Ran out of oil with an aga
Discussion
Any aga owners out there that can help me out.
Ive got an heating oil fed Aga, but I ran out of oil, since filling the tank back up it won't re light.
I can only assume I've pulled some air in when it ran out, any ideas how to remove this?
It's a gravity fed system and gravity dont seem to be enough to clear the block.
Thanks
Ive got an heating oil fed Aga, but I ran out of oil, since filling the tank back up it won't re light.
I can only assume I've pulled some air in when it ran out, any ideas how to remove this?
It's a gravity fed system and gravity dont seem to be enough to clear the block.
Thanks
Do you have much in the way of gravity between the oil tank outlet and the Aga inlet?
Clear hose and sucking at a union? We've a vacuum pump but that's only due to getting annoyed with sucking troubled runs through manually.
I don't think it's a pressure jet burner like an oil boiler is it? It's a faff.
Clear hose and sucking at a union? We've a vacuum pump but that's only due to getting annoyed with sucking troubled runs through manually.
I don't think it's a pressure jet burner like an oil boiler is it? It's a faff.
Edited by Gingerbread Man on Wednesday 22 February 21:26
Gingerbread Man said:
Do you have much in the way of gravity between the oil tank outlet and the Aga inlet?
Clear hose and sucking at a union? We've a vacuum pump but that's only due to getting annoyed with sucking troubled runs through manually.
I think it's a pressure jet burner like an oil boiler. It's a faff.
That's what I was thinking, there's about 10 feet between the aga and the tank, I thinks thats the max recommended.Clear hose and sucking at a union? We've a vacuum pump but that's only due to getting annoyed with sucking troubled runs through manually.
I think it's a pressure jet burner like an oil boiler. It's a faff.
Cheers
If its a wick burner make sure you've clicked the button up thats on the end of the reservoir, its pretty unlikely to air lock on a gravity system like that....if its a pressure jet its air lock in the oil pump and will need bleeding via the grub screw on the brass tube that sticks out of the oil pump
In our old old place it used to clear with gravity, but the in-laws, next door and the same tank, always had to use a hand vacuum pump to clear the feed pipe to both the Aga and the boiler... a right pain in the arse it was too. Both of the Agas were wick burners, easy to spot when the oil was arriving too.
Used an old one of these to clear it:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mityvac-Silverline-Elite...
Just a random eBay for mityvac brings up loads, not an instant fix of course... you maybe able to improvise with a large syringe and length of PVC pipe of course.
Central heating oil, like diesel, both tastes bad and repeats on you for a number of hours when syphoning goes bad... yes, done both
Hope you get it sorted, having to get the tank refilled is a financially traumatic experience enough without having to coax oil back to the Aga to make it run
ETA: Making sure the control box it set right to allow it to flow/light was my usual failure point.
Used an old one of these to clear it:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mityvac-Silverline-Elite...
Just a random eBay for mityvac brings up loads, not an instant fix of course... you maybe able to improvise with a large syringe and length of PVC pipe of course.
Central heating oil, like diesel, both tastes bad and repeats on you for a number of hours when syphoning goes bad... yes, done both
Hope you get it sorted, having to get the tank refilled is a financially traumatic experience enough without having to coax oil back to the Aga to make it run
ETA: Making sure the control box it set right to allow it to flow/light was my usual failure point.
Edited by SWH on Wednesday 22 February 22:03
Martyn D said:
If its a wick burner make sure you've clicked the button up thats on the end of the reservoir, its pretty unlikely to air lock on a gravity system like that....if its a pressure jet its air lock in the oil pump and will need bleeding via the grub screw on the brass tube that sticks out of the oil pump
Hi it's a wick burnerWill try again tomorrow
I would think it might well be some rubbish from the bottom of the oil tank either blocking the outlet from the tank or in the oil control box and blocking the control slit.
The should be an in line filter between the tank and aga, worth checking that this is clean.
If not, it could be the oil control box. These are dead easy to take apart and clean. The slit that controls the actual oil flow into the aga is tiny and it only needs a minute amount of crud to block it up.
If you are not confident in taking the control box apart you could just take the top off, normally just 3 screws. Then when you look inside you will see if it is full of oil or not. If not, the problem is up the line somewhere. If full of oil the problem is down the line.
A couple of other thoughts;
- you have clicked the oil control lever to on? easy not to
- the power is on, if not it will be running on low flame which isnt enough to light
S
The should be an in line filter between the tank and aga, worth checking that this is clean.
If not, it could be the oil control box. These are dead easy to take apart and clean. The slit that controls the actual oil flow into the aga is tiny and it only needs a minute amount of crud to block it up.
If you are not confident in taking the control box apart you could just take the top off, normally just 3 screws. Then when you look inside you will see if it is full of oil or not. If not, the problem is up the line somewhere. If full of oil the problem is down the line.
A couple of other thoughts;
- you have clicked the oil control lever to on? easy not to
- the power is on, if not it will be running on low flame which isnt enough to light
S
Rickyy said:
You're not a real Heating Engineer until you've been bent over double, heaving trying to get the taste of heating oil out of your mouth! 
That's how I discovered there was hole in my tank. Tried sucking oil through and it didn't taste the same as usual, turned out it was mostly water with a hint of oil 😳I gave it a try again an it lit for about 20 seconds? So I oil must be getting down there but not enough?
I don't believe there's any crap blocking anything, as the tanks outlet is about 150mm above the bottom, so there's a catch area for sludge etc and about 50 litres of oil that will never get used.
I actualy got the Plummer out to service the aga and re light it when he told me it had run out of oil.
So it's de coked and serviced.
What a pain in the arse
I don't believe there's any crap blocking anything, as the tanks outlet is about 150mm above the bottom, so there's a catch area for sludge etc and about 50 litres of oil that will never get used.
I actualy got the Plummer out to service the aga and re light it when he told me it had run out of oil.
So it's de coked and serviced.
What a pain in the arse
If its a wick burner it'll have a small reservoir on the side with a small button that lifts the float and another button to regulate the oil flow, if you leave this on you'll flood the burner. If it lit theres oil getting through to the reservoir so maybe because it, and the chimney, are cold its taking a bit to light, they're not the easiest from cold and as mentioned if theres to much oil they can also be a PITA to light..... you could take the lid off the reservoir to see if its full of oil
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