Outside of combustion chamber red hot
New home owner here,
Recently got my oil burner replaced because it was tripping the breaker. I noticed while the boiler is working, eventually the outer wall of the combustion chamber that the oil burner is connected to is getting hot and turning red, curious what could be causing this and any advice?
Comments
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The refractory insulation is missing from that iron plate. DO NOT RUN THAT BOILER UNTIL IT IS FIXED!
Firebox refractory kits are available for most boilers. What is the make and model of yours?
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@Steamhead thank you for your prompt response, yeah I turned it off because I figured thats not a good sign. It is a Weil McLain, model P-368U-WT
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You can still get a kit for that one, but only contractors will (or should) be able to buy them. Where are you located? We might know someone………………
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I'm located out in Hempstead, New York (Nassau County)
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Pretty old boiler. When did they stop making the "P" boiler 1980ish??
The front plate is overheating because the refractory is deteriorated.
Get ready for the "you need a new boiler" speech
Even if you don't need one.
If your oil supplier does service that may be your best bet.
The old combustion chamber is probably full of soot as it has probably never been cleaned out
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Yep. Not a DIY for most.
Trying to squeeze the best out of a Weil-McLain JB-5 running a 1912 1 pipe system.1 -
In order to help in the removal of the front door, start putting penetrating oil on these 4 nuts that hold the front door in place. On a boiler that old, they are probably rusted on there pretty good. You may need heat from a torch to free them up.
I agree with @EBEBRATT-Ed about the combustion chamber never being vacuum cleaned properly. and the NEW Boiler pitch. The replacement boiler for your home will have the same burner that you just purchased. It will also have about the same fuel consumption as the P68 boiler you now have. No big change in the way Weil McLain builds them today v. 1980 except for a hinge to open that combustion chamber area for cleaning. With a new chamber and a proper vacuum cleaning, you will have a boiler that is as efficient as a new one.
Edward Young Retired
After you make that expensive repair and you still have the same problem, What will you check next?
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Curious why they had to replace the entire burner? An electrical short should only require replacing the bad part.
Oh right, no one knows how to troubleshoot anymore.
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You may need heat from a torch to free them up.
Or apparently just run the boiler for a few minutes 😅
NJ Steam Homeowner.
See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el
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Who was able to have the knowhow to install a brand new burner, but not have the knowhow to see what was 6 inches away from their face? Consider yourself lucky.
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probably both signs that you shouldn't call whoever installed that burner to fix it
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Thank you everyone for your responses, I do gather that I need to call someone else to hopefully get this fixed, if not I definitely am prepped for the new boiler pitches.
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According to them, the short was coming from the motor and the entire burner needed to be changed; apologies if my terminology is off here, I'm also new to oil heating systems so thats why I went along with this person. Definitely going to reach out to someone else to resolve this
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They probably replaced the old burner because the end of the blast tube burned off.
So, just stick another burner in there so the same thing will happen again.
Don't take off the front plate and vac the boiler and fix the refractory
Sell new. No one wants to fix anything anymore and most of them don't know how.
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