Oil Fired Central Heating question
Discussion
As diverse as topics on PH go, this has to be out there with the dullest of them...
As regards Oil Fired Central Heating - what happens if the system runs out of oil?
I assume there is some kind of safefy system that just shuts it down, yes? (It'll not implode or anything like that..!?)
And once it has run out, is it easy to start again once more oil is added to the tank? Does the system have to be primed, or is it fine to go so long as it has 'juice'?
Thanks for any input here.
>>> Edited by CharlieAlpha66 on Thursday 23 December 16:35
As regards Oil Fired Central Heating - what happens if the system runs out of oil?
I assume there is some kind of safefy system that just shuts it down, yes? (It'll not implode or anything like that..!?)
And once it has run out, is it easy to start again once more oil is added to the tank? Does the system have to be primed, or is it fine to go so long as it has 'juice'?
Thanks for any input here.
>>> Edited by CharlieAlpha66 on Thursday 23 December 16:35
Top man! Thanks a lot for that Andy 
On the verge of Christmas - what a time to discover that my regular oil supplier omitted to make the last regular top-up and the tank is now all but bare!
Fortunately there is an emergency delivery coming tomorrow, so I just have to get through the night (and me with elderly parents staying, who need the heating constantly on).
On the verge of Christmas - what a time to discover that my regular oil supplier omitted to make the last regular top-up and the tank is now all but bare!
Fortunately there is an emergency delivery coming tomorrow, so I just have to get through the night (and me with elderly parents staying, who need the heating constantly on).
CharlieAlpha66 said:
You will have to bleed the air out of the oil pump before you can do anything.
If it runs out altogether this is?
Can I ask how, just in case..!?
Yes if it runs out all together, bleeding it depends what system is it as they vary, I have a boiler depertment/engineers here at the office, let me know and they will be able to advise, but they will be going home soon.
opieoilman said:
You will have to bleed the air out of the oil pump before you can do anything.
If it runs out altogether this is?
Can I ask how, just in case..!?
Yes if it runs out all together, bleeding it depends what system is it as they vary, I have a boiler depertment/engineers here at the office, let me know and they will be able to advise, but they will be going home soon.
Cheers Guy.. it's a Boulter Camray 5 40/65 floor standing oil fired boiler for Central Heating and Hot Water.
Edited to add, installed September 1999.
>> Edited by CharlieAlpha66 on Thursday 23 December 17:02
CharlieAlpha66 said:
CharlieAlpha66 said:
opieoilman said:
You will have to bleed the air out of the oil pump before you can do anything.
If it runs out altogether this is?
Can I ask how, just in case..!?
Yes if it runs out all together, bleeding it depends what system is it as they vary, I have a boiler depertment/engineers here at the office, let me know and they will be able to advise, but they will be going home soon.
Cheers Guy.. it's a Boulter Camray 5 40/65 floor standing oil fired boiler for Central Heating and Hot Water.
Edited to add, installed September 1999.
>> Edited by CharlieAlpha66 on Thursday 23 December 17:02
Sorry chap the engineers have gone, can get some answeres for you in the morning if you wish???
Cheers
Guy.
opieoilman said:
You will have to bleed the air out of the oil pump before you can do anything.
If it runs out altogether this is?
Can I ask how, just in case..!?
Yes if it runs out all together, bleeding it depends what system is it as they vary, I have a boiler depertment/engineers here at the office, let me know and they will be able to advise, but they will be going home soon.
Cheers Guy.. it's a Boulter Camray 5 40/65 floor standing oil fired boiler for Central Heating and Hot Water.
Edited to add, installed September 1999.
>> Edited by CharlieAlpha66 on Thursday 23 December 17:02
Sorry chap the engineers have gone, can get some answeres for you in the morning if you wish???
Cheers
Guy.
No worries Guy - hopefully we can get through the night. If it's no trouble, I'll take the engineer's answer tomorrow, just in case..
Thanks a lot.
>> Edited by CharlieAlpha66 on Thursday 23 December 17:33
Bleeding the air out of the supply pipe will depend entirely on how the pipe is run. So long as it was laid fairly flat and you get a fair bit of oil in the tank the pressure will push any air out.
If it's a short run then just pressing the lockout button (the red one on the front of the burner that will be illuminated if you run out)will start it's fire sequence which will end with lockout again if the photo-electric cell doesn't 'see' a flame. Pressing it again a few times will gradually pump it through (you will have to wait 15 seconds ish between lockout and pressing). The better alternative, however, would be to remove the flexible pipe where it goes into the bottom of the oil pump (bottom left as you look) and put it into a tray of some sort then let gravity push the air out. It should have an isolating valve (the Camray 5 is supplied with one) which you can simply turn off prior to reconnection, turning back on and firing. The flexi-pipe has a swivel connector so it can be undone without twuisting the pipe by the way.
If it's a short run then just pressing the lockout button (the red one on the front of the burner that will be illuminated if you run out)will start it's fire sequence which will end with lockout again if the photo-electric cell doesn't 'see' a flame. Pressing it again a few times will gradually pump it through (you will have to wait 15 seconds ish between lockout and pressing). The better alternative, however, would be to remove the flexible pipe where it goes into the bottom of the oil pump (bottom left as you look) and put it into a tray of some sort then let gravity push the air out. It should have an isolating valve (the Camray 5 is supplied with one) which you can simply turn off prior to reconnection, turning back on and firing. The flexi-pipe has a swivel connector so it can be undone without twuisting the pipe by the way.
Brilliant - thanks a lot Ferg (& others).
We made it through the night and fortunately it's pretty mild at the moment, so with 7 folk in the house it's self-warming today.
My oil delivery is scheduled sometime in the next few hours, so we made it without running the system dry.
A big Thank You to everyone who contributed here.
Merry Christmas one and all!
We made it through the night and fortunately it's pretty mild at the moment, so with 7 folk in the house it's self-warming today.
My oil delivery is scheduled sometime in the next few hours, so we made it without running the system dry.
A big Thank You to everyone who contributed here.
Merry Christmas one and all!
You can burn diesel in oil burning stoves, so I don't see why it would be a problem in a boiler. It's just higher quality oil than heating oil and a sight more expensive. I once ran out over a weekend, and syphoned the company car's tank to keep us warm. It felt rather good knowing that the company was directly paying for the heating of my home for me...
Anyway, glad you won't have to resort to this - have a good one.
Anyway, glad you won't have to resort to this - have a good one.
It is more difficult in a boiler because they use a pressure-jet burner rather than a 'wick'.
The Camray uses a Riello burner and is set to run on 28 second Kerosene ('heating oil'), 'diesel oil' is a 35 second oil which, as you can see from the time it takes to run through a viscosity cup, is thicker. It may well burn in the boiler, but combustion would be poor unless the nozzle flow rate, spray angle and operating pressure were adjusted. Even then the chance of the flame produced fitting the heatexchanger burning space would be slim. Riello used to offer a little electric pre-heater to fit before the nozzle to thin it out so that farmers could run their boiler and tractors on the same fuel. ('Red' diesel)
Running a boiler on road diesel would be financially stupid.....unless you are stealing the fuel in the first place.
The Camray uses a Riello burner and is set to run on 28 second Kerosene ('heating oil'), 'diesel oil' is a 35 second oil which, as you can see from the time it takes to run through a viscosity cup, is thicker. It may well burn in the boiler, but combustion would be poor unless the nozzle flow rate, spray angle and operating pressure were adjusted. Even then the chance of the flame produced fitting the heatexchanger burning space would be slim. Riello used to offer a little electric pre-heater to fit before the nozzle to thin it out so that farmers could run their boiler and tractors on the same fuel. ('Red' diesel)
Running a boiler on road diesel would be financially stupid.....unless you are stealing the fuel in the first place.
t - is it Christmas again already?Gassing Station | The Pie & Piston Archive | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff