Oil Heating

PLANNED MAINTENANCE ITEMS PERFORMED:

Disassemble furnace. Brush and vacuum clean flues, flue pipe, combustion chamber, and chimney base. Soot and scale are insulators and will prevent proper heat transfer of the flue gases to the heat exchanger, allowing heat to be wasted up the chimney.

Disassemble burner and clean burner components. Carbon is a conductor of electricity and will short out ignition components leading to failure.

Replace nozzle and fuel filter element. Nozzles wear internally and will change their spray patterns if not replaced annually. Nozzles rely on clean oil filters to keep dirt particles from blocking the orifice.

Check ignition transformer output and adjust ignitor electrodes. Ignition components must produce and carry 10 to 15 thousand volts to ignite the oil. Cleanliness and correct adjustments are a must.

Test fuel pump. Check and adjust fuel pump pressure. The fuel pump moves the fuel from the tank and atomizes the oil under high pressure. Correct pressure is necessary for the nozzle to form the correct pattern for complete combustion and supply the correct amount of oil. Pressure too high will overheat the heat exchanger.

Check oil pump coupling. Fuel pump couplings are made of plastic and wear rapidly. Worn couplings are noisy and can fail to drive the pump.

Check and clean combustion air fan wheel. A dirty fan wheel can not supply the proper amount of air required for clean combustion.

Check for dirt and animal hair in air shutters & burner openings. Anything which can block combustion air from entering the burner must be kept cleaned from the openings to allow the burner the proper amount of air for combustion.

Check flame failure safety shut-off timing. The burner control is designed to shut the burner off to prevent an explosion if the oil does not ignite promptly. It should be checked regularly for safety.

Lubricate motors. Motors can fail prematurely if bearings are allowed to go dry.

Replace air filters or air cleaner media. Clean filtering media prevents furnace overheating. It also ensures adequate airflow for comfort and improved air quality within the occupied space.

Check blower motor brackets for breaks or cracks. Vibration and unbalance can weaken and break brackets causing damage to the furnace.

Check setscrews on blower wheel for tightness and centered in housing. Setscrews sometimes work loose and cause misalignment resulting in poor airflow and eventually damage to the blower.

Check blower wheel for excessive dirt; wash blower wheel and housing if necessary. Dirt builds up in the blower wheel vanes and restricts airflow, causing poor efficiency in the system.

Check for oil leaks. Vibration can loosen some fittings and joints.

Check and adjust draft, CO2, smoke, and flue temperature. It is critical to adjust the flame with combustion instruments to insure unburned fuel does not go up the chimney.

Check thermostat calibration. Inaccurate thermostats affect comfort and operating costs.

Check overall operation of furnace and burner.