boiler (oil fired) not working!

Hello,

We have a Mistral oil burner.Model M1A. We do not use it for HW as we use economy 7 for that. We have used it last week for CH when it was chilly and it worked fine. We tried to put the CH on this morning but nothing happened. The pipes were stone cold (CH and HW) and normally you can here a noise as it fires up but it is silent today.

Is there anything I can do? I wouldn't dream of doing anything with gas, but since this is an oil boiler is it ok to do DIY work on it? If not, I'll probably call someone next week; I don't want to pay weekend call-out charges ;)

Are these still made anymore or is it an old model? What's the avergae life of a boiler these days? Don't tell me it needs replacing!

Thanks.

Reply to
nospam
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I don't have that particular model and not a specialist in oil fired boilers, but I can give you some starters based on my own experience.

When mine is demanded, the motor runs up for about 30 seconds and continues to run if the burner fires. It's a reasonable guess that they all do that, if nothing else to inject oil and air into the burner, so does it do that ? Loss of electrical supply, duff motor or duff electronics if the answer is no. Another option is that the cut- out has tripped for some reason - mine has a large red button.

If the motor runs up and then cuts out, suggestion is you've run out of oil ! Or at least the oil isn't getting to the burner.

I take you don't have the manual with a 'what-to-do-if -it-doesn't- start' section ?

Rob

Reply to
robgraham

It's fairly safe to work on an oil boiler, but be aware that kerosene spills are frowned on by the eco-warriors at your council.

Sounds like the pump is not running. The pump, or even the whole burner - probably a Riello in a Mistral - assembly can be replaced if the boiler still has useful life in it.

I'm not sure this is DIY unless you already understand how oil burners work (unlike gas, kerosene is very difficult to burn!), but check the obvious things like electric power, oil flow (and something in the tank.) If the tank has ever run dry then you could have flakes of rust in blocking the filter (clean the filter). If the burner has a lock-out reset button, try pushing it - in fact this is the first thing to try!

R.

Reply to
TheOldFellow

Yup. The chain of command on a typical boiler goes something like..

Master switch feeds timeclock, Timeclock feds master stat, master stat feeds motorized valve, motorized valve feeds boiler and boiler stat. boiler stat feeds burner via lockout mechanism.

So you need to check each bit of the chain to see if it is working/has power.

If ANY lights are on the boiler at all, but it won't fire up, its probably locked out due to no fuel, lack of pressure in the primary circuits, or more usually a dirty flame sensor.

Press the reset button and try again. If pressure well below 1 bar, repressurise.

If no lights or power on boiler, check motorized valve. Does it move by hand? If not its possibly siezed. If it des, it should move when yu switch heating on, to its 'heating position. Makes a sport of whirring noise.Jammed valves cvcan burn motors out, and they do jam. Replacement of bits and possibly a drain down if teh but thats replaced is the actual water valve.

If that all seems OK, bu i isn;t moving when it should, could be a stat is set too high, the timecocks is in fact off when you thought it was on, or there is a wiring fault.

These are pretty unlikley.

90% of faults like this are down to no oil, water pressure or a dirty sensor on the boiler, or a buggered motorized valve.

The first three would be covered under a routine boiler service and oil refill. The third is a plumbers job.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

No we don't. The previous owners left us the "manual" but it's more like a four page brochure saying how wonderful the Mistral range of boilers are. There are no instructions on how to use or set-up the boiler.

Reply to
nospam

How do you determine if it has usefull life?

Thanks.

Reply to
nospam

Two tiny problems:

First there are no lights on the boiler to be on or off!

Secondly there is no (obvious) reset button.

The only control I can see is the thermostat (which I have tried) but there seem to be no other controls or indicators in sight!

Reply to
nospam

I don't know that burner precisely but the reset or lockout button is normally a big clear flexable plastic thing mounted on the back of the dicast ali burner box. If tripped it'll probably be lit up, assuming there is power actually reaching the boiler.

From what you have just said I'd check that power is getting to the CH/HW system, then chase it through to the boiler. Some one hasn't "accidentally" switched the CH/HW off at the main power switch to the system have they?

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

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