Boulter Camry 5 oil boiler problem 10 years old

[johneboy]

Hi,
Could someone please advise what the likely cause is to the following.

Boiler wouldn't start this morning so woke up cold. Tried to start, motor running, sounded as though it fired more loudly than normal, motor continued to run but flame extinguished. Thought it was a lack of oil and looked at filter, completely choked, replaced and then removed air from system. Fired up boiler again now runs for some time before flame extinguished (I guess because I cannot see but water doesn't get hot) but boiler motor continues to run.

What is going on???????

Any suggestions please.

 

[dontknowitall]

Sounds like it needs a service. If done by OFTEC chappie, the baffles will be cleaned, the nozzle changed and the flexible oil line replaced. The whole boiler will be looked at and other items checked, like fan clear enough, photocell clean, etc.

Presumably you've a fairly full tank of oil? If only 1/4 full, this can be enough to cause problems.

 

[johneboy]

It was serviced last august, was wondering whether having it serviced with a blocked filter the oil pressure may be up the spout, gave a quarter turn on the ball valve on the feed line and managed to get it going. Flue gas out the chimney is black as yer hat so now turned the air dam valve up to give more air.
Am I going in the right direction

 

[Bartdude]

Am I going in the right direction

No,not really!!

If you've got black smoke coming out the flue you need to turn it off now,there's a problem with the burner that needs expert attention,the heat exchanger and baffles will probably be covered in soot and will need cleaning.

You shouldn't adjust the air setting without a combustion analyser,or at the least a smoke pump.Time to call an Oftec engineer.

 

[papahape]

It was serviced last august, was wondering whether having it serviced with a blocked filter the oil pressure may be up the spout, gave a quarter turn on the ball valve on the feed line and managed to get it going. Flue gas out the chimney is black as yer hat so now turned the air dam valve up to give more air.
Am I going in the right direction

When you say ball valve are you opening or closing the oil line ? You dont want to restrict the oil flow to the pump
I would turn oilvalve off at the tank ,
clear the oil filter ,

remove flexi from the burner an d run a couple of litres of oil into a bottle to msake sure oil flow is good and to check you dont have any water or crap in the oil ( if you suspect water contamination then chances are your pump is on its way out )

make sure the firevalve isnt blocked then reassemble turn oil back on and bleed the pump , but if you have done ANY altering to the pump pressure you will find that you thsi why you are getting black smoke as you have got incomplete combustion .

 

[papahape]

No,not really!!

If you've got black smoke coming out the flue you need to turn it off now,there's a problem with the burner that needs expert attention,the heat exchanger and baffles will probably be covered in soot and will need cleaning.

You shouldn't adjust the air setting without a combustion analyser,or at the least a smoke pump.Time to call an Oftec engineer.

or as bartdude says get someone with all the right gear

 

[johneboy]

I appreciate all the good advice about someone with the right gear but I am sitting here freezing everything off the preverbials with wife, grandparenst etc. I am not sure that they will all agree with wait until you can get an expert in a few days time. A bit of logic (maybe not the right kind) a bit of common sense( maybe not the right kind) and I have at least got the boiler working. I now have the time to get an expert in or buy the right equipment and do it myself. The boiler was serviced last august, that's what the experts did for me. Hope that doesn't sound too negative but thank you all for the thoughts.
Where can I buy the test equipment from?????????????????

 

[papahape]

If you are only going to be doing for yourself it makes more sense to get someone in ( I know what its like to be without heat )
but for test equipment you need;

smoke pump -- very important first bit of kit as you will see if you open up the combustion chamber! £100 odd pounds

pressure gauge -- for setting pump pressures £20 pounds with test manifold

you can either go with a combustion analyser ( fairly expensive ) or you can bur a wetkit and one of these will be required to set the boiler to its most effecient .

remember that you could have a multitude of probs on your hands besides the oil line faulty pump , nozzle etc etc .

you can buy all the kit off ebay or at any good plumbers merchants but it will set

 

[papahape]

briggon test kit smoke pump analyser odest meter manua on eBay (end time 23-Jan-11 18:25:07 GMT)

or try and get this at a reasonable price remember smoke pump alone costs £100

 

[johneboy]

words of wisdom, thank you very much, will consider options in the warm with glass in hand

 

[dontknowitall]

If you phone around tomorrow you should be able to get someone out by the end of the day after about 5 phone calls. Most of us react quickly to an emergency as most boilers are now working normally.

 

[papahape]

If you phone around tomorrow you should be able to get someone out by the end of the day after about 5 phone calls. Most of us react quickly to an emergency as most boilers are now working normally.

as opposed to 3-4 weeks ago when I turned the flipping phone off to try and get some work done

 

[Bartdude]

The boiler was serviced last august, that's what the experts did for me.

Don't think it's fair to blame the fault on a service 5 months ago.

I appreciate you want to get the boiler working yourself,but black smoke is a bad sign,and safety has to be the first concern.That's why I wouldn't recommend you do it yourself. Just be aware that by adjusting the oil and air settings that the burner won't be running correctly and there's a good chance the boiler will be covered in soot internally. That needs to be cleaned out as soon as you can really.

Hope it stays working.

 

[Dotty]

Also if you've drastically altered your oil pressure setting from 8 bar (assuming you ARE burnning kerosene!) then not only will your burner run like crap but you'll also wind up knackering your oil pump!

Very very unlikely to be the fault of the service 5 months down the line. get your guy back. or another oftec guy if you like.

dont bother spending hundreds on the test gear you'll need when he already has it and will charge you a fraction of that!

besides which, you DO have your mi's don't you? you didn't mention the output of the boiler or what burner's bolted to it.

 

[WHPES]

Has the flue been swept recently? Check that first before you call out the boiler man.