Replace an aging Beckett RWB oil burner?

Jack M

Are Beckett burners interchangeable or device-specific?

My old Beckett RWB burner with Sunstrand J2bb 300-3 pump and Sid Harvey t1-15 ignition transformer has lived a long life. I see these new Beckett burners with more modern pumps and ignitors. But will any just any AFG burner fit? What specs need to be aligned? My neighbor switched to gas and left me a "new in the box" AFG. Is it as simple as having a technician swap these out?

Robert O'Brien

That "new" burner is 20 plus years old, that being said, yours is at least 50. You need a flange, airtube and someone who knows what they're doing. It is an upgrade

SuperTech

I wouldn't change the entire burner. I would just install a new Carlin 70200 interrupted ignition primary control, new electronic igniter and electrodes and a new Beckett clean cut oil pump.

The oil pump would need to have the pump pressure set. The primary control would need to be setup for 10 second trial for ignition, 15 second pre purge and 30 second post purge. Install a new burner nozzle and oil filter and perform a combustion analysis and you should be good as new.

EdTheHeaterMan

That "NEW" Beckett is from a water heater. the firing rate may be set up for 0.60 GPH and your Beckett SR burner with 1725 RPM motor and fuel pump may be firing more than that. Look at the firing rate or the BTU input or I=B=R NET output of the boiler or furnace you have to determine if that firing rate is compatible. The air handling parts of the new Beckett may be to restrictive to allow a larger firing rate without modification.

Another problem with water heater to boiler or furnace swapping is the flange location on the air tube. That "new" Beckett appears to have a welded flange. That flange can not be adjusted for the proper insertion depth. If you are looking for a "plug and play" where you just bolt the "new" burner to the old heater… It is not that easy. Need a Pro that knows oil burners to get it right. Some additional parts may be needed.

Jack M

This is helpful information. My service company is unlikely to want to touch anything that they don't sell to me directly. I had a service all last year when they did not have "parts on the truck," so having some backup parts would give me peace of mind and save me the cost of a second service call or one of those dreaded "no-heat" ($$) service calls that I had during COVID, that was very expensive.

EBEBRATT-Ed

As @EdTheHeaterMan said the old burner is a Beckett SR 1725 RPM burner sold around 1970s. Different animal from the new burner you have.

The SR is a flame retention burner so upgrading to the other burner isn't going to save fuel

Jack M

The other burner the neighbor gave me looks similar. However, this one he had used. It looks similar to the other Beckett and says "AFG" and is set to 150 PSI. Must be another hot water heater burner I suppose. He did have an oil-fired boiler before the upgrade, these must be from his hot water system.

EdTheHeaterMan

The oil burner with the serial number that ends in 01180 came from a Burnham MPO boiler that was rated up to 87% AFUE and may have been energy star rated when it was installed in your neighbors home. the welded flange means that you can not adjust the insertion depth. If you remove the SR oil burner using. the three bolts that hold the flange on to your heater, you can measure the insertion depth of the SR burner. if the insertion depth is the same or within 1/8" in or out, you could most likely use that burner on your heater.

You will still need about 5 years experience with combustion testing instruments in order to select the proper nozzle, and make the proper adjustments for your heating appliance. still not a DIY job if you have no oil heat experience.

I would venture to say that the primary control on the newer burner that came with the Burnham MPO boiler is a better primary control than the primary control you have on your existing SR burner. So hold on the that Honeywell R7284 control. There are diagnostic features available that are not on your existing blue primary control

Steamhead

@Jack M , what model boiler is your current burner installed on?

I would want to see what firing head is on that burner. For those not aware, a long time ago Beckett made a non-flame-retention model called the "S" before fitting it with the then-new flame-retention head to make the SR (which they also did with the original model A to make it into the AF). As long as it has the flame-retention head, runs cleanly and efficiently and is a good match for the boiler, I see no need to replace it.

We can still get all the necessary replacement parts for that burner- even an electronic ignitor. The CleanCut fuel unit mentioned above won't work on this one if the motor is 1725 RPM, but Beckett does make a stand-alone solenoid delay valve which will do the same thing.

I've even upgraded a couple S burners into SR units. They ran great.

EBEBRATT-Ed

I think (could be wrong) that the SR and AF used the same heads although the firing rates may differ for each head because of the difference in fan speed.

Steamhead

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1870175#Comment_1870175

You're right.