Does my boiler have a valve?

BronxMatt

I recently replaced the Carlin Universal Oil Primary Controller for my ancient oil boiler.

After a day of working fine, it locked out with the message “flame @ prepurge”. I looked it up on Carlin’s website and it says to fix this error, if the burner does not have a valve select “valve delay on in the setup menu.”

I have no idea what this means or if my burner has a valve or not. And i don’t know how to find out.

Any suggestions?

Mad Dog_2

Pictures...Mad Dog

EBEBRATT-Ed

@BronxMatt

This is a case where you could be putting yourself and property at risk.

The valve they are referring to is an electrically operated solenoid valve to open and close to start and stop the flow of oil to the burner.

Some burners will have this valve built into the oil pump, some burners have no valve, and some burners will have a valve separate from the oil pump.

As @Mad Dog_2 mentioned pictures of the oil burner and the oil pump will help. That is the first step.

What model control do you have? You may need some additional wiring for optimum operation

BronxMatt

Ok if it’s the solenoid valve i believe this boiler has one. Here are pics.

I replaced the controller with the same model and wired it exactly as it was. But i don’t know if there were any settings that were different than the default.

SuperTech

Your boiler has a solenoid valve that can be used for a pre purge and post purge delay. The control will ask you if your boiler is equipped with one during the initial setup. Usually 15-30 seconds is normal for the pre purge. If the control is configured correctly and you are getting that message than the cad cell eye is seeing flame or light of some sort during the pre purge delay and locking the burner out for safety.

This is an unusual occurrence and it would be best to contact a professional who is familiar with oil burners, especially considering the age of the boiler. It's quite possible that the cad cell is seeing light from a hole in the combustion chamber.

BronxMatt

ok thanks!

Mad Dog_2

Bronx Matt: Oil burners should be worked on by professionals...potenial.danger if you're not familiar. In addition, that's quite an antique boiler you're firing in to. Last time FULLY serviced? Brushed & vacuumed? Combustion test? Alot more at stake. Mad Dog

EdTheHeaterMan

If that control replaced a 3 wire primary control, and the "Valve" wire is connected to the orange "motor" wire as it is on the three wire control, that will cause the "Flame @ Prepurge" error

Another reason to have a Pro check this out. DYI installers may not know all the details and benefits of that control, and can set the wires up to work ok, but not work well!