boiler keeps needing resetting

[The_Jeff]

calling the heat guy monday but wondering...

have this 3-4 year old super-pimpin' "Weissman" boiler with the seperate water tank, 3 zones including the hot water, oil heat, that keeps tripping and needing the reset button pressed.

Same place as a "traditional" boiler's red button on the motor, but this is a momentary button not a "it popped out, click it back in". A red LED lights when it's got a fault. Oil tank is 3/4 full, so it's not necessarily like I just got a bad batch of fuel.

Escalation: Reset once a week ago, then 2 nights ago, last night, 2x today...

Boiler was cleaned/serviced last fall by the guy who put it in, a likeable redneck. New filter, cleaning, etc, whatever they do. I also have some wood heat so it gets lighter use.

So what trips these things?

 

[pbm]

I don't know the answer to your question but when I had a new gas boiler installed 2 months ago the installer steered me toward the traditional (82% efficient) boiler rather than one of the new modulating, condensing (90+% efficient) units. His reasoning was that..."what you save in gas you'll pay for in service"...

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Do you have a view port into the burn chamber? Usually reset is caused by slow or delayed ignition. That means your ignition points are eroded or misajusted or the oil nozzle is clogged or otherwise not atomising the fuel properly. These nozzles are usually rated around only 1 gal/hour at 100PSI so they have a small orifice.
1) DO you notice how long it takes the burner to light when there is a call for heat? It should be almost instantaneous. 2) Theere is usually a CAD CELL or similar failsafe system to detect ignition(by recepted light intensity) and will shut off the system if there is a no-start. If this is dirty (shouldnt be) or defective it CAN cause false tripping - but this is usually NOT the case. This is a dangerous situation, get the maintenance guy there right away. Oil is subject to moisture condensate and there is usually a load of sludge on the tank filter when I clean it yearly. There is also a screen inside the burner pump housing that is sometimes neglected on 1x year maintenance. I do my own maintenance now, most ALL the guys up where I live are incompetent and the system runs poorly AFTER they maintain it.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Another thought: I know you have cold weather now in Maine - I have 17 f today - How warm is the basement where the heating system is? Is you oil storage tank in the house? The Oil can get too thick to atomise if it gets chilled.

 

[The_Jeff]

Tank is in the basement. When it's -20'F the basement is around 38'F. It only gets incidental heat from the uninsulated pipes going to the rest of the house. Run #2 and never had a gell problem.

Do get frozen pipes in distant corners (half basement, half crawl space) when it's that cold, but every year I get more insulation in the trouble spots.

pbm- it's 94.5% efficient. I found out later if it were 95% efficient I'd have gotten several thousand $$$ off my taxes.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

94.5 rounds to 95%. The efficieny is only that high when everything is set perfect with quality oil and burner adjustment. Quabbling or a 1/2% there or there is silly. GVMT!

 

[duaneb9729]

Arcographite is correct !!

You can build up a pool of fuel oil in the burner area and pressing the reset button ignite that pool of oil when the burner lights up, lets just say it scares the c r a p out of a guy at a minimum.

Ask me how i know!

 

[ARCOgraphite]

So, is the system OFF right now? Had you notice delayed ignition? Right now my system is about 1/4 second - but i have my ignitor gap set a bit further away from the oil mist than is optimal.

 

[The_Jeff]

It starts right up. It has one of those blower things that starts a draft in the flue, and it then starts ~10 sec later like it's off the showroom floor.

My burner guy says it's ok to hit reset once but a lot of his customers do it 5x or 6x before calling him and that makes a mess.

No #2 diesel smelling farts either like my old furnace did on occasion.

Good thing about my burner guy is he's lazy so he'd just as well show me his trade as he fixes stuff so he doesn't have to come back. He fishes with my F-I-L.

 

[duaneb9729]

thats good news eljefino, you will take better care of it anyway

 

[Gary Allan]

You're resetting the relay box and not the overload on the motor? Sounds like it. Like others have said it can only be a few things. The fire eye is seeing flame, that's clean enough. I'd put money on the electrodes. They can work 100% for long bouts and then just not make it once. That's one item I never observed the technique on ..setting the gap and proper orientation. At least on residential. Bigger stuff was easier in that regard. The rest, outside of having the equipment to do the draw and smoke tests is relatively easy. I just had to order a high limit switch. Thank goodness I found one on Ebay. I can afford the tech to set the thing ..and the oil, but I can't afford both and pay the prices that they get for hard parts. The mark up required (and surely warranted) for something sitting on the shelf is pretty steep. I have a spare motor and relay box sitting around just for the future avoided costs.

 

[The_Jeff]

Here's the magic button! This boiler is like something out of star trek, I guess the first rule of frugal homeownership is to not buy stuff that's "way out there" in complexity...

 

[Gary Allan]

They appear to package everything in one enclosure. I hope it's just an enclosure and not some new standard that reinvents everything. It always gets my scam spider sense tingling when you see a departure from the status quo without any apparent reason. They will give you excuses ..12 people died ..so we had to cost the society $25B over the next 10 years type thing. I'm waiting for my next evolution in propane tanks ..they're about due for some new valve or something.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I like the wood ladder lying against the burner

 

[Gary Allan]

Look like 'glass to me

 

[ARCOgraphite]

You may be right on the f-glass. that glass resin burns nice - but I'm sure thats a cool running boiler - on the OUTSIDE ...

 

[jorton]

eljefino I hope you receive this post in time.

HI joe,
Veissman boilers are the most expensive on the market today. They also have very elaborate electronics integrated into their boilers.
The first thing to verify isthe integrity of the fuel oil line from the tank to the burner. Any air leak what so ever could cause the flame to
go out, thus tripping the re-set or lockout device. There are other conditions that cause lockouts besides improper flame at the burner.
Incorrect input voltage to the electronics, a faulty flame detector or Primary relay. I still think the problem will be in the oil supply system. Good luck.
Tom the heating guy

 

[jorton]

My brother in Mi is a heating and refrigeration contractor. Times like these he's on call 24/7 for no heat emergency service calls. Pay if you can. Times are tough in Michigan, now.

 

[duaneb9729]

I have never seen that brand in person before, i suspect thats just a cover over a regular burner [censored].

The ladder isnt any thing to worry about, if the boiler were hot enough to start the ladder on fire, i suspect the paint would be long gone and he would have "other" problems.

 

[The_Jeff]

The boiler is insulated and my fiberglass ladder is safe.

Code here says the oil line has to be in conduit to keep it from getting smashed/ pinched/ leaky etc.

Oil guy's been called. We have a wood stove so it's not an emergency. Will followup with his fix.