Beckett Burner Ignition Transformer melting

chris_98

I'm sorry I am not familiar with the term refractory. Do yo mean the lining in the chamber? Also according to my friend he has a 12"x 12" duct for fresh air. I mentioned the chimney may be obstructed. He told me he checked and cleaned out the base but maybe the chimney lining is falling apart blocking the flue gases. He had a service tech check it out adjusted air mixture as well as barometric damper. I haven't had a chance to get there yet but something told me experince it has to do with some kind of air or lack of.One other thing to mention he took jacket apart and cleaned out the sections which were plugged solid.Do the air shutters need to be adjusted.What is the ideal color flame for oil burners????

chris_98

Beckett burner ignition t-former melting

Hey Guys I just wanna say I love this site. I have been in the field for about 12 yrs now and this site showed me new ways on piping steam and hot water boilers thus making me a ton of money because there are NO CALLBACKS!!! So I just wanna thank everyone with their helpful advice and to Dan with his awesome books.THANKS!!!!
Now my question is I have a friend who has an oil fired hot water boiler with a AFG Beckett burner. He told me he has replaced the ignition transformer 3 times because the actual housing melts and this black stuff oozes everywhere. I rarely work on oil burners. Anyone have some ideas?

Darrell

The refractory has broken and fallen into the depths of the combustion chamber allowing the sheetmetal immediately in front of the burner to radiate directly at the transformer. This needs to be addressed ASAP. Sometimes on short coupled burners the transformer just runs hot...paint it white or put foil tape across the front...but do look into the refractory.

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John@Reliable_14

Few things.................

Dirty heat exchanger, draft , combustion chamber, exhaust fans (pulling hot gases out of boiler after shut down).

chris_94

Melting t-former

hey chris,
if this is in your friends home that is very rare, this only ussually happens in garages for auto body shops when they turn on their exhaust fans while the burner is running it actually sucks the flame into the burner housing and makes a mess. your problem is no have no draft or a negative draft. i would check to make sure that the chimney or boiler is not clogged or the chimney is not cover in ice on the roof.

Steamhead (in transit)

Reply to your quotes:

"I'm sorry I am not familiar with the term refractory. Do yo mean the lining in the chamber?" Yes.

"he took jacket apart and cleaned out the sections which were plugged solid" Well, I think that's what melted the transformer- it was probably blowing hot flue gas onto it, maybe from the inspection door if there is one.

"What is the ideal color flame for oil burners????" Whatever it is when properly adjusted using a state-of-the-art digital combustion analyzer. Usually this is white with a slight tinge of yellow- but absolutely DO NOT set up a burner by eye alone!

What make and model boiler is it? Does the burner have a delay valve either in the fuel unit (which would say "CleanCut" on it) or in the small copper tube from the fuel unit to the nozzle?

A plugged-up oil-fired boiler should NEVER happen. If it does, there's a big problem somewhere- most times the burner is not set up properly. Modern oil burners, properly selected, installed and tuned, operate without making smoke or soot- period. After a year's operation, the flueways should be clean enough inside to eat off of.






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Weezbo

there are many ways to get that to happen,

the usual is the draft is the problem.

while it may have been cleaned you cannot go with that as an assumption or given when or if you go there to help.

probably the worst thing that you can do is accept that you are ever being told the Gospel and go Russian on them with "Trust but Verify".

combustion tests likely would catch the problem ,so if you take a quick temp smoke and draft when you get there ,... many hours later you will likely have some verifiable reason specifically indicating the problems, cause and effect cascade..

low pump pressure, slow spinning motors, blocked air passages to the burner, dirt clogged up on the fans squirrel cage blades, retracted gun in the draw, small leak at the nozzle or crack in the nozzle holder, cracks or missing refractory sure felt wet pack , drybase insulation seals, burned holes in a dry base, additional equipment requiring make up air in the room, any of these things could be the place to look ...

that is,... after cleaning it again... if the stack feels cold on the lower side of a horizontal it is quite likely there is soot on the vertical...

i wonder what the ambient temp is in the room....

chris_98

Thanks for the info to everyone who replied. I really do appreciate the help being I don't know much about oil burners. I usually stick with gas boilers. I will ask him tomorrow all the questions you guys suggested and if it is alright with everyone I will get back to you all tomorrow night after work. THANKS AGAIN!!!
P.S. feel free to e mail me with any other suggestions sorry I gotta be awake by 5am.

Leo_9

A few things

As others have said, an exhaust fan in the building can cause this. Often times it is a plugged or semi plugged boiler with a positive draft over the fire. A cold start Peerless JOT or Weil Mclain 66 or 68 series are notorious for this. Keeping them warm and piping a by pass help eliminate this.

Leo