Swapping Oil Burner

coffeysm

I have a Series 2 WTGO-4 Weil McClain Gold boiler with a QB180 burner. My oil company reduced my service plan due to the fact that I still have an QB burner. So, I purchased this burner:

https://www.supplyhouse.com/Weil-Mclain-386-700-400-GO-4-Beckett-Oil-Burner-for-WGO-4-WTGO-4-or-SGO-4-7213000-p

I called the store prior to purchasing and they said it would work with my burner. I noticed it's designed for the series 3 WGO/WTGO-4 burner. I figured it would just be a direct swap, but I wanted to get some other opinions too. I was reviewing the burner documentation for both burners and noticed the QB has adjustable cam settings, slightly higher PSI for fuel, and few other minor differences. I planned on just swapping the burner out and then setting my annual tuneup and having them check the combustion and other settings like that.

Thanks for reading my post.

STEVEusaPA

Hmmmm. Well it would (could) work.
I'd prefer you call the oil company tell them you bought the burner. Let them swap it out. You won't have everything you need to do it yourself. Also they may not want to install something a customer purchased, or even worse, may charge you more for a service contract as now they have to assume liability for your burner.
Then you'll need the right nozzle, check/confirm pump pressure, need some oil fitting.
Then you will need to do a full combustion test to commission it.
Did you ask your oil company how much it would cost to change out the burner?
You buy, they install, just might equal they buy, they install.
Let the oil company handle everything. If something is wrong with the burner you buy and it's discovered after the oil company shows up, who do you think should pay?

The oil company would (should) know how to set it up for higher pump pressure with the correct nozzle.

As a side note, I wouldn't put a burner in for a customer that purchased it online.

coffeysm

That is why I was looking for a preconfigured burner for my type of boiler. I did ask them once about it and they quoted me some outrageous price. I paid about 455 for the burner and they would have charged me around 600-700 just for the burner without labor. They've been okay, but a few times in the past they loaded the parts cannon trying to troubleshoot my furnace when it kept shutting down. From what I noticed it seemed like air was getting in the system. I mentioned this to them and they ignored it for awhile and 500 dollars later they agreed with me and installed a TigerLoop. My Aquastat shorted out once too and they wanted several hundred dollars to change that out. The tech who came told me to just grab online and it would be cheaper, so I did that. I recently swapped that out with the Hydrostat 3250 the other day.

You don't live near West Chester do you? lol.

HVACNUT

The QB-180 had serious problems dealing with static pressure. Constant hiccups would wreak havoc. 
I 100% agree with @STEVEusaPA. A professionally manufactured burner, an inexperienced installer, and a professional burner service company. Which one doesn't fit? They might run for for the hills if they walk in on Frankenstein's monster. 

EBEBRATT-Ed

@coffeysm

No such thing as a preconfigured burner. Even if you have the right burner and nozzle the burner has to be set up properly

STEVEusaPA

The only thing 'preconfigured' is they are providing you with an welded flange air tube, which may or may not give you the proper insertion depth, and may need something a little extra to properly mount/seal.

Jamie Hall

And no prices, thank you. One of the rules -- particularly for labour.

STEVEusaPA

coffeysm said:

...You don't live near West Chester do you? lol.

Broomall.

Steamhead

@coffeysm , you won't go wrong if you get @STEVEusaPA to install and tune your burner.

coffeysm

Well, I just had my oil company come out and install the burner for me. It took the guy about 20 minutes and that was just hooking everything up. It fired right up and he had to make some real minor air adjustments and add the bypass plug, but otherwise the burner was setup correctly. It passed all the combustion tests too. I ended up paying more for this then the actual burner itself, lol. But, at least they installed it, will cover it, and I know for a fact it's safe. I salvaged the motor, coupling, fuel pump, and igniter from my old one in case I need backups.