My gran's old Wilson Wallflame oil boiler went ill when the oil ran out and crud go into the line, despite the filters. No-one within a 200 mile radius will service or even look at it. So, I cleaned out the pipes, cleaned the filters, cleaned the spinner, (
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) put it back together, and now it works, but it's running too rich and takes a while to start.
There's a screw to twiddle, but it's a bit more scientific than that, and apparently I need a flue-gas measuring thing. Can't find one, I've tried another forum, what do I do?? I think "combustion kit" was the word needed, but I certainly don't want to pay hundreds for something, when the boiler might be going in 6 months. But it has to see her through the winter, and it's due to be a bit parky, as you know!
I replaced mine over 18 months ago. If I believe the date on the plate it was made in '76!! It used to take ages to cycle round to start until I found there was a separate un-switched live connection available. Then, after the thermostat opens the control box continues to cycle to its pre-start position. I think I found it from the diagram in the control box lid, there is a jumper fitted where the mains lead connects to the terminal block.
I used to tune mine for flame hight thro the view port.Reduce the air till the flames are long and sooty, then increase the air till there are still just yellow tips. If the blue part of the flame is not "sat" on the removeable baffles then there is too much air and you will get lockouts. The air is adjusted by rotating the collar around the drive motor.
Every now and again pull the top off the boiler and clean out the fixed baffles at the top. You may need to replace the glassfibre rope if you do this.
Rgds Alec
PS there was a Haynes manual for it. Borrowed it from the local library a few years ago.........
"Jonathan" wrote in message news:4374a30a snipped-for-privacy@newsgate.x-privat.org...
The problem for a pro is the total lack of spares availability. :-(
Did you move nay of the adjustment settings? Its quite possible to do all this and still retain settings/positions. (Not that this will help you now if you have)
Oh please! there are a number of screws "to twiddle" the extent of buggering up depends on which one gets altered.
You have two basic options
A chemical analyser kit such as a Fyrite or a Briggon set
An electronic combustion analyser set
Neither option is cheap but you may be able to find something on e-bay
In case you or others need to keep one of these dinosaurs running let me say as a basic premise if one has been running correctly for a number of years DO NOT ALTER SETTINGS! The fuel is fed from the tank and "some" tank outlets use a combined valve/filter/level gauge assembly. This type has a black plastic knob which incorporates a gauze filter behind the push to operate gauge reading button. To access this remove the brass stud below the body of the unit which releases the keeper allowing you to unscrew the knob right out of the body. A spring loaded plunger shuts off the fluid from the tank much as a "Supatap" used to allow rewashering without turning the water off. I assume cleaning methods for other types of seperate filters can be deduced by anyone willing to engage brain. There is often a fusible wheelhead firestop valve within the boiler casing normally behind the BM box flow control device. At the front of the common BM box is a plate retained by two screws. Undoing these and carefully easing the plate away avoiding damaging the gasket reveals another filter to clean. You may also be able to flush the pipe through here catching the oil in a shallow receptacle. The casing top is removed exposing the flueway access. Remove this taking care not to damage the asbestos plate. Remove the baffle assembly and look down into the combustion chamber. You will see the rotorwhich wll lift upwards and can be removed. Inspect this and if needed clean the "flinger" tubes with a pipe-cleaner or similar. Examine the foot bearing and with a torch inspect the plate it sits on. (If either are worn you have no hope of renewing them unless you can fabricate your own). The fuel is flung outwards to impact upon a flame band which has flame spreaders spaced evenly around it. Study how these are mounted and positioned. These can be lifted off which allows you to clean the ceramic hearth and flame band with a vacuum, also the space outside the band. You will see the ignition arc electrode which should be clean and its tip located close to the flame band eg about 3 - 5 mm spacing from its target point. As continuous usage leads to a hole being burnt into the band a "repair clip" is fitted which is a 20 x 20mm piece of thin low grade stainless steel. Often a piece of thin asbestos or Fibrefax "wick" is fitted to help the flame establish more easily. (One range of Wallflames employed an MICC preheater around the flame band. When these failed an unusual fault could occur where the flame would establish, the heater would heat up and the inner element droop to make contact with the sheath, the ensuing short would cause a false feed into the control box and it would go to lockout, cool down and reset ok until the next start.) The inner (dryside) of the combustion chamber should be swept or scraped clean and vacuumed up. The front (porthole) removed, the flame sensor and the viewing window cleaned. Also vacuum accessible flue spaces, then kneeling down and accessing the "motor" unit underneath the boiler find and vacuum out the air inlet slots. Do not alter the settings. If you mark the position it helps to replace as was if you disturb anything. Replace everything in reverse order, restore fuel supply and switch on. The preheater switches on, the motor (Fan and flinger) should spin, the ignition arc operate and fuel be thrown from the rotor to the flame band where it will hit the hot spot where the arc impinges, ignite and the ensuing flame spread around the whole of the band forming the characteristic wall of flame. Usually at the top front of the shell is a 3/8" stud which is removed leaving a test sample port exposed. Using the Fyrite smoke pump draw a smoke sample through the white filter paper and compare the spot with known comparison spots for a smoke reading (between 0 and 1 Baccharac). Remove the smoke tester and insert the CO2 tester sample tube, zero the tester. Pump a sample into the CO2 tester (min 20 strokes) and invert/upright the tester 3 times to give a reading of CO2 % in the flue gases (around 11 or 12% for a wallflame). Remove and insert a thermometer which will give typically 250 to
350 degreesC Minor tweaking of the air inlet may be permissible but is very rarely neccessary or desirable.
If you have altered any settings within the BM box you will need a flow rate gauge to calibrate the fuel flow. These are very hard to come across and you will have extreme difficulty in finding anyone still around with either the unit or the ability to set up the flow rate. One of the major fuel companies such as Shell may have personnel with the equipment and expertise. You should contact your local depot
I think I might just try that. In fact, the only thing I tweaked was to completely dis-assemble and flush the Kinsgway oil valve with boiling water and - if you look at the last pic on
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you'll see the screw and clip that I am having trouble with, as I'm not entirely sure what they do.
I am very VERY impressed with your in-depth guide - do you mind if I reproduce it (with acknowledgement) on my Wallflame page? Or I suppose I could link to the post - either way, it answered a lot of questions I had, and some I never even thought of!
Oh, and what's the thing to seal oil-carrying pipe connections? I mean, what's the oil equivelant of ptfe tape and fibre washers?
Your Kingsway oil valve is a variant on the more common BM box. These work in a similar manner to a carburettor in that they have a float which operates a valve to maintain a constant level of kerosine in the chamber. The outlet from the chamber is controlled by a solenoid shut-off when the unit is not firing but also there is a "needle valve" (Not actually a needle but the description serves to illustrate the action) which controls the actual rate of flow. The level of oil in relation to the well below the rotor is set as is the level in the BM chamber thus interaction with the needle valve sets the flow rate for combustion. The "needle valve" is actually shown in your picture of the inside of the oil chamber (next to the "well". Remove the Aluminium top label which will reveal the cast top of the box. When fitted in position you can see the actual flow control setting screw which pushes down onto the "needle" valve to alter the flow rate. The bent plate is simply a backstop.
To answer your other questions from the photos
The flappy things are flame spreaders, The spark plug is the ignition electrode which I mentioned previously and should have a gap as specified. The rectangular plate with a hole in it is a repair clip which should NOT have a hole in it. You could make a new one with a bit of thin stainless or simply put a bit of thin steel behind it. The stipey stuff is Asbestos tape which acts as a wick as I mentioned. The "plug" conceals a gauze filter
Use it with pleasure but as it is based on memory it should be treated as guidance rather than law
PTFE works fine if the threads taper and are good, Red Stag is the usual compound, Fibre washers or annealed copper washers are also fine. Don't get Stag into the fuel lines before the box
You seem to be knowledgeable on this, so I have a question: one thing I've noted is that it seems to be on a lot of the time for hot water, even though she doesn't use much, and the oil bills are huge. The system is: indirect gravity fed cylinder, the temperature seems to be regulated at the boiler end, which is always on, and only the CH is on a clock. Therefore, will all the inefficiencies and losses of a gravity fed system with no electro-thingumy valves, of course the boiler is thinking that it's time to heat the water again.
SO....I was thinking that rather than do anything complex and maybe break something, and what with a possibly very cold winter approaching, I'd see the CH clock in the boiler to be just on all the time, BUT put a clock on the main boiler power feed, with it coming on say early morn, mid afternoon, evening, and about 2-3am. That way, the boiler will always have something to heat, be it water or CH. Can anyone see a problem with this?
replying to John, Matt Whiteford wrote: I have a Wilson Wallflame 75, it fires up perfectly with a good flame (long & blue) from the flame grills, but after aprox 30 seconds the flame drops back into the hearth and turns yellowish. there is also a smell of unburnt fuel outside the house. Any ideas whats wrong? Thanks Matt
replying to Matt Whiteford, Martin181 wrote: A neighbour of mine had a Wilson Wallflame 60 and he never seemed to clean the flueways properly in the boiler and his flames used to drop down and burn in the hearth as you describe after a while. On the model 60 there was, from memory, a large diameter steel ring concentric with the boiler shell about 10" above the flames that the hot gases from the flames went up to give up their heat to the boiler. If the space between the boiler and this concentric steel ring gets too crudded up with soot etc. it can produce a backpressure on the burner which may cause the flames to drop down and burn in the hearth (which must over heat the hearth somewhat of course). So I would recommend cleaning all bolier flueways if they've not been regularly cleaned. You could also check the oil strike height is correct but if the flames behave when cold I guess the strike height is probably O.K. BTW another neighbour had a Wilson Wallfame 150, it was a monster with a huge asbestos cement chimney. The boiler heat exchanger had proper fire tubes (like a steam engine boiler).
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