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Oil boiler will not engage at all

Mikeyork7313
Mikeyork7313 Member Posts: 2
in Oil Heating

I have an oil boiler that I shut off for the summer season. When the boiler cools off a gasket leaks and the water drains out of it. It has for years. But when it gets up to temp it stops leaking. I went to turn it on today for the winter and it will not engage at all. The only way I can force it to turn on is by manually pushing a magnetic switch inside a box labeled level control as soon as I let go the furnace shuts back off.

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Comments

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 25,261

    Ah… that box is a safety to prevent the boiler from firing if there is insufficient water. Your pressure gauge seems to indicate you have pressure — but they have been known to lie.

    I would stop trying to fire the boiler by overriding that safety, and find out if there really is enough water in the boiler — and if there is, why the safety thinks there isn't. And then fix the problem. Dry firing a boiler never ends well…

    I might add that a chronic leak, cold or hot, is not something to ignore (unless you are an SR=71) and should get fixed before you try to run the system again.

    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
    bburd
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 16,839

    What @Jamie Hall said

  • Mikeyork7313
    Mikeyork7313 Member Posts: 2

    How do you tell if there's enough water?

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 25,261

    There must be a drain valve somewhere… even better would be one above the boiler. In any event, turn the boiler emergency switch off and the close the water feed valve and see how much water you get out…

    Or better, if there are bleed valves on the upstairs radiators, open one. You should get a good steady stream of water.

    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England

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