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Inconsistent firing

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Adam S
Adam S Member Posts: 3
in THE MAIN WALL
We only just bought the house in October, and have been trying to get on the service plan all along, but the provider doesn't start new plans each year until April! We just recieved our application this weekend, and are sending it in pronto.

Comments

  • Adam S
    Adam S Member Posts: 3
    Inconsistent firing

    I'm a homeowner with an approximately 25 year old Weil-Mclain boiler - hot water/baseboard style heating. My problem: Occasionally the system just wont fire independently, despite the thermostat setting. This has happened about 4 or 5 times since October.
    I am able to start it up by pressing the manual reset on the boiler. The boiler was serviced (annual tune-up) a month ago; no explanation for this problem was found. Any ideas?
  • Dave Yates (PAH)
    Dave Yates (PAH) Member Posts: 2,162
    might be

    A bad motor. Sounds nuts, but we had that occur twice this past heating season. One was less than a year old while the other was about the age of yours. In both cases, it turned out to be the motor. Cost us a bundle to chase down.


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  • Weezbo
    Weezbo Member Posts: 6,231
    lots of reasons...

    one pump shaft.

    small vac leak

    loose or improperly aimed cad


    there really is a host of reasons for what you are experiencing...
    I would like to suggest that you Buy a new Riello burner and tiger loop combo....and when you have a couple more years run time on the older boiler focus on a multiple pass boiler....the cost of which will be less as you will already have a great burner for it.:)
  • David Sutton_6
    David Sutton_6 Member Posts: 1,079
    i agree with Dave

    you need to have the service company to return and do a olms test on the motor, sure sounds like this is a good area to start, all the equipment that is on a oil burner can be tested in one forum or another, time to break out some meters and gauges...David

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  • Doug Elliott
    Doug Elliott Member Posts: 4
    Transformer

    I went through several years of exactly that problem. The transformer wasn't producing enough spark to start consistently. Most of the time it would fire, but it would always fail on the coldest days... At first the restart button would start it, but after a while that wouldn't work either.

    Also check the electrode gap. The two issues are related - a weak spark won't jump a gap that's too big. But replacing the transformer worked in my case.
  • Adam S
    Adam S Member Posts: 3
    Follow up

    Thanks guys, for all your thoughtful suggestions. I happened again tonight - very frustrating. I'm trying to get us on the service plan *before* I have it repaired!
    I'll let you know what happens.
  • Guy_6
    Guy_6 Member Posts: 450
    Service

    I think that an appropriate summation would be for you to have a competent oil/service company test the individual parts listed above for a reasonable diagnosis. If they suggest upgrading to a newer burner you should probably consider that as well, but from here, there's no sure fire way to tell.
  • Paul Fredricks_3
    Paul Fredricks_3 Member Posts: 1,556
    Ignitor

    We have found problems with the new ignitors. They'll test out fine (Ohms check, spark check), but on 1 out of 25 starts you'll get a thin blue spark. Many times when we have had multiple reset calls on a system the last visit the ignitor is changed and the problem goes away.
  • Leo
    Leo Member Posts: 772


    "I'm trying to get us on the service plan *before* I have it repaired! I'll let you know what happens."

    Do you purchase life insurance after being diagnosed with a terminal illness?

    Leo
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