Oil Burner Won't Run FAQs-2

Oil burner won't keep running
Oil burner motor troubleshooting

Oil Burner Won't Keep Running FAQs

Oil Burner Runs for Seconds & Shuts Off FAQs

Tip: see OIL BURNER WONT RUN - Diagnostic Steps

Blue Angel Wayne oil burner(on an Utica boiler) runs just for seconds, then shuts off

My 27 year old Blue Angel Wayne oil burner(on an Utica boiler) started firing up for 10-15 seconds, then shut off for 45 seconds , then fired up again and ran normally until it would cycle off again normally and then the whole on-off-on cycle would start again.

The unit is serviced regularly by an oil service company, all filters have been replaced,transformer on top of burner replaced, the pump has been replaced with a larger one to accommodate the 35 foot lines from tank to burner and tank was checked for sludge which was minimal.

The pump replacement has decreased the burner "off" time from 45 seconds to 6 seconds, but no one can figure out why the burner is turning off and then back on.

The oil company keeps saying it's sludge in lines and would like to put in another tank closer to the burner ($$$$$!).

If it was sludge, wouldn't the filters be clogged (which they never are) and why would the burner turn on again and run fine?

The oil lines are literally under the concrete slab of the house so I can not just replace the lines and I can't convince anyone to blow them out!

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated! On 2017-11-20 by Eric

Diagnostic suggestions by (mod) -

Usually when a burner is having a short and odd on-cycle the problem is traced to a loose electrical connection, a defective control, or poor thermal contact between the primary control's temperature sensor and the wall of the metal well into which its inserted. Some techs omit the thermal-conductive grease, making that problem worse.

If the problem were sludge in the lines you'd be able to see that showing up at the burner as loss of fuel supply and as crud in the oil filter, oil pump strainer, and at the nozzle itself.

Ask to see that evidence.

Finally, if the problem is traced to a need to replace the oil lines, the new lines do not have to be run under the slab.

Oil burner starts OK but shuts off after less than a minute with the blower fan not working

Hello, Thanks for your time, I appreciate you answering all the questions that people post on here. You have been very helpful to many people.

My oil burner furnace has recently began starting up, running for less than a minute, and then shutting back down.

This occurs every 10 minutes or so. When this happens, the fan motor does not operate, only the burner itself.

If I attempt to turn the fan to "On" at the thermostat, it does not turn on, but if I turn the fan on at the furnace (old style furnace with fan On/Ventilate switch) the fan operates without hesitation.

I removed the thermostat from the wall, and jumped the R and G wires trying to induce the fan to come on, but it did not work. Oddly enough, the furnace does operate normally occasionally.

Any thoughts? Control at the furnace? Again, I greatly appreciate your help. On 2018-12-31 by Matt M.

by (mod) - oil furnace with blower off will shut off on HIGH LIMIT

This sounds a lot as if there's a problem with the fan motor itself or the fan controller.

In that scenario the oil burner will ignite but the system will reach the high temperature limit quickly because the fan isn't running to pull air through the heat exchanger.

Check first for the easy things like a loose wire or connection running the fan and if you can't get your fan motor to run it's time to call for repair.

Details of furnace blower fan troubleshooting are

at BLOWER FAN OPERATION & TESTING 

Boiler would run for a few days and then trip reset

Weil McKlain oil boiler/ Becket Burner / Webber

Pretty old unit, but has been serviced and run fairly well- just changed burner nozzle- Boiler tripped reset- I changed nozzle and bled out air from line ( tank was getting low) - filled tank.

Boiler would run for a few days and then trip reset - reset and ran a few more days and tripped again. Now it’s down to only running an hour or two before reset trips.

Puzzled over what the problem actually is here On 2018-04-15 by Mike -

by (mod) - common reasons an oil burner goes off on reset every few days

Curious, yes. Often I find

- clogging oil filter - you'll see the system trying to start and unable to get fuel

- air leaks in the oil piping - you'll see a sooting problem and maybe a PUFFBACK explosion at startup

- a failing ignition transformer (weak spark) - there are some crude as well as fancy ways to test the transformer

A good place to troubleshoot is at

OIL BURNER WONT RUN

Furance will run for a day or two and then it wont start.

Furance will run for a day or two and then it wont start.

I can reset and it will run for a day or two. On 2018-12-06 by ron -

by (mod) - OK to reset the burner again if it has run for long enough

Ron

Sure, to keep your heat going while you wait for repair, it's fine to press the reset button PROVIDED that the oil burner started and ran for 5-10 minutes or longer after doing so.

That's because when the heat runs long enough to shut off by the thermostat rather than by the safety control, you're much less likely to be leaving so much unburned oil in the combustion chamber that you get a PUFFBACK EXPLOSION (find that article in the ARTICLE INDEX for this page).

Watch out: what you don't want to do is to keep pressing the reset button if the burner won't keep runniing for a sufficient time - that's dangerous.

But your system is going to fail hard, probably soon. So you should call for repair.

Nuway oil burner, won't keep running

Hi i had a Nuway burner, its ignition ignite and run for about 5 sec's and blackout again. I change the photocell, put new transformer, clean burner but still encountered same problem. - Paula Vatou 1/24/12

Reply:

Paula, you don't mention an investigation of the fuel supply, that's where I'd look if you are confident that the electrics are ok.

Check that there is oil in the tank, a clean oil filter installed, a new screen in the fuel pump, and air has been bled out of the oil lines. Then see if you're getting oil out of the nozzle.

Fix an oil burner that keeps cutting off, & it buzzes

My oil furnace cuts off several times a day. As it goes to cut back on, the thermostat will click, and there is a buzzing sound at the furnace.

After a few seconds of buzzing, the red button will trip.

After I push the red button to reset, it will buzz again, but a light to moderate bump to the top of the igniter will cause the furnace to kick on.

I've already replaced the igniter. Any idea what could be the issue? Thanks (Feb 5, 2013) Brian

Reply:

Watch out: When the oil burner trips off on safety reset DO NOT keep pushing the reset button.

Once is OK. More than once floods the combustion chamber and makes actual service and repair more costly, difficult, and dangerous.

Your heating system needs service and repair by a traine service technician. Some typical reasons for oil burner failure are in the article OIL BURNER WONT RUN.

How to Fix an oil burner that works intermittently, goes off on reset

Our Burner is recently serviced by a expert who claimed has changed: nozzle,cad cell, fuel pump and oil filter, and all other things, after a month it is now working intermittently, once reset, it goes until the thermostat switch it off and never come back unless I press to reset it(However it will only start when the heat exchange pipes are not warm).

Now the expert is quoting 5000 dollar to replace my over 20years old peerless (2.5gph, 760sqf steam), and only 8 years old Beckett burner. The chimney were also cleaned a year ago. Please advice! (Jan 22, 2013) AL-Amin

Reply:

If your oil burner does not run after having it serviced, call the company's service manager and politely ask for a more experienced service technician.

Do NOT keep pushing the reset button - that can be unsafe.

See OIL BURNER WONT RUN - Diagnostic Steps

How do I fix irregular running of Beckett oil burner?

Really need some Expertise! I got a Beckett oil burner. Some times it will run for a cycle then need reset or it will run maybe for a few hours then need reset again and occasionally 3 days and need reset again.

Also i am using a power venter.
I replaced the pump,motor,igniter,controller,eye,and tip.Basically rebuilt the whole thing.

Also got the two line system running into a 55 gal drum to make sure the fuel lines where not getting any air.

I'm no expert that's why I'm here,But I'm thinking it's down to the power venter? Or would it maybe be a relay?
Thanks for any help. 27 January 2015 Chuck

Reply:

Chuck

it may help diagnose this intermittent problem by being at the oil burner when it goes off on re-set (I know that's difficult).

You want to know if the failure is in ignition, electrical power, or fuel delivery, or in venting.

Also take a look at the combustion chamber and nozzle assembly for formation of soot whiskers, crud, cracked nozzle electrode ceramic insulators, and of course loose wires

Oil burner won't keep running after we ran out of oil

Peerless cast iron boiler was out of oil for months now got oil but it starts then stop On 2022-08-05 by Sansy

by InspectApedia-911 (mod) - cast iron boiler malfunction

@Sansy,

Most common cause of oil burner malfunction after running out of oil is that air needs to be bled from the piping, filter, & fuel unit, and at this point the oil burner may need cleaning & nozzle replacement.

Oil burner shuts off after 10 minutes but the circulator is still running

My Taco Valve control system call for heat, my burner kicks on then after 5-10 min it shuts off. But the Taco is still calling for heat and the Circulator pump is still running On 2020-06-03 by Mike

Reply by (mod) -

Mike

What you describe may be normal;

check the boiler temperature on the temperature gauge right on the boiler itself. If the boiler water temperature is near the HI setting on the boiler's aquastat then the system is doing what it's supposed to.

Leaving out a few details it's like this:

The circulator keeps running as long as there's a call for heat;

The burner will turn on and off depending on boiler temperature.

Oil boiler shuts-off (fails to fire) once or twice a week.

I have oil boiler that shuts-off (failed to fire) often like once or twice a week. I have replaced first oil filter, nozzle and adjust electrodes, clean flue pipe and boiler coil as a regular maintenance.

But that didn't help.Than I replaced the burner control with one that you can read in real time the CAD cell and checked what amps pull the motor and it was less than it's name plate.

Also replaced the CAD cell just in case after that, and also the oil pump because has the shut off valve build in.

So far the boiler shuts-off when it wants and every time when you press the reset button it starts and run fine for days with no problem. I feel lost. What could be the issue? On 2020-05-21 by ISJ

Reply by (mod) -

IS

How old are your oil tank and oil piping? There could be a sludge problem that's either clogging and blocking fuel delivery or sooting up at the burner.

A vacuum test on the oil line can tell you if there's a blockage, and inspection inside the oil filter cartridge can tell you if there's a lot of sludge, water, or crud.

Oil Furnace Won't Stay On To Reach Thermostat Set Temperature

My fuel oil furnace is having an intermittent problem. When it lights it does stay on until the desired temperature.

It's been solid throughout the year (2020) until recently when I had to press the reset button to get it going (I do know not to press the button more than once or twice). Twice in 1 week I had to press the reset button.

I had a tech come out and do a maintenance on it as well as attempt to troubleshoot the issue.

They still have not found the problem. After the maintenance, I had to press the reset more often. Overnight, I would wake up several times just to hit that reset button.

When it doesn't work, sometimes I do hear the motor running attempting to light the furnace, but other times I hear nothing at all. Once it stays lit, it works great.

Everytime the tech was here, we were able to get to light, turn off, turn back on just fine. Maybe once things cool, it has the problem? On 2021-01-13 by Bob

Reply by (mod) -

Bob

There is a too-long list of possible causes for the oil burner to go off on reset intermittently.

Techs usually check these things in roughly this order:

1. Dirty air filter
   
   causing excessive temperatures in the supply air plenum, causing the fan limit switch to shut down the oil burner
2. Dirty cad cell sensor
   
   in the oil burner gun or a failing cad cell relay
3. Dirty oil burner
   
   that needs cleaning, nozzle replacement, oil filter change, oil screen change in the fuel unit, tuneup including combustion air adjustment and a check on pressure at the oil nozzle output line
4. Clogging of the oil delivery
   
   system such as crud in the oil tank that blocks an oil line, filter, screen, or nozzle
5. Failing transformer
   
   on the oil burner - gets hot and stops working
   
   Subtle problems like
6. Air leak in the fuel piping
   
   or right in the fuel unit itself
7. Other causes
   
   are described on the page OIL BURNER WONT RUN
   

There is a long list of reasons that a burner could be having an issue but the key here is this is only happening when the room temp is several degrees above the set point or even when the thermostat heat setting is off. The burner should not even be trying to come on.

When the room temp is below the set point the burner and fan work fine.

Is there any kind of relay issue that could cause the burner to come on when its not being called by the thermostat or even when the thermostat is off or does this seem like it has to be a thermostat problem? I suspect it goes off because the fan isn't coming on.

Just Watch What Happens at your air handler or furnace when there is a call for heat.

Bob,

Your supposition is a good one, and to check it out in pretty easy.

Just Watch What Happens at your air handler or furnace when there is a call for heat.

If the burner comes on in the limit switch rotates all the way around to the high limit and turns the burner off with no fan operation,, that would tell you that your fan is not coming on when it ought.

But this line is inconsistent, since you're describing correct furnace operation most of the time.

It also doesn't address the question of why your heat is running at above the thermostat set point.

It was that that made me look for a wiring defect.

On occasion I have found very sensitive connections that were made depending on temperature or even depending on the position of a thermostat control.

Apologies that I can only guess from such a remote location. In my experience, 100% of the time that we've ever gone to a property we found other critical diagnostic information that we just didn't know about it ahead of time.

So for case like this, I want to start by eliminating the things that would embarrass us later such as a shorted wire or bad electrical connection, perhaps followed by a bad relay or control board.

Boiler starts but switches off after a minute or so and only 1 radiator gets hot

There isn't a light on restart button on our oil boiler. Water in all rads but only one gets hot upstairs, all others stay cold.

Boiler starts initially, but after a minute or two switches off. We had a new towel rail fitted in bathroom and it's since then that we have this problem.

Plumber says we need to have a system flush. Any help appreciated. On 2017-09-27 by Angie

Reply by (mod) -

If one radiator is hot then the boiler surely has been running.

Your plumber might be right that pipes are clogged somewhere but tracing the route of pipes can help sort that out: if the hot radiator is *past* the cold radiators in the direction of hot water flow in the system then something else is wrong - perhaps air-bound radiators.

I would start by reading COLD HEATING RADIATOR REPAIR to see the suggested diagnostic and repair steps. It may be as simple as beeding air out of your radiators and piping when the boiler is up to temperature.

But I'm not one to ignore your observation about the new towel rail: pull the screws, inspect the screw holes to see if there was a wire (perhaps a thermostat wire) that got punctured.

Beckett 7505 burner won't re-start a second time

So my burner will not fire for a second time when either my aquastat or t stat are calling for heat / hot water

I use the shut off and click it back on and either or both will fire and work for one cycle and then an hour later the thermostat will call for heat and I would have to repeat . The buner won't start on its own.

by (mod) re: pushing the reset button repeatedly is dangerous

Watch out: "Second time" on reset means that there is either a failing control or more-likely a poorly-operating burner that's causing the cad cell to shut down the system.

Search InspecApedia for OIL BURNER PUFFBACK using the search box at the top or bottom of any of our pages to see what I'm worried about.

Time to call for repair.

Oil burner motor starts up and runs briefly then shuts down. What's wrong?

My boiler does not start. No red lockout light.

When I push lockout button, the fan runs for a short time then shuts down.

The fuel system appears to be functioning correctly and I have already changed the Control box. Any Ideas? On 2017-02-21 by Tony

by (mod) re: oil burner won't start, no red lights, pushing the reset doesn't work

Tony

Often the obvious problem is a dirty nozzle or oil burner nozzle electrodes, but there may be an underlying issue that causes those problems, like dirty oil, missing filter, water contamination, air leaks in oil lines, even a loose electrical connection or a dirty cad cell eye.

If your burner is not igniting the oil it will indeed turn off after about 20 seconds. DO NOT keep pressing the reset button as doing so risks a dangerous PUFFBACK EXPLOSION (Search InspectApedia.com for that phrase to read details)

Watch out: I would not keep replacing parts as that risks unnecessary expense replacing things that aren't at fault.

Details of why an oil burner may fail to start or fail to run, step by step diagnosis, are found

at OIL BURNER WONT RUN - topic home

So if there's no ignition and if you see that you have plenty of heating oil, and if going through our checklist doesn't find an obvious problem it's time to call a trained service technician.

Watch out: When an oil burner keeps going off on reset DO NOT keep pressing the reset button. The risk is that un-burned oil accumulates in the combustion chamber and then is ignited to cause a puffback explosion.

Read PUFFBACKS, OIL BURNER to understand that worry.

Oil Burner Motor FAQs

Tip: see our electric motor diagnosis and repair articles at ELECTRIC MOTOR DIAGNOSTIC GUIDE 

Oil burner won't fire up unless I hit it with a hammer

I push the reset button and you can hear the electrical power jumping from the transformer, but it won't fire up until I tap it with a hammer on the pump or motor.

It will run a cycle or two but then it will not come back on until I push the reset button and hit it again with hammer. On 2017-03-27 by Bonnie McCartney

by (mod) re: signs of a bad oil burner motor or control or electrical shorts

This sounds like a failed control or perhaps a motor bearing. To avoid a dangerous puffback explosion it's best to leave the system turned OFF and to call for professional repair.