Questions about bleeding my oil furnace
October 16, 2014 3:52 PM Subscribe
After my last oil delivery, my furnace won't run. I tried hitting the reset button on the furnace twice. Both times it ran for ~45 seconds before shutting off. What now?
I am thinking I should try bleeding the line. Is there any danger in hitting the reset button again to bleed the line? What if it takes me multiple resets to get the line running clear? I just want to make sure I'm not overloading the furnace with oil before it fires.
Any other thoughts on what the problem might be?
Thanks
I am thinking I should try bleeding the line. Is there any danger in hitting the reset button again to bleed the line? What if it takes me multiple resets to get the line running clear? I just want to make sure I'm not overloading the furnace with oil before it fires.
Any other thoughts on what the problem might be?
Thanks
Disclaimer: No expert on oil furnaces.
Did the furnace actually come on or did the blower just run?
It's possible the oil did not ignite so the blower shut off.
The igniter is like a car's spark plug. It is powered by a high voltage transformer that makes voltage to ignite the oil. There might be something wrong there. Blown fuse?
Might be time for a serviceman. Be prepared for him to sell you a gas furnace.
posted by H21 at 4:27 PM on October 16, 2014
Did the furnace actually come on or did the blower just run?
It's possible the oil did not ignite so the blower shut off.
The igniter is like a car's spark plug. It is powered by a high voltage transformer that makes voltage to ignite the oil. There might be something wrong there. Blown fuse?
Might be time for a serviceman. Be prepared for him to sell you a gas furnace.
posted by H21 at 4:27 PM on October 16, 2014
I've had problems like this with our oil furnace. One time the gap between the ignition electrodes somehow got too large. Have you had your furnace cleaned recently? We pay for a yearly service contract that covers cleaning and most repairs, and it's been well worth it.
posted by mollweide at 5:38 PM on October 16, 2014
posted by mollweide at 5:38 PM on October 16, 2014
I don't really think this is something that can be diagnosed over the internet, nor do i think it's necessarily just that it needs to be bled. A line could be slightly clogged with dirt, the ignitor could be bad, something else could have just happened to coincidentally failed at the same time. The float switch in the tank might be stuck in the low position even.
The worst case scenario here is what you mentioned, about it overloading and igniting with too much oil in it. I've seen this happen before at a house i used to live in where we really didn't give a crap and just kept pushing the reset button endlessly, and it blew soot and crap all over the house... And messed up the furnace in to a state in which we never actually got it to run again(and this was in a house full of nerds who would repair a microwave instead of throwing it out, it was boned).
I'd say it's worth the service call.
posted by emptythought at 7:22 PM on October 16, 2014
The worst case scenario here is what you mentioned, about it overloading and igniting with too much oil in it. I've seen this happen before at a house i used to live in where we really didn't give a crap and just kept pushing the reset button endlessly, and it blew soot and crap all over the house... And messed up the furnace in to a state in which we never actually got it to run again(and this was in a house full of nerds who would repair a microwave instead of throwing it out, it was boned).
I'd say it's worth the service call.
posted by emptythought at 7:22 PM on October 16, 2014
HVAC guy here. My guess is you're tripping a limit switch somewhere. Could be in a few possible places. Get someone in to take a look. Might be a really quick fix.
posted by elendil71 at 1:04 AM on October 17, 2014
posted by elendil71 at 1:04 AM on October 17, 2014
The symptoms sound a lot like what happened when I let my oil tank run empty before filling it - air in the fuel line. If your tank was also empty the same might have happened to you.
I asked around for advice and just did the bleeding myself. What this involved (I think I followed an article w/diagrams from eHow or something like that) was buying a length of 1/4 inch clear plastic tubing, and running it from the bleed valve on the fuel pump to an empty bottle. Once this is set up and you've opened the valve, you turn the furnace on with the reset button and watch as the fuel with air bubbles flows through the tubing; repeat as necessary and once there are no more air bubbles it's done. It was easy and worked right away.
posted by Flashman at 8:36 AM on October 17, 2014
I asked around for advice and just did the bleeding myself. What this involved (I think I followed an article w/diagrams from eHow or something like that) was buying a length of 1/4 inch clear plastic tubing, and running it from the bleed valve on the fuel pump to an empty bottle. Once this is set up and you've opened the valve, you turn the furnace on with the reset button and watch as the fuel with air bubbles flows through the tubing; repeat as necessary and once there are no more air bubbles it's done. It was easy and worked right away.
posted by Flashman at 8:36 AM on October 17, 2014
Same thing happened to me! Except with a gas stove. It was a blown fuse, $5 for a metric shit-ton of them. Replaced the fuse, worked great for a week, fuse blew again. Replaced it again, scheduled a tech visit, tech never showed, and I forgot all about it until just now. It's been a few years, I think.
posted by disconnect at 9:56 AM on October 17, 2014
posted by disconnect at 9:56 AM on October 17, 2014
Flashman is right . If you ran out of oil then there would be air in the line. It has happened to me and after watching, and paying an oil tech, I learned how to bleed the line.
Usually there is a small nut near the pump with a hole in it. Loosen it a little then hit the reset to trigger the pump. You may need an extra set of hands because once the oil makes it through the line you need to tighten the nut back up.
Of course it could be a fuse as the others have said but if it is bleeding the line it couldn't be more simple. You can do it.
posted by ashtray elvis at 5:28 PM on October 17, 2014
Usually there is a small nut near the pump with a hole in it. Loosen it a little then hit the reset to trigger the pump. You may need an extra set of hands because once the oil makes it through the line you need to tighten the nut back up.
Of course it could be a fuse as the others have said but if it is bleeding the line it couldn't be more simple. You can do it.
posted by ashtray elvis at 5:28 PM on October 17, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
Same thing happened to me and after multiple resets I got nervous and called. In the end my issue was resolved by replacing a $5 part (don't ask me what it was) for 5 minutes of labor for which I got charged a $90 repair fee. But in the dead of winter with 2 babies at home I consider it money well spent.
It's also possible that your issue is something else entirely but I'd still recommend not DYI-ing it.
posted by eatcake at 4:17 PM on October 16, 2014