Lock out issues Eurostar 90

[Westbury155]

Hi Gents,

Your assistance please-

I have a Eurostar 90 which has an intermittent lock out issue.

What happens is as follows- the boiler will fire up in the morning and heat the hot water and also the central heating, it will run for maybe a few hours and then cut out, a reset will get it working again, sometimes the boiler will run for 8 hours plus without any issues, however i've noticed that sometimes it will stop igniting the fuel but still run and then reignite its self. Other times it will not reignite and lock out.

I service the boiler every year, new nozzle, clean the baffles which are spotless and never sooted up. A heating engineer friend will set up the gases for me. Hes away on holiday at the moment--

To rule out fuel flow/contamination I've checked for water in the trap next to the tank, thats all good, checked the filter at the boiler again thats fine. Removed the photocell which is spotless. The motor does seem hot to the touch.

Not sure if this has anything to do with the fault but there are a few knocks to be heard in the pipework when the boiler is running.

Thanks for your help here, its very much appreciated.

 

[SimonG]

Not a fan of diy servicing. Best wait for your "friend" to return off of holiday.

 

[Westbury155]

Not a fan of diy servicing. Best wait for your "friend" to return off of holiday.

Fair comment, but as a retired aircraft engineer - airframes /propulsion and electrical I feel comfortable with a repair.

 

[SimonG]

Don't care if you're a rocket scientist.
You have no competence to work on an oil boiler.
Safest option, wait for your friend!

 

[Westbury155]

Don't care if you're a rocket scientist.
You have no competence to work on an oil boiler.
Safest option, wait for your friend!

Hi Simon,

Just a

Don't care if you're a rocket scientist.
You have no competence to work on an oil boiler.
Safest option, wait for your friend!

Hi Simon,

You are quite correct, safety is everything, I can assure you that its ingrained in me with all I do.

Just a thought here, when your car/motorcycle plays up do you attempt to have a look at solving the problem yourself or do you take it to a competent person?

My initial post was asking for some pointers to be able to move forward with this problem. As nobody so far is willing to give me some of there experience ill just logically work it out, safely of course.

Not sure when my friend returns-

 

[Best]

I know an oil burner is not too complex a piece of equipment, but your approach to it and lack of experience will often miss a lot and sometimes safety risk.
The symptoms you describe could be several things, - that is, if you are correct.
Ignition problems could be electrical fault, or electrodes setting, or nozzle fault, or air to fuel fault, or balanced flue fault (if it is a b.flue).
Combustion alterations or faults will require an oil engineer with an analyser.
Or it could be ignition transformer weak, or control box intermittent fault, or photocell not seeing flame or intermittent fault.
If you want to risk wasting time and money, you could replace one of those parts, but I would 99% of the time know what the fault was. Also I carry the spares with me and won't run into problems, like oil hoses leaking.
Ignition works to ignite the flame only and can fail intermittently.

 

[SimonG]

Hi Simon,

Just a


Hi Simon,

You are quite correct, safety is everything, I can assure you that its ingrained in me with all I do.

Just a thought here, when your car/motorcycle plays up do you attempt to have a look at solving the problem yourself or do you take it to a competent person?

My initial post was asking for some pointers to be able to move forward with this problem. As nobody so far is willing to give me some of there experience ill just logically work it out, safely of course.

Not sure when my friend returns-

I honestly think you're friend is an invisible white rabbit called Harvey.

Anyway a good engineer should know their limitations, it's what makes them good.

Funnily enough the vans going into the garage this week. It's actually not cost effective for me to carry out repairs. I can earn more in the time the works will take than the cost of the repairs.

Maybe if I had all the expensive equipment to do the job competently then that maybe another matter.

Hope you get it sorted. Safely.

 

[Westbury155]

I know an oil burner is not too complex a piece of equipment, but your approach to it and lack of experience will often miss a lot and sometimes safety risk.
The symptoms you describe could be several things, - that is, if you are correct.
Ignition problems could be electrical fault, or electrodes setting, or nozzle fault, or air to fuel fault, or balanced flue fault (if it is a b.flue).
Combustion alterations or faults will require an oil engineer with an analyser.
Or it could be ignition transformer weak, or control box intermittent fault, or photocell not seeing flame or intermittent fault.
If you want to risk wasting time and money, you could replace one of those parts, but I would 99% of the time know what the fault was. Also I carry the spares with me and won't run into problems, like oil hoses leaking.
Ignition works to ignite the flame only and can fail intermittently.

Hi Best,

Thank you for an informative reply, yes lots of things to learn, ill sit back from this one for a while and have a re think.

Again thanks-

Cheers

 

[Best]

As Simon said above ^^^^
It doesn't really pay me to work much on my vehicles on anything that needs experience and/or proper tools and test gear.
There is no saving normally

 

[Westbury155]

I honestly think you're friend is an invisible white rabbit called Harvey.

Anyway a good engineer should know their limitations, it's what makes them good.

Funnily enough the vans going into the garage this week. It's actually not cost effective for me to carry out repairs. I can earn more in the time the works will take than the cost of the repairs.

Maybe if I had all the expensive equipment to do the job competently then that maybe another matter.

Hope you get it sorted. Safely.

Ill give you his name/company/phone number if you wish

 

[Westbury155]

Ill give you his name/company/phone number if you wish

Boiler now back online.

Found one of the electrode ceramics was cracked-replaced both electrodes and adjusted gaps as per manual. Good healthy spark seen.

Bench tested solenoid-OK

Checked photocell as best as you can with a DMM -seemed OK.

No oil pressure-motor spinning- coupling intact- tried bleeding nothing coming out, good oil supply to pump-replaced pump.

Fired up after bleeding.

Switched immersion heater off and put the electric fan blower away.

Supervisor made me a cup of tea after doing a route march around the house to check all the rads were hot--bless her cotton socks.

Will ask Harvey - OFTEC 1---3 to check the oil pressure and gases on his return from middle earth.

What have I gained from this?
I know understand a lot more than I initially did thanks to forum contributions and lots of reading on the net how an oil boiler operates.

What did I lose?
Quite a bit of driving to get the parts and a few days in a chilly home.

With credit to the guys who do this type of work as a living, as with everything experience counts.

Job safely done, pubs open.

Take care.

 

[Best]

Thanks for letting us know how it worked out. Most people are not mannered enough to let everyone know the outcome.
It would have been a lot cheaper to have a decent oil engineer arrive and fix your boiler. You really need oil pump pressure set and then analyser used to set combustion. Otherwise you are only doing a half job and leaving boiler likely burning wrong

 

[Westbury155]

Thanks for letting us know how it worked out. Most people are not mannered enough to let everyone know the outcome.
It would have been a lot cheaper to have a decent oil engineer arrive and fix your boiler. You really need oil pump pressure set and then analyser used to set combustion. Otherwise you are only doing a half job and leaving boiler likely burning wrong

Its only good manners to let those who have assisted know the outcome.

Cant see how it would of been cheaper, not sure what a plumber charges per hour but my time is free-i'm retired so it also gave me something to do. Parts £57:00, petrol £10.

What would a plumber of charged me?

As mentioned, "Harvey" will be along to set up the oil pressure and gases as I don't have the equipment for that. Hes not expensive, a beer or two in the pub.

Anyway

Thanks to all, take care-play safe.

 

[Best]

Depends where you live and which boiler engineer you get, but if I had been doing your job it would have cost you a couple hours labour.
Also would have been all checked and done right, with any faults fixed or notified if not urgent and any parts replaced if needed.
Heat on first go and you wouldn’t have lost time, or your petrol, or for that matter the kerosine that you probably are wasting running your boiler untested.
I replaced a Danfoss oil pump last week and the factory set pressure was scary high compared with what it should have been. Luckily I immediately lowered the pressure within seconds and wouldn’t have wanted boiler running like that. So good luck if you are attempting to gamble with your new pump install.
Surprised your mate Harvey the rabbit doesn’t redo all your work before setting boiler and then give you a lecture on safety.

 

[quality]

£67.00 and you enjoyed it

Spot on

 

[Westbury155]

Lecture on safety !, 3000 volts -10,000psi- certs to prove.

Handbags at dawn.

Quality, thanks your spot on, I learnt something and the end result of getting something working was for me enough.

Next time you want your aeroplane/ helicopter fixed, dont contact me.

Bye

 

[Best]

Always an interesting fact that some people that specialise in one part of engineering think they can do other jobs outside their experience and profession.
I work for some very clever people, but they still haven’t a clue about oil boilers.
And professions like aircraft engineers as an example, are engineers that are trained to a high standard on a limited narrow field and not all of them are much more than precision fitters.
Handbag swung!

 

[SimonG]

Richard Cranium at dawn. What the feck has 3000 volts and 10000 psi certs got to do with working on oil boilers.

Go and become a statistic. It's clowns like you that will eventually make oil regulation as strict as gas.