Hi to the group,
I have a Beckett AFG Oil Burner that is less than one year old.
This unit has been pretty unreliable .
I have had to call for service 4 times in less than a year because the burner would not ignite.
The original installer kept coming up with excuses so I called another service company.
The net result from the last service call is that the technician lowered the pump pressure to 100 psi , adjusted the airflow and igniters. The unit is currently working.
Does anyone know if setting the pump pressure to 100 psi is OK for this type of unit?
Many Thanks in Advance.
Yes it is OK for the unit but they burn cleaner at the higher pump pressure. Better air fuel mix at 140 psi as compared to 100 psi. It should be able to run OK at 140 as most boiler and furnace manufacturers are requesting higher pump pressures today to assist in overcomming tigher heat exchangers.
Is that a new burner in an old boiler ?
I suspect that it came through set at 140 ... and as such, the nozzle should have been sized smaller to arrive at the same 'firing rate' as the old burner was.
Nozzles are specified at a certain flow at a specified pressure. That pressure is 100 PSI. So a 1.25 nozzle would flow 1.25 ONLY at 100 PSI.
If your boiler has a firing rate for example of 1.00 GPH, then that's the size nozzle you would use if the pump were set at 100 PSI.
To run the pump at 140 PSI, you would simply refer to a nozzle chart that would tell you what size nozzle to use to achieve 1.00 GPH at that pressure. It might end up being a 0.85 nozzle as an example.
So, what is the firing rate on your boiler ? (look at the data plate on the boiler).
What size nozzle did the tech install ?
This really sounds like a case of someone not knowing what they are doing. I will admit there are those special cases that can be quite dumbfounding, but the Beckett AFG burner is the simplest burner to work with in my past experience. I can not see why someone would need to lower the pump pressure to 100psi. That is the setting older burners were set to run at, but as time went on, engineers have determined that the 140psi at the nozzle was much better at solving some of the problem firing of those special case problem burners.
As I said, there are those special cases.
More information about the boiler age, make, model number, meaybe combustion chamber size, and type of venting (power, direct, or chimney vented) would help in finding a solution.
First of all I would like to thank evryone for their replies. They were very informative.
Unfortunately, my furnace will not ignite this afternoon. It worked fine last night and this morning.
I am a bit frustrated since this furnace is less than one year old.
I do not know the nozzle size or firing rate.
Would the pump pressure prevent the unit from igniting?
Thanks again to all
Originally Posted by dobrycki
I am a bit frustrated since this furnace is less than one year old.
If this unit is only a year old, there was no reason to change the pressure to 100psi.
Get a new heating tech.
I do not know the nozzle size or firing rate.
Would the pump pressure prevent the unit from igniting?
Look at the manual for the boiler that the installer should have left for you, or the DATA PLATE on the boiler.
The pump pressure in itself won't cause the boiler not to fire, but if the guy who worked on it didn't change the nozzle to match the pump pressure, he screwed up ...
In fact, it sounds like they don't know WTH they are doing, as PG said, find a new service guy... tell him what the other guys did ... be careful though, it might be his brother!
Is this a new boiler or just a burner retrofitted into an old boiler? If new, please supply the make model number. We can look up the factory settings.
It sounds like a simple problem to solve if you have basic mechanical abilities. You can go to the home page for Beckette oil Burners and pull up all the tech. info. for your oil burner. It is very self explanitory. To know the basic theory of steam generation and oil burner operation; which can be obtained on their website, makes troubleshooting so much easier. The problem today with alot of Oil Burner Tech. is that if it does not work, just replace it and not solve the root of the problem.
If all else fails, call Beckette yourself and inform them of the variouse problems you are have with their product that is lesss than a year old. Best of luck to you.
If this is only one year old it's got an electronic ignitor and primary control. The pump pressure may be a red herring. If the electrode setting is off the spark can jump to the retention head and fail to ignite the oil. You may also have an intermittent problem with the solenoid in the CleanCut pump or, since the primary has a separate relay for the ignitor, the control itself.
They should put everything back to manufacturers specs. Has anybody done a combustion test. Maybe there is too much air on the burner. What is the draft? Have them check the Z dimension. I find about 50% of the burners have a wrong Z dimension setting. One oil line or two. If two what is the vacuum?
As Grady asked what is the model number and manufacturer of the product.
FYI Guys...Old Post -
I have 2 beckett electrodes setting gauges T501 and T231.The distance from the center of the nozzle to the tip of the electrode is 5/16 for F head on the
T501 and 7/16 on the T 231 for F head.Does anyone know why this difference?
The difference is old (7/16) vs. new (5/16) specs. Instead of having different electrode set-ups for different heads (F, L, V) Beckett standardized on the 5/16 for all. You also get faster cleaner ignition with the electrodes at 5/16.
Tags: beckett, burner, pressure, pump pressure, firing rate, than year, less than, less than year, model number, size nozzle, sounds like, those special, anyone know, Does anyone
