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melted oil pump drive connector

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dwilliamsx6
dwilliamsx6 Member Posts: 5
in Oil Heating

furnace died, after troubleshooting found it was not getting oil. verified tank had oil, changed the filter, checked shut offs and safety valves. all were ok so figured bad pump. while replacing pump i found the connection from motor to pump had melted so motor turned but was no longer connected to pump. pump was not seized, seems to turn ok by hand. it was in a 20 yr old thermopride burner. i replaced entire burner assembly but wondering what would cause this? had been running flawlessly before this happened. is this a common thing? thanks

Comments

  • HydronicMike
    HydronicMike Member Posts: 253

    That is usually caused by back pressure. Your service provider needs to properly clean your heat exchanger, flue pipe, and check to make sure your chimney is clear. Back pressure can also come from a depressurization in the combustion air zone.
    Also, a full combustion test including over fire and breech draft need to be confirmed.
    Another reason could be a cracked heat exchanger.
    Just changing the burner didn't fix your problem.

    Grallert
  • dwilliamsx6
    dwilliamsx6 Member Posts: 5

    furnace was fully serviced and given a good bill of health at end of last season, so 2-3 months of light use, 100k btu used only to heat 300 sq ft utility room to 55 degrees and it never even had a hiccup until this.. chimney is new, replaced beginning of season. pre-fab insulated metal. we did have extreme wind last week, maybe like 40-50mph gusts, could this have caused back pressure issue? the chimney is also very short, slab on grade, single story with flat roof, so chimney is only like 9 feet tall, just wondering???

    EBEBRATT-Ed
  • HVACNUT
    HVACNUT Member Posts: 7,241
    https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1879779#Comment_1879779

    If you're talking about the burner coupling, and the burner coupling was melted, then it needs to get checked. Combustion, smoke, and draft tests.

    EBEBRATT-Ed
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 19,632

    @dwilliamsx6

    I agree with the above posts you should probably have it checked. Thermopride is the best furnace available. Should be checked and adjusted.

    As a quick test run the burner for a while and when it shuts off on the stat hold your hand over the air intake shutter on the burner and see if you have any heat coming out when the burner is off. if you do see if the heat comes and goes when the main blower is on or off. You could have a bad Heat exchanger, or the burner needs adjustment or the HX needs cleaning

    Is the building under negative pressure? Any exhaust fans running?

  • Big Ed_4
    Big Ed_4 Member Posts: 3,369

    Any big exhaust fans in the building ? They would melt a coupling …

    There was an error rendering this rich post.

  • dwilliamsx6
    dwilliamsx6 Member Posts: 5

    no there are not any large fans, but… the utility room is not completely sealed off from main building yet, there are openings where utilities are being run. the main building which is going through a major renovation can have doors removed, ceilings open to attic, etc at any given time. the building sits on top of a hill exposed to constant wind and inside the building can feel like a wind tunnel at times. i have noticed that sometimes door to utility room wants to blow open and at other times wants to slam shut. have made appointment with burner tech to check, but i feel it might be a waste until building pressures are resolved. the building had 2 furnaces but one was condemned because of exchanger holes so i believe this one was checked closely and found to be ok. i will make an attempt to seal the openings between buildings when not being worked on. i will check for hot air at shutter on shut off. is there anything else i should do to prevent this until work is done and system can be set properly? thanks for the info.

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