long firing delay and rumble

rumbles

We had a new Weil-McLain oil fired boiler with a Beckett AF/AFG burner installed by a local technician in Aug of 2009. I immediately noticed a long pre-firing delay sound lasting about 15 seconds before firing, followed by what I would call a considerable explosion which subsided to a "normal" sound in 8 or 10 seconds. The technician said that this was normal and not to worry.

In the subsequent Fall this delay and explosion concerned me still and I asked the tech who came to do the cleaning, etc, about it again, and again I was told not to worry. This is now our 4th winter and I am still not satisfied that this "explosion" isn't hurting the firebox if nothing else!

Before I call in another technician I was hoping that you people (or the manufacturer) could shed some light on this.

Jim Davis_3

delay & rumble

The delay is normal, allowing the oil pump pressure to reach maximum before ignition. 

Rumbling sounds like air in the system.  Should a short wooosh when it lights but only a second.  Burner is losing prime from air and then recovering.  Not something that is normal.

billtwocase

pre-purge

It is normal for the "delay" upon start, if it has a delayed oil valve, or a control that has a "pre-purge". As far as the explosion, you should find someone who can set it up right. Beckett is not the best choice on a Weil. Is this a Gold? 

heatpro02920

Pre purge delay fire test..

If it is a newer boiler {past 5+ years} it should have a pre purge {you can tell by the pump, on the left side of the burner, yours should have a small plastic solenoid on top of it with wires going into the burner body}...



Now as for the Fire start, I would start by listening, let the burner go through its 15 second prepurge, then wait to hear a click, you can keep your hand on the pump soleniod if it is loud in your basement. After that click you should hear the fire within 1 second maybe 2 seconds max..... If it takes longer than that after the click, you have a problem, could be as simple as adjusting the electrodes or Z dimension... Now if it clicks and instantly rumbles upon startup, you may need to have the air adjusted or there may not be enough draft, it could be a number of things...



Does you Gold vent out the top or rear of boiler, I notice with the golds, when you use the rear vent they start up rougher than the top vent...



Also I would look at the combustion report your installer gave you, it may be a small piece of printer paper or a written out report with a smoke sample {looks like a small strip of paper with a round mark on it}.... That should tell you what your smoke number was upon startup, what your efficiency was, your drafts, CO count, and your stack temp... If I could see them numbers I could tell you if its running rite... If he didnt give you any of that, get a contractor in there that will...

pipeking

what do u like on weils'

carlin?  i always found the weils' to be alil noisy, not the worst, but alil. do u just not like the becket afg, or others to. u got to admit the nx is nice.

billtwocase

Weils

Pipe, I like the EZ-1 on the Golds, and rear flued. They are quieter, and slightly more efficient. I am for the most part a Beckett man, but every unit performs better with one burner over another. Beckett on these need higher pump pressure. They run for $$it at 100 PSI on these. Ultra is an NX, and good luck with those 2. 

heatpro02920

Its been a while

since I seen a becket come through set at 100psi, for a while they have been 140psi factory set, even the replacement pumps from suntec {7116 I get for replacements are set at 140 for the most part}....



I am not a carlin burner fan, I like either riello for the stuff the requires high static pressure {most triple pass units and all direct venters} or the afg's for the conventional boilers. The AFG seems to run decent in most circumstances, power vented, oil natural draft, ect... I love carlin gas burners and their commercial units are all I use for the big stuff, but the small ez's and rest of the old crd's can live with out....



Anyway thats all personal preference stuff, What unit do you have? it should have a number like go3 go4 go5 ect..... I have seen guys get confused about the go3, because they fire best on a certain nozzle, and a lot of guys throw 80*b's in them when in fact an 85-45* AS nozzle, with the pump psi at 140 , the air shutter almost wide open, and the air band shut... {obviously your tech will have to make final air band adjustments, using a combustion analyzer} will get you to the best fire...



PS you probably have the L1 Head on that burner {which I don't like} which is very "carlin" like and is most likely the issue with the delayed ignition, they have a tool that helps set that assemblies gaps, to the untrained and not experienced it can be tricky.... this goes for the 3 section gold, which is about the most popular...