Condensation in oil tank?
Discussion
The central heating has been of since friday night and as you can imagine its not exactly the best timing, can't get anybody out to look at it til later in the week but somebody I spoke to mentioned it could be condensation in the tank which can form a little puddle at the bottom of the tank and block the pipe out.
This sounds like it could be the case because everything works ok, it comes on and you can hear the fans inside the Aga/boiler whurring away, but it fails to ignite so sounds to me like no fuel.
Anybody know how I could try and drain the condensation or get rid of it?
This sounds like it could be the case because everything works ok, it comes on and you can hear the fans inside the Aga/boiler whurring away, but it fails to ignite so sounds to me like no fuel.
Anybody know how I could try and drain the condensation or get rid of it?
I wouldnt be looking at that as the problem.
Has the boiler locked out , ie the red button ?
I would pull the photocell out and give that a wipe clean .
You could just bleed the oil line where it enters the pump on the boiler, probably just a little allen key required , open it up with a cloth to hand and see if air comes out.
Are you sure you have oil in the tank
Has the boiler locked out , ie the red button ?
I would pull the photocell out and give that a wipe clean .
You could just bleed the oil line where it enters the pump on the boiler, probably just a little allen key required , open it up with a cloth to hand and see if air comes out.
Are you sure you have oil in the tank
The photocell looks like a cars HT lead and detects whether there is a flame or not. It can often get coked up and therefore unable to see.
If it is water in the oil, this will quickly damage your pump. You'll have to bleed the oil to see if it's oil coming through or water contaminated oil. If the latter, you have s problem.
Is your tank metal or single bunded? Double bunded plastic tanks generally don't suffer from condensation as badly.
If it is water in the oil, this will quickly damage your pump. You'll have to bleed the oil to see if it's oil coming through or water contaminated oil. If the latter, you have s problem.
Is your tank metal or single bunded? Double bunded plastic tanks generally don't suffer from condensation as badly.
If your tank was set up properly it should not be dead level,it should lean back away from the exit pipe,at the other end of the tank there should be another tap which you can drain any water or other crud out of the tank.
There should also be a filter somewhere in the line before it reaches the Aga,this could be clogged or frozen if there is water present.
There should also be a filter somewhere in the line before it reaches the Aga,this could be clogged or frozen if there is water present.
If it was the photocell you'd hear it fire before it locked out. If you can't hear it flame then it's most likely the oil supply. Disconnect at the burner to check for oil actually being supplied. Water in filters freezing is definitely a possibility.
If you HAVE oil then the finger points at pump:solenoid:nozzle....
A pressure gauge on the pump test point will rule that out and nozzles are under a tenner.
If you HAVE oil then the finger points at pump:solenoid:nozzle....
A pressure gauge on the pump test point will rule that out and nozzles are under a tenner.
Some pumps have a plastic drive betwen pump and motor,this is designed to shear if the pump siezes so as not damage the motor,this can fool you into thinking the motor is running so the pump must be turning.
These drives have been known to break even though the pump was still free running,on 'Priva' heaters we would change these every major service as a matter of course,even if they still looked good.
It is possible to get a reading from a photocell,but you would need a meter which reads microamps(uA) the minimum figure is around 35.
These drives have been known to break even though the pump was still free running,on 'Priva' heaters we would change these every major service as a matter of course,even if they still looked good.
It is possible to get a reading from a photocell,but you would need a meter which reads microamps(uA) the minimum figure is around 35.
I've popped the panel off and don't have much of a clue about what it all does, I pulled a little probe type thing out with some sort of sensor on it, is that the photocell? Whatever it was it was clean anyway.
It was last serviced only a few months ago, probably August I think.
Its actually my mothers Aga but she's away in NZ for a month and I'm house sitting at the moment, she said it has done it before and it was water in the system somewhere that had frozen.
TBH I think I'm best leaving it to someone who knows what they are doing, I was hoping there could be a simple solution, like if it was a common problem but I'm out if my depth on this one!
Thanks for the input though everyone.
It was last serviced only a few months ago, probably August I think.
Its actually my mothers Aga but she's away in NZ for a month and I'm house sitting at the moment, she said it has done it before and it was water in the system somewhere that had frozen.
TBH I think I'm best leaving it to someone who knows what they are doing, I was hoping there could be a simple solution, like if it was a common problem but I'm out if my depth on this one!
Thanks for the input though everyone.
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