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Housekeeping

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Original poster

oil fired boiler not working - help!

33 replies

MuffinMclay · 14/02/2007 19:15

I've had the oil tank refilled today and it had run almost dry (thanks to oil delivery company arriving 48 hours late ). Now it isn't working - the relevant lights are coming on but nothing is happening.
It is a Thermecon wall-mounted boiler.

Bit of a long shot but does anyone know why this might be? Is there something that should be pressed to restart things after it has been filled?

I'm relatively new to this oil fuel business. We've only had the tank filled twice before and it wasn't empty on those occasions.

OP posts:
TrinityRhino · 14/02/2007 19:25

it sounds like you now need to bleed the system to get the oil though to the boiler
this happens everytime that we let the tank run completely empty

bobsmum · 14/02/2007 19:27

This exact same thing just happened to our next door neighbours the other day! sO I only know about this cos of them.

There will most likely be an air lock in the system and it will need to be bled.

This is something you should be able to do yourself, but I can't begin to guess where in your system the point for bleeding the air off will be.

This is an airlock in the oil feed not the radiators.

Love your name btw

bobsmum · 14/02/2007 19:28

x posted!!

Original poster
MuffinMclay · 14/02/2007 19:47

Brilliant - that is really helpful (although I was hoping someone would tell me about a magic button I could press to sort it out).

How on earth do you do the bleeding? I don't mind having a go at DIY stuff but this may be beyond my skills. I guess I'll have to get someone out.

So annoying. Apart from the fact that I'm cold and have no hot water (although we can use an immersion heater for that), I've spent all of Monday, Tuesday and today waiting for this oil delivery, and now will have to spend tomorrow waiting for a boiler man. I'm getting cabin fever. Sorry about the rant. Needed to get it out of my system.

OP posts:
bobsmum · 14/02/2007 20:10

Rant away!!

I hate a cold house!!

We've got a coal fired back boiler so ned to keep the coal fire in the lounge stoked up in order to heat the house. Complete pain in the bottom when the coal froze and I needed to hack it out of the coal bunker before it could even make it onto the fire. Grrrrrr.

Eventually (when we find a plumber who'll return our calls) we'll, get a geothermal heat pump using a borehole in the front garden and I will have a magic button!

TrinityRhino · 14/02/2007 20:40

hi dh has just got back, he is a boiler engineer and is willing to try and talk you through it via me

his first question is do you have a filter in the oil line??

TrinityRhino · 14/02/2007 20:43

also does the filter have a bleed screw on it and do you have a screwdriver and an allen key??

TrinityRhino · 14/02/2007 20:45

next thing , is the oil tank above the burner or is there a tigerloop fitted

TrinityRhino · 14/02/2007 20:54

coeeeeeeeee don't call someone, try to do it yourself we can help you

TrinityRhino · 14/02/2007 20:57

going to bump this FOREVER till you come back

Original poster
MuffinMclay · 14/02/2007 21:08

Sorry. Went away to cook and eat.

TR - I'll try and answer the questions, but I'm not going to be very helpful.

  1. filter in the oil line - no idea? Would it be obvious if I did have one?
  2. just realised I can't answer that one either. Do have a screwdriver and allen key though.
  3. sorry, can't answer that one either. I don't think the tank is above anything. It is a huge plastic tank and sits on the ground outside the garage. There's a pipe that runs just below ground level, through my raspberry patch, into the garage, about 2 metres away.

Sorry. You've been so helpful, and I can't answer any of the questions. It is pitch black outside and in the garage so I can't really poke about too much.

OP posts:
Original poster
MuffinMclay · 14/02/2007 21:12

Is the burner a large round red metal thing with pipes going in and out? If so, that is next to the boiler inside the garage.

OP posts:
TrinityRhino · 14/02/2007 21:14

the filter in the oil line will be a large metallic lump with a pipe coming out each side usually sited beside the boiler

TrinityRhino · 14/02/2007 21:15

yes muffin that red round thing is the filter in the oil line

TrinityRhino · 14/02/2007 21:18

is the tank physically higher than the boiler?

Original poster
MuffinMclay · 14/02/2007 21:19

Oooh, I've learnt something. I'll just go and see if that has a bleed screw. Should be just enough light from the house to see that.

OP posts:
Original poster
MuffinMclay · 14/02/2007 21:24

Right, I'm back.

The boiler is much higher than the tank. The tank sits on the ground. The boiler is mounted on the wall, about half way up. I guee the top of the tank and the top of the boiler are at the same level (that's probably irrelevant ).

The red think has a pipe coming out of the top, with what looks like a pressure guage on the top. Coming off the side of this pipe is a flexible pipe with a little switch. It looks like a water stopcock. Is this the magic switch?

OP posts:
Original poster
MuffinMclay · 14/02/2007 21:31

Just been looking at it again. There is also a joint where this side pipe joins the main pipe (the one coming out of the red metal ball). It is a metal tube, about 5cm long, with a screw in the middle.
The other switch I was rabbiting on about defintely looks like a water stopcock - I can follow the pipe below it to our water supply.

OP posts:
TrinityRhino · 14/02/2007 21:33

OK LEAVE THE RED THING ALONE

thats not the filter

inside the boiler case there will be a black pump, it'll have 2 things sticking out, one hexagonal(brass) and one round(probably painted black).

the round one alters the pump pressure, leave this one alone!!!!

the hexagonal brass one will have a black screw with a knurled edge and a hexagonal hole for your allen key

you need to loosen that, reset the lockout button (the buttin with the red light)

the boiler will run and push air out of that loosened screw(you may need to repeat this 2 or 3 times until you get oil coming out of the loosened screw

Original poster
MuffinMclay · 14/02/2007 21:39

Brilliant. I'm off to have a look. Should the boiler be turned on for this?

OP posts:
TrinityRhino · 14/02/2007 21:47

yes once you've loosened the screw you have to be able to make it fire up to make it push the air throuhg

but because it has no fuel through to it yet it will cut out shortly after it try to run
so you then have to wait a bit until the reset buttoin lets you press it again, then you press it again to try and make it fire agaion and so on and so on until you get oil coming out of the black screw thing

TrinityRhino · 14/02/2007 21:48

sorry about the long time between posts dd3(one week old) feeding ALOT at the mo

TrinityRhino · 14/02/2007 21:50
Original poster
MuffinMclay · 14/02/2007 21:50

It is working again!!!!! It is making its noise and the radiators are coming on.

One small twist made it start up again! Oil started running out, so I tightened the brass thing up again. Is that right?

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk me through this, and for deciphering my not very technical gibberish. Big, big thanks to your dh too.

You're a star![grin} I'm so happy now!

OP posts:
saltire · 14/02/2007 21:51

sorry for the hijack. Trinity, have just seen a post saying you had the baby, congrats. I was at my mum's at the weekend, and reading the births section of the Annandale Observer, and wondered if one of them was you!
Hijack over

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