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General questions about oil furnace Mikepier 07-01-2008
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Posted by Mikepier on July 1, 2008, 9:46 am
I have a vacation home in upstate NY that has a Thatcher oil
furnace.Recently it had a problem with firing up. It turned out that
there was an air pocket in the line after a new oil line was run to
the tank. I was not sure how to bleed it. There was a flathead screw
on the motor assembly that I opened, and I did see a little air come
out, but it did not help. Then I opened one of 2 hex type bolts on the
top of the motor assembly, and that cleared the air pocket.
I'm trying to familiarize myself with how the system works, so here
are a few questions.

1) What are thses hex bolts for? Are they for bleeding or do they
control oil flow?
2) Do the burners need adjusting, and how are they adjusted?
3) There is a Honeywell stack switch at the base of the flue pipe has
been disconnected ( wires were cut) what was the purpose of this?
4) I have a Honeywell fan limit switch L498 that has an off-on-off,
that has a high limit of 200 deg which is suppose to shut the system
down if it gets too hot. Does this take place of the stack switch?

Thanks

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Posted by Speedy Jim on July 1, 2008, 10:34 am
Mikepier wrote:
> I have a vacation home in upstate NY that has a Thatcher oil
> furnace.Recently it had a problem with firing up. It turned out that
> there was an air pocket in the line after a new oil line was run to
> the tank. I was not sure how to bleed it. There was a flathead screw
> on the motor assembly that I opened, and I did see a little air come
> out, but it did not help. Then I opened one of 2 hex type bolts on the
> top of the motor assembly, and that cleared the air pocket.
> I'm trying to familiarize myself with how the system works, so here
> are a few questions.
>
> 1) What are thses hex bolts for? Are they for bleeding or do they
> control oil flow?
> 2) Do the burners need adjusting, and how are they adjusted?
> 3) There is a Honeywell stack switch at the base of the flue pipe has
> been disconnected ( wires were cut) what was the purpose of this?
> 4) I have a Honeywell fan limit switch L498 that has an off-on-off,
> that has a high limit of 200 deg which is suppose to shut the system
> down if it gets too hot. Does this take place of the stack switch?
>
> Thanks

Hit the local library for a book on domestic
oil burners.

Some info:
http://www.websterfuelpumps.com/trouble.htm

The stack switch provided the flame safety circuitry;
shut down in event of flame out/no ignition.
It may have been replaced by a newer design, using a
flame sensing photocell.

Fan limit does not replace the stack switch.

Posted by Mikepier on July 1, 2008, 11:17 am
>
> The stack switch provided the flame safety circuitry;
> shut down in event of flame out/no ignition.
> It may have been replaced by a newer design, using a
> flame sensing photocell.
>
> Fan limit does not replace the stack switch.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

When I had the problem of no oil going through, it did shut down, and
I had to hit a reset button to start it again, so its possible a
photocell is now being used. Thats why I was concerned when I saw the
stack switch wires cut, I thought somebody took a shortcut.

Posted by Claude Hopper on July 2, 2008, 7:38 am
Mikepier wrote:
> I have a vacation home in upstate NY that has a Thatcher oil
> furnace.Recently it had a problem with firing up. It turned out that
> there was an air pocket in the line after a new oil line was run to
> the tank. I was not sure how to bleed it. There was a flathead screw
> on the motor assembly that I opened, and I did see a little air come
> out, but it did not help. Then I opened one of 2 hex type bolts on the
> top of the motor assembly, and that cleared the air pocket.
> I'm trying to familiarize myself with how the system works, so here
> are a few questions.
>
> 1) What are thses hex bolts for? Are they for bleeding or do they
> control oil flow?
> 2) Do the burners need adjusting, and how are they adjusted?
> 3) There is a Honeywell stack switch at the base of the flue pipe has
> been disconnected ( wires were cut) what was the purpose of this?
> 4) I have a Honeywell fan limit switch L498 that has an off-on-off,
> that has a high limit of 200 deg which is suppose to shut the system
> down if it gets too hot. Does this take place of the stack switch?
>
> Thanks

What they usually do to bleed the line is remove one end of the copper
line that goes from the pump to the nozzle assembly, put a cup under it,
bypass the emergency shut off, and run it until the bubbles clear up.
What you did with the wrench could be anything depending on the burner
type. DO not adjust anything if you do not know what you are doing. You
probably invalidated your homeowners insurance policy.

--
Claude Hopper ? 3 :) 7/8

Posted by Mikepier on July 2, 2008, 9:55 am
wrote:
> Mikepier wrote:
> > I have a vacation home in upstate NY that has a Thatcher oil
> > furnace.Recently it had a problem with firing up. It turned out that
> > there was an air pocket in the line after a new oil line was run to
> > the tank. I was not sure how to bleed it. There was a flathead screw
> > on the motor assembly that I opened, and I did see a little air come
> > out, but it did not help. Then I opened one of 2 hex type bolts on the
> > top of the motor assembly, and that cleared the air pocket.
> > I'm trying to familiarize myself with how the system works, so here
> > are a few questions.
>
> > 1) What are thses hex bolts for? Are they for bleeding or do they
> > control oil flow?
> > 2) Do the burners need adjusting, and how are they adjusted?
> > 3) There is a Honeywell stack switch at the base of the flue pipe has
> > been disconnected ( wires were cut) what was the purpose of this?
> > 4) I have a Honeywell fan limit switch L498 that has an off-on-off,
> > that has a high limit of 200 deg which is suppose to shut the system
> > down if it gets too hot. Does this take place of the stack switch?
>
> > Thanks
>
> What they usually do to bleed the line is remove one end of the copper
> line that goes from the pump to the nozzle assembly, put a cup under it,
> bypass the emergency shut off, and run it until the bubbles clear up.
> What you did with the wrench could be anything depending on the burner
> type. DO not adjust anything if you do not know what you are doing. You
> probably invalidated your homeowners insurance policy.
>
> --
> Claude Hopper =A0? 3 =A0 =A0 :) =A07/8- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

As far as I could tell, that nut that I removed was tight on the pump
assembly. Once I loosened it I could remove it by hand. It did not
appear to be an adjustment. I did look at the flame and it was bright
white, so all looked ok.

While we are on this topic, how long typically does it take for the
fan turn on after you call for heat? I have the fan limit switch set
to come on at 140 deg. When I tested it, it took a good 5 minutes
before the fan kicked on. Meanwhile I was watching the dial on the
switch to see if it was moving. It was but very slowly. How can you
tell if the switch is defective or maybe not reading the temperature
correctly?

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