Electro Oil Sterling oil fired boiler won't restart

[c...@isbd.net]

We have a fairly standard (I think) Electro Oil Sterling oil boiler
running a very small (three radiator) CH system on our boat. Last
weekend my wife forgot to turn the heating off, as she normally would,
while she was away from the boat. So it was left to run on the timer
over the weekend, it runs (or ran) fine normally this way during the
week.

However when she came back this week she found the boiler had turned
itself off and refused to restart. When you turn it on it makes a
couple of noises and then the red light on the Bentone box next to the
Electro Oil Sterling bit flashes. The red light goes on, then flashes
five times after which the sequence repeats. We don't have any
instructions so it *could* be simply that we're not doing things in the
right sequence to restart the boiler.

Any/all help would be welcome.



--
Chris Green
·

[jim]

c...@isbd.net Wrote in message:

Sounds like it's "locking out " cos something ain't right...

Does it start the oil pump etc and sound like it's sparking trying
to light the oil spray as normal but then fails? Sooty photocell
window?

--
Jim K


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
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[c...@isbd.net]

It doesn't sound like it's trying anything much. My problem is lack
of any sort of manual so I don't really know how I'm supposed to
restart it.

I've found a description of Bentone bit, I think the flashing lights
are trying to tell me why it shut down. However I can't find any sort
of instructions on how to reset it to try again.

--
Chris Green
·

[Tim+]

This page any use?

http://www.oilburnerspares.com/products/images/pages/file/sterling%20burners%20maunal/Sterling%20Oil%20Burner%20ST%2050-2%20UK.pdf

[Michael Chare]

Can you work out what Bentone burner it uses:

http://www.bentone.com/products/oil-burners-one-stage/

You may then be able to get manuals for the burner online.

In the meantime look for any reset buttons on the burner itself or part
of the boiler 'cos it's got to hot.


--
Michael Chare

[johnje...@gmail.com]

Something amiss there. If the burner fails to establish a healthy flame the control should take it to lockout with no further attempt to fire until the lockout reset button is pressed.
Check the input to the burner is of the correct polarity as some burner controls exhibit the symptoms you describe if L & N are reversed. As to the cause of the failure have you run out of oil?

[c...@isbd.net]

johnje...@gmail.com wrote:
> Something amiss there. If the burner fails to establish a healthy flame
> the control should take it to lockout with no further attempt to fire until
> the lockout reset button is pressed.

Yes, exactly what happened. The trouble is/was that we have no
instructions to tell us about the lockout reset. The cause of the
lockout was a loss of mains power for a few hours (the clock was a
couple of hours slow when I looked).

When I pushed the reset button on the Bentone and powered up again all
was well.

I'd just like some proper instructions on how it's all supposed to
work.


--
Chris Green
·

[johnje...@gmail.com]

Generic "working" of a simple oil boiler (conventional flue without run on timer) -
Power applied to burner via external controls and boiler thermostat (also any boiler overheat thermostat with normally closed contacts).
Most sequence control boxes check no flame present before one should be there, Burner motor starts and in some units ignition arc starts simultaneously others after short delay. The fan runs to purge the combustion chamber. The oil pump runs with the motor but no oil delivered until the purge delay expires when the oil solenoid is energised open and oil is sprayed into the chamber past the ignition arc which lights the oil flame. The light of the flame is detected, the arc turned off and the flame continues to burn until the heat demand is satisfied when the thermostatic controls remove power from the burner.
If a too early light is detected the sequence control goes to "false light lockout" If a proper flame is not detected shortly after the oil solenoid opens the sequence control goes to lockout. In lockout the burner stops, an alarm light illuminates and resetting requires manual reset.
Occasional failure to ignite can happen but if more than once in a blue moon further investigation is required.

[c...@isbd.net]

Thanks. As I said I think our failure was provoked by a loss of
power, it could have happened during an ignition sequence which might
have made it cause the lockout.

We don't seem to have an alarm light as such, just the sequence of
flashes on the Bentone box (or is that what you meant by alarm?).

When I restarted/reset I just held the reset button in on the Bentone
while powering up, it continued to flash its alarm sequence for a
while but then decided all was well and went quiet. Would the normal
manual reset be to power up and then hold the reset button in for a
while or should one power up with the reset button in, or doesn't it
matter?

--
Chris Green
·

[johnje...@gmail.com]

Loss of power shouldn't cause lockout but a flickering failure might upset things. Normally a loss of power should be interpreted as an end of demand condition with retry on power restoration. Without knowing exactly which model of Bentone control box you have I can't be more specific. Are there any numbers or type labels such as TF801 for example? That would indicate a rebadged Satronic control.
Typical alarm display is the reset button lights up but often a repeater light is mounted on the front of the boiler.

[johnje...@gmail.com]

This link might be helpful in understanding the workings of an oil boiler
http://www.manualslib.com/manual/815207/Grant-50-70.html?page=38

[c...@isbd.net]

No light on the front of our boiler. I'm away from the system at the
moment so can't tell you the details of the Bentone.

I realise loss of power *shouldn't* cause lockout but it might have
been repeated etc.

--
Chris Green
·