My ongoing, intermittent Wallstar oil boiler problem AGAIN!

[Fredxx]

If you can change a plug then I don't see any major difficulty.

I would take a normal table lamp and remove the plug.

Strip some of the secondary out PVC insulation away to give you some lead to play with.

Have a look at the pump motor, I would expect to see a modest cable going to it.

Remove the cable/connector cover on the pump. The incoming wire will most likely be 3 wires, earth and the two line conductors.

Loosen the brown and blue wire connectors, add the ones for the table lamp with the incoming cable wires and tighten back up.

[harry]

Tch. MAKE SURE THE PUMP IS ELECTRICALLY ISOLATED BEFORE YO U START FIDDLING ABOUT.

[Fredxx]

I would generally hope that MM has survived long enough to already know this - but yes, slap on the wrist accepted!

[Jules Richardson]

And don't forget to switch the lamp on :-)

[Dave Liquorice]

This is motor for the fan/oil pump in an oil burner not a circulating pump. It may have connector block but it may well be well buried. As a first check I'd go for the main connector block and the incoming switche= d live (might be the only live) and neutral. Then see if the thing is powering up in lockout or is going into lockout because the fan doesn't =

run, thus no oil, thus no flame.

And that the times switch or thermostat isn't going to switch it one either. All the heating system should be feed through a single switched =

fused spur somewhere, switching that off should do it but with and unknown system I'd still make sure that time switches and thermostats really are dead.

[MM]

I think Fredxx's enthusiam might be a little dangerous in my hands! Changing a plug is one thing. Messing about with an oil boiler's electrics about which I know absolutely zilch may just be a little optimistic, not to say foolhardy.

BTW, engineer's just been and fitted a new capacitor. He was here for

40 minutes after that and we both observed the boiler cycling through its ON/OFF stages sweet as a nut. Let's see what happens over the next 48 hours.

MM

[Lancashire lad]

..... and there the trail went cold - unlike the boiler presumably. Would h ave been so nice if MM had reported back. I have just read this thread with interest as I have a very similar set up with a 20 year old wallstar and a m experiencing similar problems. i.e intermittent lock out.

[MM]

I thought I DID report back! The problem was the pump. The shaft was "dragging" at one particular spot. A new pump fixed it. The reason why the engineer hadn't tried the pump before trying everything else was because it had been replaced barely two years before. The boiler has been okay ever since. Maybe the problem arose when the boiler was cold, because once it started, it kept running. Till it switched off automatically on the thermostat during the burning cycle, the pump went cold again, and the shaft "dragging" became a problem again, whereupon the boiler promptly cut out.

MM

[johnjessop46]

Pressure jet oil burner sequence

1 call for heat 2 sequence control box looks at photocell to ensure no flame is present (sh ould not be seeing a light at this stage or the unit goes to "false light l ockout"). This catches out many. Usually a new (correct) photocell cures it . 3 power applied to motor 4 power applied to ignition spark generator 5 after run-up the power is applied to oil solenoid (oil sprayed as fine mi st from nozzle and ignited by ignition arc) 6 photocell sees light of flame and tells controller to switch off ignition arc and keep solenoid open and motor running until demand for heat removed . If no flame is seen the controller removes power from motor, ignition and solenoid then locks out. If the burner is above the oil level in the tank and the fuel pipe has a de fect allowing oil to drain back from the pump first time starting may not b e satisfactory but pressing the reset works ok. Similar fault symptoms can occur if the oil pump shaft seal or oil solenoid are worn and allow drainba ck. Burners higher than oil tanks require two pipe installation or a "tiger loo p". If your service man is experienced and competent he should be already l ooking along these lines.

[gbgordonbennett]

Had same problem with a Wallstar. The wiring behind the control box was faulty. Check methodically for loose/bad connections.