I have read many posts here and also at alt.hvac and I am just not sure where to go from here.
I have a 7 year old Bryant Oil Furnace. I had to buy this one to replace a 13 year old oil furnace that blew a hole in the heat exchanger, and subsequently blew everything all through my house, resulting in total restoration. (Just a notice for you homeowners out there that think you might want to try to repair your oil furnace on your own....DON'T DO IT!! -- call a certified reputable company).
I keep saying that this furnace was a lemon since the day I got it. My problems started during the first 3 months of operation. The company that I purchased it from (which will remain nameless as I am not into slamming) would not make the service call at midnight to come and fix it when it broke down and told me that I put the wrong nozzle in it. At that time, I didn't even know what a nozzle was. I ended up calling a local service company to fix it -- who sent someone out at 2 am....well worth the $$$.
Anyhoo....since the original blowup, I have had this furnace serviced like clockwork every year, and sometimes twice a year because of this problem, that problem, or the other problem.
Within the last 13 months, I have spent $1000 in service/repairs. I just spent $463.82 of that two days ago....and it still is not running.
To make this very long, sad story short, my current problem is not being able to keep a prime in the single copper line that I have.
I have a 550 gal tank that is burried outside. A single copper line running to the furance, through a filter on the side of the unit, into the burner. (not sure why it was set up with a single rather than double) A new nozzle was just put on two days ago. (and every 9 months in reality) A new filter was just added two days ago. A new 5" elbow was installed (replacing the 7 year old one that corroded through) Last March I had new oil primary control and cad cell eye replaced.
When the service man left on Friday, the furnace was running and he did all of his diagnostics on it and the unit was working. Two hours later, I lost the prime and can not get it back. I called him on the phone and he advised and also wrote on the workorder that I may have a leak somewhere near the tank. I can bleed the line until the fuel runs solid, without sputtering or air bubbles, and it takes almost a half gallon to get to this level. The burner will kick on, the blower will start to run, then I can hear poofs and I can tell the flame went out. At this point, I kill it as to not kill myself or anyone else that could be within range. After the last poof, I shut it down for good.
The service company told me I need to check for that leak by the tank. They checked the line from the inside. This would require me removing parts of my deck to get to the tank to dig to find the connection.
Before I do any of this....does anyone know what else could possibly be the problem? Is there a way to pressure test that line to see if in fact there is a leak? I really do not want to have to go into major house repairs just to MAYBE find a leak. I called about 20 places yesterday and I kept getting the same answer..."there has to be a way, but I dont know, maybe call so-and-so."
After reading all of the other posts about oil furnaces, I know not everyone has had the problems I have had with this furnace and many people have had great performance. I am almost to the point that with everything I have dumped into this unit in 12 months between service and fuel, I could have already paid for a propane furnace, installation, fuel, etc. twice over.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated at this point.