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Here we discuss how to diagnose oil burner electrodes or nozzle problems, how to inspect, clean, and adjust oil burner nozzles, electrodes, and air turbulators. This website answers most questions about central hot water heating system troubleshooting, inspection, diagnosis, and repairs. We describe how to inspect residential heating systems to inform home owners, buyers, and home inspectors of common heating system defects. Our sketch (above) shows how an oil burner gun atomizes and sprays heating oil into the combustion chamber - Audel Oil Burner Guide

The articles at this website describe how to recognize common oil-fired heating appliance operating or safety defects, and how to save money on home heating costs. Readers should see HEATING SYSTEM INSPECTION PROCEDURE where we discuss an organized approach to inspecting the entire heating system, beginning outdoors, continuing indoors, and ultimately in most detail in the boiler or furnace room. Also see CHIMNEY INSPECTION & REPAIR GUIDE for details of chimney inspection, diagnosis, and repair, including blocked chimney flues, chimney backdrafting, leaks, and odors from flues.

This article is in process, critique or contributions are invited. Contact Us.

© Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

Oil Burner Electrodes - Inspection, Adjustment

• Loose, damaged, mis-aligned oil burner electrodes (use a simple oil burner nozzle gauge or a small steel rule to see that the position of the oil burner electrodes in their gap apart, their distance above the oil burner nozzle orifice, and their distance forward or backwards relative to the face of the oil burner nozzle are according to the manufacturer's specification.
  
  Often that data is imprinted on a tag right on the oil burner itself. Our photos (above) show how a stainless steel oil burner nozzle and electrode adjustment gauge is used to align the oil burner electrodes, courtesy of Beckett Corporation, a supplier of oil burners including the model shown at the top of this page. The nozzle and nozzle adapter and oil delivery tube are to the right of the gauge face and you can see an electrode in line with the upper + mark in the sketch at right.
• If you try to adjust or replace the oil burner nozzle, electrodes, or electrode ceramics (this is a job for a trained service technician, but an amateur can clean the outside of these parts if working with care not to disturb the adjustment):
• Be careful not to over-tighten or damage the brass nozzle-end fittings. Early in our oil burner service experience we thought it was great to make these parts as tight as possible. The result was damaged threads on the oil line to which the nozzle adapter was mounted, or damaged threads between the nozzle adapter and the nozzle itself - leading to oil spray leaks, improper firing, and having to replace these parts damaged by heavy handedness.
• Be careful not to break the ceramic insulators on the oil electrodes

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Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

HEATING SYSTEMS
BLUERAY Recall
BOILERS, HEATING
  BOILER CONTROLS & SWITCHES
  BOILER LEAKS CORROSION STAINS
  BOILER NOISE SMOKE ODORS
  BOILER OPERATING PROBLEMS
  BOILER OPERATION DETAILS
  BOILER PARTS LIST
BOILER PRESSURE SETTINGS
CARBON MONOXIDE/DIOXIDE
CARBON MONOXIDE WARNING
CHIMNEY INSPECTION DIAGNOSIS REPAIR
CHIMNEYS & Flues - Asbestos Transite Pipe
COMBUSTION AIR DEFECTS
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS & IAQ
DUCT INSULATION - Asbestos Paper
DUCTS - Asbestos Transite Pipe
DUST FROM HVAC?
ELECTRIC HEAT
ELECTRICAL POWER SWITCH FOR HEAT
ENERGY SAVINGS in BUILDINGS
ENERGY SAVINGS PRIORITIES
ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT CASE STUDY
ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT LEAK SEALING GUIDE
ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT OPTIONS
FLUE VENT CONNECTORS
FREEZE-PROOF A BUILDING
FURNACES, HEATING
GAS PIPING, VALVES, CONTROLS
HEAT LOSS in BUILDINGS
HEAT LOSS DETECTION TOOLS
HEAT LOSS INDICATORS
HEAT LOSS R U & K VALUE CALCULATION
HOUSEWRAP AIR & VAPOR BARRIERS
HEATING COST SAVINGS METHODS
HEATING LOSS DIAGNOSIS-BOILERS
HEATING LOSS DIAGNOSIS-FURNACES
HEATING OIL CLOUD WAX GEL POINT
HEATING OIL EXPOSURE HAZARDS, LIMITS
HEATING OIL SLUDGE
HEATING SMALL LOADS
HEAT PUMPS
HEATING SYSTEM INSPECTION PROCEDURE
INSULATION & VENTILATION INSPECTION & IMPROVEMENT
MOTOR OVERLOAD RESET SWITCH
NO HEAT - BOILER / FURNACE DIAGNOSIS
OIL BURNERS
OIL BURNER INSPECTION GUIDE
OIL BURNERS, RETENTION HEAD
OIL BURNER SOOT & PUFFBACKS
OIL BURNER NOISE SMOKE ODORS
OIL BURNER NOZZLE & ELECTRODES
OIL PUMP FUEL UNIT PRESSURE SETTING TIPS
OIL FUEL TYPES & CHARACTERISTICS
Oil Odors: Leaky Oil Tank Piping
OIL SAFETY VALVES
OIL TANKS
OIL TANK GAUGES
OIL TANK LEAKS
OIL TANK SLUDGE
OIL TANK TESTING
OIL TANKS, BURIED
PLASTIC HEATER VENT
RADIANT HEAT
RADIANT HEAT Floor Mistakes to Avoid
RADIANT SLAB FLOORING CHOICES
RADIANT SLAB TUBING & FLUID CHOICES
Safety Recalls
  BLUERAY Recall
  CHIMNEYS & Flues - Asbestos Transite
  Goodman HTPV RECALL
  Heat Recovery Ventilator RECALL
  Lennox Furnace Manuals
  Lennox WARNING
  Weil McLain RECALL
SAFETY DURING HEATING INSPECTION
STEAM HEATING SYSTEMS
TANKLESS COILS
THERMAL EXPANSION of MATERIALS
THERMAL MASS in BUILDINGS
THERMAL MASS in UPSTAIRS
THERMAL TRACKING & HEAT LOSS
THERMOSTATS
Transite Pipes, Chimneys & Flues

• Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, Carson Dunlop, Associates, Toronto, for permission to use illustrations from their publication, The Illustrated Home which illustrates construction details and building components. Carson Dunlop provides home inspection education, publications, report writing materials, and home inspection services. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors.
• Beckett Corporation, 38251 Center Ridge Rd., North Ridgeville, OH 44039 440-327-1060 Email: sales@beckettcorp.com supplies residential and commercial oil burners for boilers, furnaces, and water heaters - see www.beckettcorp.com/

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

• Our recommended books about building design, inspection, and repair, and about indoor environment testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore.
• Carbon Monoxide Gas Toxicity, exposure limits, poisoning symptoms, and inspecting buildings for CO hazards
• Home Heating System Should Be Checked [for proper venting and for CO Carbon Monoxide Hazards - DJF]
• Inspection Procedures for Oil-Fired Heating Systems Detailed step by step approaches for inspecting complex systems]
• Oil Tanks - The Oil Storage Tank Information Website: Buried or Above Ground Oil Tank Inspection, Testing, Cleanup, Abandonment of Oil Tanks
• Audels Oil Burner Guide, Installation, Servicing, Repairing, Frank D. Graham, 1940's edition (obsolete). Updated versions of this guide are available in various editions, 1947, 1950, 1955, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1965, 1967, and at prices from around $3.00 to nearly $70.00 - useful for simple, clear, but not current, explanation of how heating equipment works. The original retail price was $1.00.
• Domestic and Commercial Oil Burners, Charles H. Burkhardt, McGraw Hill Book Company, New York 3rd Ed 1969.
• National Fuel Gas Code (Z223.1) $16.00 and National Fuel Gas Code Handbook (Z223.2) $47.00 American Gas Association (A.G.A.), 1515 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22209 also available from National Fire Protection Association, Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA 02269. Fundamentals of Gas Appliance Venting and Ventilation, 1985, American Gas Association Laboratories, Engineering Services Department. American Gas Association, 1515 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22209. Catalog #XHO585. Reprinted 1989.
• The Steam Book, 1984, Training and Education Department, Fluid Handling Division, ITT [probably out of print, possibly available from several home inspection supply companies] Fuel Oil and Oil Heat Magazine, October 1990, offers an update,
• Principles of Steam Heating, $13.25 includes postage. Fuel oil & Oil Heat Magazine, 389 Passaic Ave., Fairfield, NJ 07004.
• The Lost Art of Steam Heating, John Doe [Dan Holohan], 516-579-3046 FAX, at Amazon.com and the InspectAPedia bookstore
• Principles of Steam Heating, Dan Holohan, technical editor of Fuel Oil and Oil Heat magazine, 389 Passaic Ave., Fairfield, NJ 07004 ($12.+1.25 postage/handling).
• Principles of Home Inspection: Steam, Electric & Wall/Floor Heating, Carson Dunlop, at Amazon.com and the InspectAPedia bookstore
• "Residential Steam Heating Systems", Instructional Technologies Institute, Inc., 145 "D" Grassy Plain St., Bethel, CT 06801 800/227-1663 [home inspection training material] 1987
• "Residential Hydronic (circulating hot water) Heating Systems", Instructional Technologies Institute, Inc., 145 "D" Grassy Plain St., Bethel, CT 06801 800/227-1663 [home inspection training material] 1987
• "Warm Air Heating Systems". Instructional Technologies Institute, Inc., 145 "D" Grassy Plain St., Bethel, CT 06801 800/227-1663 [home inspection training material] 1987
• Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning Volume I, Heating Fundamentals,
• Boilers, Boiler Conversions, James E. Brumbaugh, ISBN 0-672-23389-4 (v. 1) Volume II, Oil, Gas, and Coal Burners, Controls, Ducts, Piping, Valves, James E. Brumbaugh, ISBN 0-672-23390-7 (v. 2) Volume III, Radiant Heating, Water Heaters, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, Heat Pumps, Air Cleaners, James E. Brumbaugh, ISBN 0-672-23383-5 (v. 3) or ISBN 0-672-23380-0 (set) Special Sales Director, Macmillan Publishing Co., 866 Third Ave., New York, NY 10022. Macmillan Publishing Co., NY
• Installation Guide for Residential Hydronic Heating Systems
• Installation Guide #200, The Hydronics Institute, 35 Russo Place, Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922
• The ABC's of Retention Head Oil Burners, National Association of Oil Heat Service Managers, TM 115, National Old Timers' Association of the Energy Industry, PO Box 168, Mineola, NY 11501. (Excellent tips on spotting problems on oil-fired heating equipment. Booklet.)
• Can X-Ray Vision Warn of Sink Holes? in Florida or elsewhere
• Developing your X-Ray Vision - 6th Ed. The Science of Building Inspections - advanced home inspection techniques including "The Limits of Vision," "Inattentional Blindness," "Invasive Inspection Methods," "Missed Defects," & "Contextual Inspection," "Termite Inspections," "Moisture & Building Water Entry," © Daniel Friedman 2006-1987
• Developing your X-Ray Vision - 5th Ed.- ppt slides Presentation slides © 2005 Daniel Friedman
• The Nature of Vision, Inspecting Complex Systems,why inspectors don't see certain defects and miss important omissions
• ...

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