Oil Burner Lockout (revisted)

ed wallace

here it is www.onwatch electronics.com

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Anthony D.

Thank you everyone for all the help on the previous post regarding my oil lock-out problem.

I spent some time yesterday at the job, and noticed the following:
When purging oil into a can with a clear tube there doesnt seem to be any air in the oil.
The vacuum is about 11".
The pump pressure goes immediately to 100psi, even upon delayed ignition.
The nozzle, nozzle press. and electrodes are to specs.
Once the furnace has started the burner starts perfect, but after 20-30 min of off cycle there is a 5 second delay of ignition. (I suspect the delay gets longer with longer off cycles)
The thing I find interesting is the burner air settings posted by the manufacturer (Hallmark) seems very off. They call for the Air Band at 0, the Shutter at 7, with co2 at 10 and 0 smoke @ .015 overfire - But to get at least a 12% co2 the band must be at 3 and air shutter at 7. This gives about a 700degree flue @ 1 smoke.
This morning the burner was locked-out again. I reset and checked start-up which was within a second or two, but their was excess oil burning off from the last trial ignition.
I'm going to call Hallmark to check on the burner control and xformer combo. It has a new style xformer (6kvrms / 20kvpeak) with an intermittent relay (R8184).

jerrygb46@netscape.net

11\"of vac?

I'd be very careful about 11" of vac.What MO# pump do you have?

ed wallace

vac

i think you have a proplem with the vacumm in the line 11 in. is way to much i still think you should get a hold of an Onwatch system

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Anthony D.

Actually, I'm wrong. Its 18" of vaccuum while running. And 11" vaccuum in the "off" cycle. Why is the vaccuum so high? Not sure how to determine what it should be?

But listen to this. I called Hallmark and they recommended that I replace the nozzle to a smaller size and bring pump pressure upto 140psi. When I did this the start-ups were perfect (even after 1 hour "off" cycle) The CO2 and smoke are now inline, and the flame looks better than ever before. I guess I'll see tomorrow if we have another lock-out.

Sherwin Swords

onwatch

We do a lot of oil work, am interested in the "Onwatch" system. Would appreciate web site address. thanks.

Sherwin Swords

onwatch

thanks.

EDDIE GRIERSON_2

HIGH VACUUM

Sounds like a restrection in the oil line. Is it a new oil line? New filter? Where is the tank? What size line? If it is an older line I would try to blow it back to the tank with CO2 or nitrogen. COULD be sludged up. Good Luck!

Anthony D.

Its a brand new install. Furnace is about 15-18 feet above oil tank, and oil line is (2) 1/2"OD copper tubes. We even used an oversized oil filter. No kinks in lines anywhere, and we did use a check valve in the supply before the firomatic. There are only two flare fittings in each line and the total line distance between the tank and furnace (including the lift) is about 25-30 feet.

Joe Grosso

Anthony you answered your own question.

18 inches of vac is to much.What is happening is that the oil is being ripped apart and you are getting air bubble in the pump.If you want to solve this problem install a day tank and this will solve your problem FACT! If you do not want to do this install a tiger loop this should also solve your problem.Less expensive but personally would go with the day tank.One other thought is do you have a single stage or two stage pump on this job.It should be a two stage with this type of lift.If you want email me your # and we can talk.

Anthony D.

Thanks Joe,
I do have a two stage pump. I was seriously considering a transfer pump pkg and day tank, but didn't get too much feedback. But since I relaced the nozzle from a 1.1gph @ 100psi to a .85gph @ 140psi, it has been running great (no lock-outs in 24 hours). Prior to this change it locked-out every night without fail.
I thought the tiger loop was for one-pipe system only? Is ths true?
One more thing! How do you determine what the vaccuum should be? I'm sure there is a way to calculate within a range, based on line size, hieght of lift, and maybe pump type.

chris smith_2

18\"

this is going to be a problem for you it will wear out pumps like crazy most manufacturers don't recomend exceding 16" on there best heavy duty pumps if moneys a problem go with a tiger vent as has been mentioned if moneys not a problem the day tank transfer pump is a nice solution

chris smith

paradise porter maine

Steamhead

Another question

Is there a foot valve in the tank, and if so, is it opening all the way? Is the check before the Firomatic working properly?

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Jim_47

Delay

Anthony,
I run an service Co. covering Wapp Falls NY
Give me a call and lets set the burner up correctly.
I do not have an OnWatch but we can walk thru the system and check it out.
jim
MRHEAT1@aol.com