furnace lockout

sass

my furnace runs for a few days fine. After a few days (and sometimes only a few hrs) it will go into lockout. It is beckett furnace not very old (like 6 yrs) I have changed the nozzle and cleaned the eye. I have also put a light outside under the tank for the purpose of freezing. I also every now and the smell k1 throughout the house.after I reset it,it runs for a day or 2 and it will go into lockout again. repeat process. I was under assumption that if the transformer was no good then it wouldn't run. just becoming a pain for me. could it be something else?

icesailor

Could be:

Could be.

Becketts (to me) are notorious for spray hitting the diffuser end cone and coking up. The ignition spark grounds out on the carbon. If you don't know what you are doing, call a pro. That said, lift the transformer and remove the nozzle/electrode assembly. Look down the tube with a flashlight. You will probably see carbon deposits on the ends where the oil spray goes through. Take a 1/2" copper fitting brush and stick your big paw down the tube and scrape/brush it all off. Then stuck your paw back in again and feel over the edge and scrape any carbon off the outside. If it runs more than it did before, or there are carbon deposits on the end, that was your problem.

It will be suggested to check the "Z" dimension. 100% of the Beckett's I have seen with your problems had "Z" dimensions were fine. But 100% of them had carbon build up on the retention head.

I changed them to Carlin's. I never had that problem again.

heatpro02920

I would get a tech out there... BUT....

Answer these questions and I may be able to help better...



When was the unit last serviced?



Is this natural draft{chimney vented}, direct vent{air intake and exhaust to the outside with no chimney or fan most likely NOT because you have a beckett burner unless is is an NX or AF2 I doubt this is your type}, or forced draft {do you have a power venter , small fan on outside of building sucking out the exhaust}?



Does the unit need anything to restart, or you hit the reset and it restarts instantly or with a delay???



When you start the unit, {hit the reset} does the unit rumble or smell like fuel or start smooth like it was never off?



On normal operation does your unit start instantly on a call for heat or does the fan run for 15 seconds and then start the fire?



Are there 2 pipes going to the oil tank or 1?



When you changed the nozzle did you adjust the electrodes?



I am thinking, it could be a few things, Im not even going to touch the oil tank with the light so it doesnt freeze topic, this means you have water in your tank and thats not good, normally easy to remedy though, just install a drain in your bottom tank tap and drain the water out until you see pink oil... If it has oil in it, put a vacuum on the vent pipe and a rubber glove over the fill cap threads to keep the oil from coming out the bottom.... But that is for another day, lets figure out your burner issue first, IF ITS NOT RELATED... But probably is...



A stripping on its way out pump coupling { this can be an intermittent problem if the coupling is just slightly stripped {normally on the pump side}, and can be agitated on cold starts with a straining pump...



Out of adjustment electrodes or z dimension {causing ignition to skip on cold starts, when these are out of adjustment the spark jumps to another metal part instead of staying in the oils path, causing a failure to fire}...



A dead spot or bad starting winding in your burner motor {pretty common problem starts most of them time until it doesnt}...



Bad transformer {depends on which you have, if you have an older tar filled {heavy black block} or the newer Ignitor type {small plastic style}... the large heavy transformers used on non intermittent ignition systems and older burners can fail with out being completely dead I seen them with 7000v instead of 10-14Kv...



Next obviously is your oil supply, now if you have 1 pipe {which I doubt because you obviously have an outdoor tank} you would most likely be priming it every time it went out of the oil system was the problem. but with a 2 pipe system commonly installed on outdoor tanks and long heavy runs, the unit would just prime itself if there was a blockage or air infiltration of some sort, this would give you a small delay on your start up fire {if you don't have a prepurge system with a solenoid on the pump. Hence my questoins in the beginning...





If you answer my questions I will be able to help you better...

sass

re: heat pro

yes the furnace rumbles and smells of k-1 but not every time. It is a forced hot air with cold air return,through a stalk pipe out the roof. It has been a while since I have had it cleaned. I pull the burner off and use a vacuum to clean out the soot for the air flow and change the nozzle and filter usually. I did not adjust the electrodes when i changed the nozzle. It restarts with a bit of a delay. Starts fire on normal operation when it is turned up. The line is 3/8 soft copper. I have one line going in.

heatpro02920

time for a z gauge...

Get yourself one of these ... http://www.ebay.com/itm/BECKETT-Z2000U-NOZZLE-ELECTRODE-SETTING-GAUGE-/380421919993?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5892e9d4f9 That will help you adjust the z dim and the electrode gaps...



An you need to find the cleaning ports on your furnace, they are normally 2 round silver caps about 2 1/2" on the front over the burner. remove them and brush and vac out in there, then remove the smoke pipe and brush and vac that out also...

I would get a brush too, not sure how this one works but get something similar, you can get it all local..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Boiler-Cleaning-Brush-Boiler-Brush-Boiler-Flue-Cleaning-Brush-Soot-Brush-/230843522208?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35bf589ca0



If you are going to repair your own burner, I would also get a beckett book and do a little reading... There are also tons of beckett vids on their site... I always say get a tech, but in this economy I know it can be tough, and If you are going to do it do it rite...



Most likely since you are smelling oil after reset you have an ignition problem, that delay is not good, since you changed the nozzle, most likely you lost your gaps when wrenching it, they need to be adjusted, find a supply house near by and get your self a gauge, if thats not an option you can use a ruler but its not super easy...



heres a manual go to page 7... http://www.beckettcorp.com/protect/techsuppt/product-manuals/6104%20BAFG%20R02%203706.pdf figure 2



You can use an old tape measure, cut off a piece with a scissor and mark 1/16" 5/32 and 5/16... as far a z dimension that is the measurement on how far into the tube the drawer assembly sits, and is a little trickier but also not impossible..

billtwocase

K-1

Why are you burning Kerosene? Is this a mobile home with an outside tank? 

Burnerboy2

check your motor

Can you hear any kind of a "humming noise coming from your motor?

icesailor

Becketts Going Out:

I don't consider myself  "Beckett Pro" because my solution for a bad running Beckett has been a new Carlin EZ-1. It has never failed me. The only place I can't use them is on some WA furnaces where they are too hot and will burn through the HX. according to the Carlin OEM manual.

That said, I can count on one hand, the number of AF and AFG's that I have serviced that did not have coking or carbon build up on the retention head. The first thing I do when I flip the transformer back when I am on a service call for delayed ignition on a Beckett is check for carbon build up. It is there 100% of the time. Do I live in a parallel universe? Every one I see that is getting delayed ignition, has Coking, I brush the carbon off the head and it then fires normally.

Not one of you has mentioned carbon on the retention head.

It sounds like this application is a balanced flue installation. It needs to be changed to a Power Venter if that is so. IMO, this person needs a Pro to solve his problem.Or carry a personal CO detector and have hard wired combo Smoke and CO detectors before he takes the big dirt nap. His problems are too severe for a DIY'er.

Even I would be hesitant to look at this problem. It is fraught with traps.

JMO.

billtwocase

Ice

I also like EZ-1 burners, but long before they came out , I worked on the 98/99 FRD's, the 100/101 CRD's and all the other Carlins back in the day. They couldn't hold a candle to a Beckett AF/AFG. That being said, like any other burner, if a Beckett is not set right, it will not run worth a damn, or at all. Carboned endcones are an adjustment issue, and easily solved. I always carried around a spare Carlin cup because it was easier to change it than to clean it

icesailor

AFG's

You do far more than I. If you can make a AFG run for a period of time without carbon deposits on the retention head, you are the first. They come like that straight from the factory. I have two adjustment gauges for them. The old one and the new one. They both have conflicting adjustments for different heads. I have my old one marked up for Wayne's. How do you know what head is in there and whether it was changed when a nozzle size was changed? I've seen the electrode settings change over the years on the gauges. Obviously, it is a matter of continuing change.

How does a "Z" dimension go out of adjustment unless you don't know that it is a fixed head burner and loosen the screw and move the assembly back or forward. Of all the ones I have ever checked, unless the end cone had fallen off, the setting was correct. But it still impinged on the inside edge of the retention ring. So do Carlin's and Riello's.

Where I work, it blows harder than where you work. It blew over 85 MPH. But, last Saturday morning, I heard the freight train twice early in the morning. That scares the crap out of me.

There is no fuel burning appliance that can run properly under those conditions. But I was without power for over 30 hours.

billtwocase

power

Glad to hear that yours is back on Ice. Many here on Cape still have none. We had hurricane force winds here also bringing down trees and wires. I've been having a ball wading thru snow drifts close to my height to get into these seasonal homes that they want checked, or the water main turned off due to no power. Getting around hasn't been a problem, just the damn traffic. People lookin for food and gas. I just found some for the van luckily. As far as Beckett, they have done good by me as a replacement burner. If you know your firing rate, the head size is on the gauge, I prefer the old "T" gauge. I guard them with my life.

icesailor

Heads Up: Heart Attack Snow:

Its the ones that are using a head for the nozzle and then someone downsizes the nozzle and it needs a change of heads that throw me. Then, there's the late tech that trained all his guys ( they used Becketts exclusively) that a 70 degree Hago or Delavan red or blue was the universal oil burner nozzle.It fits every burner made, old and new.  A blue Delavan is a solid nozzle and a blue Hago is a Semi-Solid. I guess following him around gave me my dislike for Becketts.

The snow on Slough Road was serious heart attack snow. It gave my 50 HP snow plow a serious work out. I have a long curving driveway and the plows going by all fill up the end of my driveway. If I didn't have 4WD, I could have never pushed through. I've got some huge piles. Hydraulics are a beautiful thing.

billtwocase

That's part of it

It was Delavan for Beckett, Hago/Steinen/Monarch for carlin. There is enough of a profile height of the nozzle that would make a difference in performance. For some reason, some guys feel as though they need to loosen the gun adjustment screw on a Beckett AF/AFG to remove the gun. They would rarely get it set back to where it belonged, and was too lazy to pull the burner and set it with the gauge. F-3 is the most common, and most used head. It will fire from a .75-1.25 GPH. If you remember the early Peerless JOT from late 70's, early 80, they came thru with F-12 heads. They were a problem. That was a Peerless thing. New Yorker AP models had F-6 head for 1.00 GPH nozzles. They ran for crap until an F-3 head was installed. Columbia was even worse. F-0 heads for .75-.85. Noisy, crappy, and whatever else you want to throw in there. A lot of bad rap was due to armchair mechanics that came up with specs that worked in the lab just fine.

Burnerboy2

Sass

Where do you live?? If your w/in 100 miles from me I'd be glad to come down and get you set up correctly................

You shouldn't be having all this problems w/ a Beckett....

Have you ever had a pump pressure test?

Have you ever had your transformer tested?

Have you ever had your electrodes adjusted?

Have you ever had the coupling replaced?



Ronnie