Heating Oil Question

Submitted by interweb_gangsta t3_11wiyoy in newhampshire

I am posting this here as I have a wild theory that heating oil quality this year is lower than in previous years. So I just want to check if anyone is having a similar issue as I do:

Is anyone experiencing boiler/furnace tripping? I have a boiler that uses oil as fuel and this year it will not stop tripping. The unit - primary - itself trips, not a circuit breaker.

I am getting oil from Eastern propane and I am working with a heating company (not Eastern) to fix this issue. Yearly maintenance is done, cad cell replaced, nozzle replaced, oil filter replaced, oil pipes tested and flushed, primary controller replaced, tests look good etc... but it is still tripping. Time between trips varies between few hours to up to few weeks. So very unpredictable when it happens and how long the system will continuously work.

The error returned by primary is "No flame, check igniter". Few people who knows this stuff say ignator either works or it doesn't - it does not intermittently fail.

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picklehaub t1_jcy8vd5 wrote

I’ve sold about a million gallons of #2 this year and haven’t seen any recurring issues.

You said primary was replaced, what I have seen is a bad primary get put in and cause intermittent failures. What did they put in?

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interweb_gangsta OP t1_jcyctnt wrote

So primary was replaced to fix this issue, but new primary did not make a difference. Analog honeywell was replaced with something else (digital and expensive). Will edit this later with make and model. At work now so can't check.

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picklehaub t1_jcyfo2b wrote

Did they replace the transformer too?

Most likely you got the resideo 7284 primary or the Beckett genesis. Both are good controls but can be done in by failed transformer.

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mdnh01 t1_jcym039 wrote

I use eastern as well- but have not had any issues this year.

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TheCloudBoy t1_jcyb7tk wrote

To my understanding (I've been closely watching this as part of a joint weather-equities/commodities venture I'm in), the U.S. panicked and began flooding the market heating oil market starting late 2022 with extra supply from our SPR.

This was not widely discussed or even well understood in local media (shocker), but the prevailing thinking is that this occurred to stem outrage in the Northeast U.S. as oil prices soared. It's also *just* coming out now that U.S. based shale production has been massively underwhelming for months, despite the lavish numbers coming out from the EIA. This would further bolster the idea that SPR releases were targeting demand in the Northeast markets.

I believe both sweet & sour crude stored in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve is of quality, however it's entirely possible that a) it loses this quality the longer it sits in storage and b) you're ultimately seeing the results of this.

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AussieJeffProbst t1_jcy51jo wrote

Are you getting grade 2 oil?

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interweb_gangsta OP t1_jcy5t8o wrote

The bill says "ULS Heating Oil" - which is ultra low sulfur heating oil. Not sure which grade it is, but I can call them and ask them.

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AussieJeffProbst t1_jcyaxdp wrote

Might be worth a call but honestly I'd be really shocked if they weren't selling everyone in residential grade 2.

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interweb_gangsta OP t1_jcybvej wrote

What conclusion can I derive from the grade of the oil? I assume one is lesser quality. How would I know which oil is right for my system? Been using Eastern for awhile and this is a new issue. Could be that my tank got contaminated with water or something.

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AussieJeffProbst t1_jcyi34w wrote

Water in the tank is more likely than shoddy oil imo. You want grade 2 for residential. Grade 1 is cheaper but burns less efficiently and makes more waste.

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MastodonOk9827 t1_jcyqgpg wrote

My most frustrating call I ever dealt with was a bad solenoid that was intermittently working. Randomly wouldn't open to allow oil to flow to burn. It was a brand new system too. Ended up swapping out the pump with one with a new solenoid and to my knowledge that did the trick

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redditthrower888999 t1_jcyx5kf wrote

Have they replaced the oil burner ignition transformer? That was the first thing replaced on mine when I had intermittent failure.

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interweb_gangsta OP t1_jcz6ch8 wrote

Thanks. It appears they haven't. I assume that fixed the problem for ya? How much did it cost you if I may ask?

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redditthrower888999 t1_jcz9utu wrote

The transformer was the first thing the oil guy figured it was so I'm assuming that's a common problem. Actually no, mine ended up being air getting in the oil line.

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akmjolnir t1_jczutlt wrote

$75 when I changed out my transformer earlier this year. Homeless Despot has them.

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vexingsilence t1_jcyuxmz wrote

If you suspect the oil itself is the problem, have you tried sending a sample to a lab for testing? Alternatively, you could switch suppliers and see if that helps.

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Djwshady44 t1_jczoy5n wrote

Pump screen replaced? Suntec A70 most likely.

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JayJay1982171 t1_jd28sah wrote

We bought millions of barrels of the dirtiest oil on the planet from Venezuela. When I had issues like you I started simple and worked my way up from there. Start with the filter at the tank. If it is not clogged and looks reasonably clean and doesn't have a creamy look to it (water) you don't have bad oil.

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