Problem with oil furnace

abckidsdad · 10-21-2008, 10:14 PM

OK, I have an oil burning furnace for the old upright radiators. Every thing was working until I had to drain the system. I have bled all the radiators, only water comes out of the tops. My problem is I think either there is air in the boiler itself or the pump is not working right. The boiler starts up and runs fine and I can hear and feel the pump working but after 5-10 minutes the boiler kicks off and the temp is around 200 degrees. At that point the first radiator in the loop is just starting to get warm but none of the others have had a chance to. The air pressure is around 15psi. So does any one know if the pump is now not working enough (if that is possible)? Or can there be air in the boiler itself, I have looked every ware on it and can find no way of relieving air from it.

**beenthere** · 10-21-2008, 11:07 PM

Why did you have to drain it.
What did you repair or replace when you had it drained.

abckidsdad · 10-22-2008, 03:55 AM

Added a one way check valve to the pipe going to the radiator just above the boiler, and hooked up an outside wood furnace.

**beenthere** · 10-22-2008, 05:56 AM

You said teh first rad is teh loop starts to just get warm as teh boiler shuts off.
Is that also the rad that you tied the wood boiler into.

Sounds like it may be due to a piping issue with the would boiler.
Might be still be drawing water through the wood boiler with the one way valve. If a one way valve is a check valve. Thats the wrong valve to use.
It should have been a flowcheck valve.

It may be creating a siphon effect with just a check valve.

abckidsdad · 10-22-2008, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beenthere

You said teh first rad is teh loop starts to just get warm as teh boiler shuts off.
Is that also the rad that you tied the wood boiler into.

Sounds like it may be due to a piping issue with the would boiler.
Might be still be drawing water through the wood boiler with the one way valve. If a one way valve is a check valve. Thats the wrong valve to use.
It should have been a flowcheck valve.

It may be creating a siphon effect with just a check valve.

It was a flowcheck valve, my error. Right now I'm just trying to run the boiler for heat. The wood stove is on bypass and not apart of the loop right now. The wood stove will heat all radiators when it's off bypass.

**beenthere** · 10-22-2008, 06:43 AM

Post pics of the piping configuration.

Circs don't usually go out just because you opened the system.

abckidsdad · 10-22-2008, 11:41 AM

Hope these help.

**beenthere** · 10-22-2008, 01:51 PM

looks like you have the flo check manually open. So even if it is installed backwards, it should let water flow through it.

Check the amp draw on the circ. If its pulling FLA, its probably bad. Or has something jamming it.

PS: with the flo check manually opened, it should gravity feed the system, is it.

abckidsdad · 10-22-2008, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beenthere

looks like you have the flo check manually open. So even if it is installed backwards, it should let water flow through it.

Check the amp draw on the circ. If its pulling FLA, its probably bad. Or has something jamming it.

PS: with the flo check manually opened, it should gravity feed the system, is it.

I’m certain the flow check is installed correctly and working, I had it open to try something different. I had the circ. off and ran it and could feel it blowing air, like a small fan not a lot of air movement. I do not have an amp meter to check it that way. Today I tried running the boiler again with the drain open to try and remove any air that way and it still shut off around 180 degrees this time. When it starts I can feel the hat water from the flow check valve, so I think water is moving but not sure.

**beenthere** · 10-22-2008, 02:20 PM

You didn't change any wiring did you.

The burner should should off when it reaches 180, or what ever temp the high limit is set to.

Thats normal operation.

abckidsdad · 10-22-2008, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beenthere

You didn't change any wiring did you.

The burner should should off when it reaches 180, or what ever temp the high limit is set to.

Thats normal operation.

No, the wiring was not touched. But the water should not get to 180 in five minutes should it? It should have the cold water coming in and slowly heating up, right?

**beenthere** · 10-22-2008, 05:14 PM

If the circulator is moving water it should normally have more then a 5 minute run time.

abckidsdad · 10-27-2008, 05:58 PM

If you were following this there was an obstruction in the flowcheck valve, removed it and every thing works great now.

**beenthere** · 10-27-2008, 11:40 PM

Did you forget to remove the cardboard shiiping tab.