Beckett suntec oil pump seizing up

chevy5356

my suntec oil pump seize up . called my nephew he directed me on how to check blower motor first then the oil pump , pump was seized up and sent me to a supply house for a new one , suntec with solenoid two line system going into top of oil tank. Installed new one and ran fine for 4 days seized up again , removed oil pump and worked it free by moving shaft back and forth on pump , put back together worked fine again for about 4 to 5 days this time seized again . I freed it up and its been 3 days now working fine . There is 3/4 of a tank of oil , new oil filter , new nozzle installed . Checked all oil lines for leaks . We are baffled , anybody out their have this problem or knows what could be causing this to happen any answers would be deeply appreciated. Thank You Gilman

Grallert

That's an odd one. Does the pump make any whining noise? My first thought would be to make sure there are no restrictions in the fuel line.

Alan Welch

Is this an underground tank ? did you check the pump strainer?

chevy5356

No noise from pump only humming noise from blower motor that it is jammed , flip switch to off , remove oil pump and free it up runs smoothly about 4 to 5 days and pump seized again . Filters are clean , nozzle new see no restrictions . This has happened twice since i installed new pump .Now on third day working fine so far. Somebody suggested removing oil lines going into tank and there should be a sock like filter and see if this is slugged up . Will try tomorrow when it is warmer. Thank you for your concern Grallert P.S. Unit is ten years old Bryant

chevy5356

Above ground 275 gallon tank about 15 feet from furnace

chevy5356

I have not checked the new pump strainer , will do so tomorrow.

Robert O'Brien

Robert O'Brien

It's either that or water, nothing wrong with multiple pumps.

HVACNUT

Did you install the bypass plug for 2 pipe operation?

newagedawn

can you show a pic of the burner, sometimes if the motor is old it seizes up and makes it look like the oil pump, had one like that last week

chevy5356

Yes i installed the bypass plug. I have a Beckett PSC Burner motor 1/7 HP 3450 RPM , the part # on it is 21805R and model # is 707502 . I will have to wait for my grandson to come home from school to take pictures and send them not sure how to do it , not really computer smart on how to do this . My other question is when i remove blower motor and turn on without oil pump hooked up it spins fine and oil pump is hard to turn by hand with coupler is this because it is under pressue and what your saying is my blower motor could have a bad spot on it or heats up after time . I want to thank everybody who responds to my posts , senior on fixed income. Techs in my area want 110.00 dollars an hour just to look at it. Thanks Again Gilman

Alan Welch

Why do you have a 2 pipe system, there really isn't a need with an oil tank 15 feet away. ?

chevy5356

This is the way it was piped when we purchased home 9 years ago.

Jamie Hall

I know very little about Suntec pumps. Indeed, I don't play with burners at all. That said...

I do know some about diesel engines, and I have had very similar types of problems with diesel high pressure pumps and injectors using certain types and ages of diesel fuel. So -- I'm going to ask: how old is the fuel in your tank? And is it biofuel or blended, or is it pure low sulphur or ultra low sulphur diesel? I ask because both old fuel and biofuel or blended fuel have jammed injectors and high pressure pumps on some of my equipment in the past. Can always be freed, and won't jam on lsd or ulsd, but put them back on the blended stuff and after a couple of days... not so happy.

captainco

Get rid of the return line and by-pass plug. It was wrong in the beginning and it is wrong now. Should minimize if not eliminate problem.

chevy5356

The oil delivery was in September of 2017 , 150 gallons . I have used the same oil company for last 11 years , No. 2 home heating oil . Never have had a problem with there fuel .

EBEBRATT-Ed

As usual everyone is harping about two pipe system that has nothing to do with the problem at hand.

I would contact the fuel supplier and find out about oil treatment.

Maybe someone from Suntec could respond. You may be able to contact Suntec through the supply house you bought the pump at

HVACNUT

Are you absolutely sure it's the fuel pump? The shaft will not spin free like on the burner motor. It takes a little effort.
Ask if your grandson can post pics of the boiler or furnace and burner.
What make and model boiler or furnace?
What make and model burner?
Some manufacturers spec a specific pump pressure depending on application. A suntec A pump comes factory set at 100 psi.
FYI, there's no, or shouldn't be any sock type filter inside the tank.

chevy5356

chevy5356

Thanks HVACNUT for all your information . What happened when calling for heat , i could hear blower motor humming and pushed switch to off , then i would disconnect oil line to nozzle and pull oil pump out turn shaft of oil pump back and forth and would free up and spin but not as easy as the burner motor if that helps . I called oil company that delivers oil and they gave me Hercules fuel oil sludge and fuel treatment , that was on Monday morning and this is day 4 still running smooth as of 8pm Tuesday 12/5/17 . My thanks to all that responds.

HVACNUT

Look on the white part of the burner housing near the nozzle line, above the pump. Is there a sticker there stating pump pressure? That's not the cause of your troubles but it will affect proper combustion if its supposed to be more than 100 psi.
Regardless, you might want to call a qualified pro to do an annual tune up and a combustion analysis.

newagedawn

are you sure you put the return pipe in the side it goes on and put the plug in? after looking at the pics not sure, there is only one port you can use, it says it right on the pump

Big Ed_4

Teflon tape would bind up oil pumps ... Pieces of tape get in the gear set and bind them up.. Not sure if I see white tape under the pipe dope in the photos....

chevy5356

I put a mark on pipe and pump where they should go it also said on pump return , also installed plug. I made sure with teflon and pipe dope did not get in there , as my nephew advised to be careful with this. He was in the HVAC business for three years and moved on to another type of work. He is pretty good with HVAC , but i think he does not have the knowledge of problems that the elders have had . Thanks to all

chevy5356

I would like to also say this is day 5 and still running smooth . I am thinking the hercules additive has helped , because other people have said when i received the oil delivery it could have stirred thinks up after setting all summer. Hopefully this is what it was . My nephew will stop by next week to check pump pressure and all other issues if any. Again Thank You All

Jamie Hall

As I said... old or blended oil can do it to you. I hope the additive was enough; you may need to add more. Try to run the tank as low as you dare before you add new oil, and toss in some more Herc. while you're at it.

chevy5356

Thank you Mr. Hall , will try this.

chevy5356

Well this time it ran for 10 days and Sunday evening about 7: 30 , burner motor started humming , pushed switch too off, opened up oil igniter and everything was free . I thought of what Newagedawn had said it could be burner motor so i tapped on motor and sure enough it kicked back on , running fine all night and this morning , but i ordered a new motor , blower wheel and coupler . Will be in tomorrow , cost was $75. 80 . Hope this is it. Thanks again to everyone for your input.

Jamie Hall

Too bad about the motor -- but running against a seized up pump probably didn't do it any good at all.

HVACNUT

If your in there doing the motor, you might as well do the coupling too. The sprockets might have shaved a bit with all that torque. You can order it specifically for your Beckett AFG so you don't have to cut down a universal coupling.

Big Ed_4

No Teflon tape on and oil delivery system.. It's the reason your having problems with pumps binding ..

STEVEusaPA

At what point are you going to bring in a professional to diagnose and properly fix this?

chevy5356

The new motor will be installed on Thursday and after this any problems will be turned over to the Professionals . I am done with this. Thanks to all with there suggestions.

1972skidoo

I had this same problem two winters ago at a customers house. They had an above ground tank filled in the spring. Then sat for five months. I had serviced and tuned the boiler with a beckett sporting a sutec pump in September that year . When they started the heating season that's when the pump seizing started. I replaced the pump at first then three days later another seized pump . I would rock the burner fan then it would free up and good for another three . To get two the chase. I remove the return line from the pump ( don't forget to remove the by-pass plug) and haven't had a problem since. So I believe it is definitely a fuel problem possible because of the Bio fuel blend they put in our fuel here in the Northeast . Suntec is now putting a disclaimer in their package claiming only 5% bio blend in red letters so I believe they are aware of the problem. Hope this post was helpful to someone. Good luck!

chevy5356

Hi 1972skidoo Did you disconnect the return line from pump entirely, remove by-pass plug and install plug. I changed the pump , as you can see I have been thru this and most recently two so called pros . One installed new blower motor i had purchased but did not install do to illness. Then he could not make over when it happened again, 18 years in business , so sent another Pro subcontractor over to look at it and freed up the pump like you did , 24 years in the business and it happened again . So i took pump off and freed it up and made sure it was clean , still looks like new inside . Put more additive in tank its been working fine. The money i spent on the Pros i could have put a good down payment on a new one . Oh well just my luck. Thank you for any information deeply appreciated.

ModernOldTimer

Hi, I had same problem with a 4 year old oil pump seizing up. I have old underground oil tank, but newer well-maintained furnace. Earlier I had decided to try 5% biofuel blend and had delivery of a couple hundred gallons adding to couple hundred already in tank. Furnace ran fine until temps got colder when oil pump wouldn't work. I had furnace expert stop by who told me nothing was wrong except that my fuel was probably gelling or sludgy due to adding biofuel to old tank but that he had been seeing same problem even without biofuel where many people were getting new oil pumps as solution. I decided to try a different solution which was to plug in a small electric ceramic heater and run it on low in front of oil pump and copper fuel lines. Worked like a charm last winter and this winter and now oil pump is working fine now without the electric heater now that temps are above freezing. I am burning as much as possible of my old fuel before adding new and I am not going to add any more biofuel next fillup. The electric heater has added $10 to $20 per month extra to my light bill, but we have enjoyed the little bit of extra heat in basement anyway and it's cheaper than the cost of a new oil pump and allowing us to burn up the old sludgy fuel.

HVACNUT

@ModernOldTimer
Installation of a Tiger Loop Ultra will help preheat the fuel. The burner only pulls what it needs from the tank so you don't have 3 GPH running between the tank and pump. What brand, model burner? There are manufacturers of nozzle line heaters.

Leonard

If you end up replacing the pump..... About 10-15 years ago my OLD suntech pump leaked, bought rebuilt one from local supply house . That one leaked in ~ 1-2 years. Bought NEW pump , worked well ever since. Guess rebuilt oil pumps are not as good as rebuilt car water pumps.

Big Ed_4

Sometimes the coupling is too long and that will apply pressure on the pump shaft .. Bits of teflon will jam the gear set ... Useless check valves on the return line could cause this problem if it dose not pop the shaft seal first ...

chevy5356

Thanks to all who have suggestions and similar problems . I finally found somebody who took care of problem and said it had something to do with fuel . He took the entire burner out and reset every thing to specs. another new nozzle , new filters , set oil pump pressure .It has been running fine since . He will be installing new system in the spring my request , converting to natural gas . I already have 9 year old system sold , friend wants it for his large garage . I spent to much money and aggravation on this oil burner this season . Thanks again everybody for all your help . Sincerely Chevy 5356