the oil storage tank then that can be clogging the oil filter, piping, or nozzle, causing improper burner operation. If that's the case the tech can probably show you water and sludge right in the oil filter canister.

On 2018-03-27 by Jake

My boiler need reset after every run. I observed when the hot water is running I don't have that issues . Tech told water in my oil tank

On 2018-03-23 by (mod) - intermittent failures of oil burner

Horace,

Check for a loose electrical connection, a bad transformer, then fuel flow.

On 2018-03-23 by Horace

Having trouble keeping furnace going--Sometimes goes several days no problem, then I might have to hit reset button several different times in course of a day.

I have replaced cad cell, primary control (twice),reset electrodes, changed filter, blowed lines out with air. Need help or suggestions to further diagnose problem.

On 2018-03-23 by (mod) - oil burner pilot?

Shane

Sorry I'm confused: oil burners don't use a pilot light.

I think it'd be smart to call a service technician who can check, service, and adjust the oil burner. It's not possible to get those adjustments just right by eyeballing things.

On 2018-03-03 by Shane

Clogged oil burner nozzle (C) InspectApedia.com MikeFurnace ran, changed nozzle with new one and now furnace won't light

Oil furnace kicks on but no pilot light, what do I do

On 2018-02-24 by (mod) -

Kurt

I've seen this problem on oil burners and agree it can be difficult to diagnose. I think of it as a problem in which the burner does not restart after having been off for a long period of time.

Typically I will check electrical connections, try replacing a cad cell sensor, and check for a weak or bad Transformer.

It's also important to notice weather the burner is not starting on the first try or whether it is in fact attempting to run and then going off on reset. That would be an indication that it needs cleaning and service. Don't forget to also check the obvious things like a bad oil filter

On 2018-02-24 by Kurt

Beckett burner works fine when running during cold weather, but locks out after warm spell or at the beginning of heating season, when furnace hasn't been running for the summer

On 2018-02-06 by (mod) - burner & fan motors trip breaker, effects of bio diesel on motors, bearings, fans

Ernesto

It sounds to me as if the motor or motor shaft or fan shaft bearings are damaged. Such a situation is unsafe. Do not keep re-setting the circuit breaker. The equipment needs to be repaired.

Research on the effects of adding ethanol to diesel fuel that I've reviewed has not focused on an effect such as you described.

But there has been mention of failures in diesel fuel injectors

See this discussion

The performance FMEA for E-diesel use concluded that the loss of engine maximum power was the most significant adverse performance effect. This was followed by possible fuel pump cavitation causing vapor lock or fuel vaporization in injectors and potential fuel filter clogging problems. Recommended actions to address these possible adverse effects included:

are of E-diesel compatible materials - Source cited below.

On 2018-02-05 by Ernesto

On our Hot water pressure washer, Fuel pump and burner fan are not turning, they are to hard to turn and the breaker switch always popping out, The diesel we are using is from the City yard and someone told me that it may is something in the diesel because the OSHA regulations IS THERE SOME FUEL ADITIVE OR DIFERENT DIESEL? OR SOMETHING ELSE? Thanks

On 2018-01-25 by Jeff

Nice infomation

On 2018-01-21 by (mod) - bad cad cell might explain burner off on reset

Mike,

Could be a bad cad cell eye but also could be a burner out of adjustment needing cleaning, adjustment, filter, nozzle.
A service tech will check fuel flow, nozzle pattern, smoke, CO2, air adjustment, wiring connections etc. See the typical checkpoints in the article above.

On 2018-01-21 by Mike

I have to reset the relay button every time I have to start the furnace what is the problem, could it be the relay or the cat eye please help me with this problem

On 2018-01-06 by (mod) - low water signal from boiler

Does your boiler have an inoperative automatic water feeder?

In an emergency can you add water manually?

On 2018-01-04 by Bobsmith

When I go to start my boiler ,it gibes me a low water signal.The pressure seems fine to me


...

Continue reading at OIL BURNER WONT RUN - topic home, or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see OIL BURNER WON'T RUN FAQs-4 - more-recent Q&A about troubleshooting oil burners

If the oil burner starts but does not run properly see these diagnostic articles

AUDELS OIL BURNER GUIDE, INSTALLING, SERVICING, REPAIRING - an online PDF of a complete oil heat service text book (albeit an old one)

Suggested citation for this web page

OIL BURNER WON'T RUN FAQs-3 at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.


Or see this

INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to HEATING OIL, OIL BURNERS, OIL FIRED HEATERS, OIL TANKS

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