Burnham Boiler Tripping Constantly

Jackie40

I need advice....please!!  I have a Burnham Boiler.  It has a Beckett Burner with a Carlin electronic ignitor.  I have tried everything to get this thing working.  I changed the filter at the oil tank, the filter at the pump, I changed the nozzle, adjusted the electrodes, checked to make sure the Carlin ignitor is sparking and it is.  I have come to the realization that it is an ignition problem because when it finally does reset and start it burns all the oil off in the fire box.  Are Carlin ignitors intermittent?  It seems like it will run for a little while but mostly in the morning when I have my digital thermostat set to come on after it has sat for the night it trips.  It trips every single morning and it is 10 degrees here in Connecticut!  I am freezing.  It tripped 3 times this morning and finally I got it to come on.  Every day when I get home from work it is tripped.  Any suggestions/advice?  Do you think I should replace the Carlin ignitor?  Help PLEASE!! Thank you :-)

billtwocase

it can be

a few things that can cause this, and we need more info-burner/boiler model #'s, nozzle size/angle/spray pattern. A few things that come to mind, low pump pressure, excess air for combustion, "Z" dimension not set if AF, AFG, incoming voltage drop, burner motor RPM issue, and how well the oil is being delivered-plugged oil line, or air leak if not gravity fed. There are a lot of possibilities, I don't think the ignitor is the cause, unless the voltage is dropping incoming. They either work or they don't I find, and how did you test it? If you are using the screwdriver method, never short the terminals. Start a 1/2 inch then drag it across. The electronics don't like dead shorting.

Gary_17

change it

I have on many occasions witnessed an electronic ignitor work then not work. I have also seen weak spark. When carlin 1st came out with their ignitors several years back one of their big selling points was the "they either work or they don't"line. We still laugh about it all the time.

meplumber

I would be hesitant to look at the ignitor.

I agree with Bill.  There are several variable that could be causing this.  A dead spot in the burner motor, clogged oil line, pump, etc...



Some more info would help.

icesailor

Ignitors:

I'm not addressing the above problem on why it is going off on safety. When it gets like this, a professional should be called. There are too many variables. The fact that they are getting oil soaked chambers from excessive resetting is a concern to me. That's why I like to replace with a latch up controller.

On igniters, I have seen numerous igniters that developed weak spark. Someone had a burner that went like this for months. I took it over and went over it. The safety issues became clear that it was a transformer issue. I changed the transformer and never had another problems. I too am no longer a believer in "They work or they don't".  Not true.

billtwocase

I agree Gary, but

when they work and then don't, they generally don't work again. I have seen them go weak just before death, and they do go dead. In his case, it is lighting off. Only an old tar transformer will go weak and stay that way for a while before there is nothing. I think there are other problems, and it doesn't take much