Beckett Oil Burner

Albie

To all the service technicians out there: On a no heat call what are the most common Beckett Oil burner parts that fail and need to be replaced?

Thank you.

HydronicMike

Nothing really sticks out. You should have all the parts on your truck.

EdTheHeaterMan

And a large selection of nozzles.

EBEBRATT-Ed

They are pretty bullet proof. Motors and pumps usually last a long time.

I would say in this order:

Nozzles

pump strainer

electrodes

transformer

pump coupling

Motor

pump

Flame retention head

EdTheHeaterMan

RE Michel used to provide me with an annual report of my part usage. There ware usually 15 to 18 burner motors, about the same amount of fuel pumps. Electronic Ignitors were a little higher, like maybe 25 or more. The oil burner couplings were a big item, but I purchased them in a kit of 20 to a box with an assortment of different end caps. Near the end of my career I started to purchase less of the bulk universal kits and more of the ones that were pre cut to the Beckett burner size. Most of the couplings were Becketts with the occasional Carlin, or Wayne. The high pressure line from the pump the the nozzle assembly seem to go bad when Bubba would over tighten the on that 3/16" flare nut.. "Be gentle" I would say and you only snug it up with a small 7/16" wrench, not your 12" Crescent wrench.

I had all of those parts on all 5 of my service trucks Sometimes two if each if the tech did a lot of oil burner work. I also used the Carlin 70200 primary control. each truck has 2 of those. There were a number of all those items in the shop to restock the trucks as they were used. To put this in perspective I had over 500 regular customers and at least 300 were oil burner users. There were over 2600 non-regulars (one and done) on the books when I sold the business. So I did a fair share of oil burners. Depending on the size of your customer base, you may just need one of each as indicated by @HydronicMike above.

Hope this helps

PS: get a couple sets of Ignition electrodes sets, a 5 pac of Cad Cell eyes and at least one C554A complete Cad Cell kits with the wires and mounting brackets.

HVACNUT

I would like to know why the question is being asked. It's an interesting question.

I would add a burner fan to @EBEBRATT-Ed's list. I've twisted many 1/8" hex keys even with penetrating oil. Beckett should make them 5/32.

SuperTech

I run into a lot more problems related to lack of maintenance and neglect than I do with actual part failures. And at least 90% of the time time I find a failed part it could have been diagnosed and replaced if proper maintenance and troubleshooting was performed.

Things like motors, pumps, couplings, igniters, cad cells usually don't go from working perfectly to not working at all without giving some signs of failing first. A good tech knows how to evaluate the condition of all of the parts of a burner. We don't swap parts out based on "this part is the most likely to fail".

HydronicMike

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1857168#Comment_1857168

Use an 1/8” impact bit in a micro ratchet, like the Klein one.

Albie

HVACNUT - I asked the question because I want to keep some parts on hand for my house. For many years I worked as a plumber installing boilers and heating systems, now retired. Awhile ago I attended a trade school program specifically for oil burners learning maintenance and trouble shooting procedures. I have a house with a pretty new Peerless Boiler with a Beckett burner, I've decided to take care of it myself.

Thank you for all those that have contributed to my question. Very usefull

Steamhead

Do you have a combustion analyzer? If not, you will need one. If you don't test, you're guessing, and that never works out well.

EdTheHeaterMan

Before the electronic combustion analyzers popular (I held out for a long time) I taught an adult evening class on oil heat, at the local trade school. More than half the students that attended the class were DIY homeowners like yourself @Albie. Most of those homeowners were not satisfied with the quality of service technicians from the oil companies. When we set up and adjusted the flame using oil pressure and air adjustments the students used my Bacharach combustion kit to measure Smoke, Draft. Carbon Dioxide. and Stack Temperature. You can find those obsolete Bacharach Wet Kits on eBay for a fraction of the cost of a new one. Not recommended for the tradesman today, however, for over 75 years that was the way we did things. That should be good enough for your needs.

For your own personal stock, I might keep a burner coupling, several of the correct nozzles, a few strainers for the pump. Beckett motor, pump, and electronic ignition/transformer are readily available, and you can expect them to be that way for the foreseeable future. The electrodes assembly should stay in proper working order with annual cleaning

The electronic primary control will most likely have improvements over what is available today, so I would purchase that improved/upgraded device if and when it is needed. For example, For yearsI strongly recommend the Carlin 70200 with all the diagnostic features that were not available on most of the old primary controls out there now. However, today I understand that someone has a primary control with a smart phone App to see all the diagnostic and error codes from their control, right on your smart phone. If that ever becomes standardized, you might want that control in lieu of what is available today.

You just need to have access to a good, well stocked parts supplier with timely delivery or pickup options.

The only other option is to have a complete burner to rob parts from as needed. I recommend that, if you live in an area that has poor access to parts. Then you can order the replacement part for reinstate the spare burner back to operating condition without worrying about down time for your heater. That replacement burner will have all the parts at a reduced cost to that of purchasing the every individual part separately. It even comes with the screws, nuts and bolts necessary to hold all the parts together, AND some parts that will be unavailable if your burner becomes obsolete in 50 years.

Long Beach Ed

For many years I've owned and maintained several multi family homes. Back when I burned oil, I'd always keep an eye open for a scrapped oil burner to keep on each property for parts.

Ed sums it all up. In addition to the used oil burners that I would have for the unusual part that I needed on a Friday night, I kept nozzles, filters, controls, screens, electrodes and transformers.

And, of course my dependable Bacharach kit for setting the air…

You should also have some basic tools oil service including a CO2 blowout gun if you have ancient tanks that clog lines, boiler brushes and a Soot Vac.

Now that I've converted everything to gas, I keep a spare Carlin conversion burner, a spare of every control, thermocouples and igniters. And an electronic combustion analyzer. I still use the Bacharach draft gauge.