Bleeding my Oil Boiler

[DanH]

Hi There,

We ran out of oil....more or less.

I believe the oil boiler now needs bleeding, as it will only come on for a minute or two, often less, then it turns itself off. Pressing the reset button means it lights again for anywhere between 30 seconds and 2 minutes, but no more. There's mild heat in the radiator, but very mild.

Because of having the tank refilled today, I presume this is a bleed issue, but I may be wrong. It was serviced only a fortnight or so ago.

I have taken some photos of the boiler - it says the make is Beta (it's old!).

1. Can anybody point me to where I would find the bleed valve?
2. Can anybody remind me what the red dial is for? I remember being told by our original heating engineer, before he retired.

Have had issues with the motor in the 2-way valve in recent times which was causing house and system to trip, but have mostly resolved that without replacing it. The last thing the heating did, though, when the oil ran out, was trip the circuit...

Any help greatly appreciated. Would prefer to learn to bleed this myself.

 

[Chalked]

Please don’t touch the rad dial. It’s for air adjustments.
You photos don’t show the bleed nipple, as it’s on the side of the fuel pump.
I would recommend paying someone to come and sort this, as there could be up to six ports on the pump. One will be the pressure adjustment screw. Move this and you could soot up your boiler.

If your adamant to do it yourself. You could remove the burner and disconnect the oil line. This will purge the oil, but without isolating the supply, you might have a lot of fuel to mop up.

 

[Chalked]

On a side note. That probe should be clipped just above the burner.

 

[SimonG]

Get your service guy back and get him to show you what to do.
Don't keep pressing the reset, and as Chalked said don't fiddle or it could turn into a more expensive visit.

 

[Best]

Good burner that, although it is probably getting on a bit.
That oil pump can be a difficult one to bleed, so best get your service guy to sort it and show you.
Running out of oil can finish a worn oil pump, so you could also have a fault.

 

[DanH]

Thanks for all this. Will get the boiler service chap back and just watch this time. And hopefully not have the problem in the future....