Is it time to replace?

Jim_47

Hello to all, it's been a while since I have visited the wall. OK, here is the question:  Has the life span of heating equipment past if it uses a burner that is slow speed? (1750 rpm burner) or perhaps a oil burner stack safety relay?.  I select this as a rule of thumb, and I realize there is always exceptions to every rule. Since the advent of the high speed burner was in the 1970's, and the Photelectric safety was about the same time, if I recall, then a  heating appliance with either a stack relay or a slow speed burner would be more than 30 yrs old.   Part 2 of the question might be, Should you be putting your liability insurance on the line for maintaining such dated equipment?   Liability insurance because of puffbacks, floods, CO etc.   Opinions please???

Steamhead

There are some slow-speed burners

that can rival new ones in certain older equipment. It all depends on the head design- if it's a "flame-retention" head, it should be fine as long as it's still in good enough shape to post good combustion test numbers. Examples are the Beckett SR, some older Carlins and the Sunray "Golden Cup" series of burners. I wouldn't trash any of these as long as they're properly installed, maintained and tuned.



But if a slow-speed burner is a non-flame-retention type, it's not really worth doing much with it. Same with stack relays- with their 70-90 second trial for ignition, they just aren't considered safe anymore. Fortunately it's pretty easy to upgrade most burners installed in the last 35 years or so to cad-cell relays with 15-second TFI.



Like it or not, some of this older equipment will be with us a while- especially with so many people out of work. It can run safely with proper care and upgrading.