This one demonstrates what happens when the reset button has been reset numerous times. Should you fire off the furnace when unburned oil is in the combustion chamber?
Can't thank you enough Gary. Your vids are the best and just used a few of them to replace my Beckett transformer and tip adjustment on old mobile home furnace in my shop. Thanks again.
That is good advice. I have lit them off with a paper and slammed the inspection door closed. But yes have 911 on speed dial. Cause you can be in for a ride. And one heck of a mess to clean up. Blown off flue piping, and that smoke clouding up a house. I’ve seen technicians in the hospital over this.
Great videos! 👍 I’m currently trying to fix my furnace by myself for the first time. Can’t figure out what the problem is. It all started when my smoke alarm went off. Went in the basement and it wasn’t too bad. Smelled a little bit and was a little smokey but didn’t look too serious. I figured it might need to be cleaned out because I could see burnt soot falling out of the combustion chamber so I took it all apart and cleaned it out and changed the nozzle. I put it all back together and I was still getting a bit of smoke and fumes. I changed the transformer because it looked like the spark was a little low. Then I tried it again and I got more smoke than I had ever gotten before and had to turn it off within a minute or so of it running because it just filled up my whole basement very quickly with black smoke and fumes. The previous smoke was never this dark and never this much so it’s like I made it worse some how. I’ve taken it apart and checked everything, played with the air adjustments but no matter what now every time I start it up I get thick black smoke and a lot of fumes immediately. It’s 10 times worse than it was. I never touched the red reset button at all throughout the whole process but could I have possibly gotten my chamber full of fuel some other way? Possibly checking the transformer too much or something like that? I’m really lost now. Please if u get a chance let me know what u think about this.. thank u so much. 🙏
I’ve seen the aftermath of a furnace that was lit after many “button pushes” The house burned down , the evaporator coil melted along with the heat exchanger.
Most of us have some horror stories about this. I remember one that had the stack switch fail in the on position. I noticed oil on the floor that had leaked out the bottom of the combustion chamber. Several gallons of oil inside. If I had fired it off, it would have gotten out of control very quickly. This is no joke as you have related it could mean someone losing all their possessions or even their life. GFM
If I suspect excessive reset button presses, I strongly reiterate to the customer what can happen if they lie to me about how many times they but it. I've even told them I'd make them sign a waiver before I light it off.
Hi GFM, I have the Beckett Oil Furnace similar to what is in the video. I have been trouble shooting for a couple of weeks and I feel I am getting close. My initial problem was that my furnace would run for a cycle or two and then had to be manually started with the reset. I replaced my nozzle and the oil filter in the line. The furnace ran fine, but I got a blow back from where debris had built up in my flue. I cleaned out the flue and replaced the pipes. Upon restarting the furnace I noticed the flame was not firing as large as it had previously. I watched your video on how to adjust the air intake. I adjusted the air and now I have a hot flame. Now, here is my present problem. The furnace is firing and good heat comes off the vent that is actually attached to the furnace. However, I am only getting lukewarm air from the vents that go to the rooms in the house. The air is blowing as always but it is only lukewarm. Also, the pipe going to the flue is very hot to the touch. It is as if all my heat is being directed up the chimney. I will appreciate any suggestions as to what may be my problem, or what I could check next. Thanks.
I just wanted to follow up on my previous comment for people like myself who read all the comments searching for help and suggestions...lol. My furnace seems to be working fine now. I guess it just didn't seem like it was heating enough earlier because the temp outside was not that cold. Well, it is snowing here now and my house is nice and warm. Looks like most of my initial problems was stemming from my flue being stopped up. Also, my electrodes and the jet needed to be adjusted. I also turned up the pressure on my pump. It was pushing lower than the recommended 130 psi. I changed the oil filter in the canister and also replaced the air filters. My furnace seems to be running much smoother and more importantly, has not shut off for about two weeks now. Thanks GFM.
Just happen to me it clear up but I only press the button 3 times but doing that created all that smoke I fix it end up cleaning nozzle and everything els in there runs good now
I was just trouble shooting my polebarn oil boiler before I came to this tutorial. I hit the reset three or four times for sure. Then I disconnected the motor wiring. Not because I knew what I was doing. I did that because I'm CHEAP and didn't want to waste the oil. I got nothing out of the igniter. No spark nothing. Jumped out the photo cell too. Mine's wired a little differently. The Power Out of the Cadd cell Relay goes up to the control board. Not sure what's going on there (low water cut-out maybe), BUT the 120v comes back down when it should and is connected to the transformer and the pump/motor. Gonna get a transformer tomorrow and hit the go button. Ohh and the unit has a SWG power vent so hopefully a lot of that oil vapor got pulled through.
Update. I replaced the electronic igniter. Fired off instantly. It smoked pretty much for maybe 5 minutes through the SWG power vent then cleared up very nicely. No smoke out of the unit probably due to the power vent. I'm the only one messing with the furnace and I legitimately pushed the reset no less than 3 times no more than 6. Yes several times WITHOUT THE PUMP WIRED FOR POWER. I think my experience was made a little better by the power vent. I DEFINITELY agree with GFM if it's been reset 20 times you probably going to have a problem. I think even 10 times with a natural draft might be wicked. BE CAREFUL. The boiler I have in my shop is very small. The smallest one I could find on Craigslist. I installed a new combustion chamber. Heats water for 1000sf radiant system. It's been installed for about 5 years now. Very happy with it and I'm good with the efficiency. The electronic igniter that went bad was a FRANCE 10say-01. Replaced with an actual Beckett. The foam insulator around the photo cell needed to be trimmed to fit the Beckett other than that it was straight forward replacement. The electrodes and nozzle were replaced last year. Think I'm going to clean the heat exchanger this spring. Thanks for the videos they're very helpful.
Hi Gary! I came across your videos while trying to troubleshoot my oil furnace issue and yours are by far the best- informational and to the point, so thank you for sharing your knowledge! Maybe you could help me with my issue- I have a 2007 Rheem oil furnace with a Beckett burner and have had an exhaust smell throughout my house when the heat is on. As I was disassembling to clean, assuming that was the first step of troubleshooting (I have before with the help of a certified tech), I pulled the combustion chamber out and it literally crumbled. I thought- no big deal, I'll just order a replacement.. however, the part has been discontinued and I can't find it anywhere. Buying a whole new furnace isn't in my budget right now, but that's what my research is pointing to. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
I never like firing like this but a mobile home furnace is a whole new ball game! I have found the roof jack a long ways from the home. Had a Coleman with an old White Rogers primary that failed to lock out. I removed it and fired it in the yard. That one had a .65 nozzle. Not necessarily the good old days lol. Dang thing burned for hours
@@electriccar3253 Had one customer learn her lesson on button pushing on an old Miller with the spring loaded site hole Just happened to fire when she was looking and it singed her eye brows needless to say her button pressing days were over 😊. Happy Thanksgiving 🦃
@@kg4muc When ever I start one up I stand off to the side and reach my arm in to hit the reset button. Especially the ones with them old wayne burners. They really like to go boom.
First I want to say thanks because your videos have helped me out a great deal. My present problem is that my furnace will not fire sometimes. If I pull the gun, remove the nozzle and put it back on....it fires up and runs. It may run for half a day and then it shuts down again. I put on a new nozzle thinking that may be the problem. I got the black smoke like in your video from where I had pressed the button to start it. The soot was awful. Anyway, my furnace ran for a while and then it shut down again. However, if I remove the jet and nozzle and simply reassemble it runs fine for a while. It shut off again today and now I am reluctant to press the start button after getting all the soot and smoke. You have any suggestions as to why it would start after I remove the jet and take the nozzle off and reassemble it? The line seems to be flowing OK and the nozzle is a new one. Thanks.
Seemed like every house around me had coal or fuel oil, we had coal "iron fireman" stoker fed boiler. For all the manual input to tend and maintain that fire, at least it never went crazy, that is unless you over fed some kindling and got the water boiling. Is fuel oil still a fuel in these days?
I bought a house that had one of these furnances in it and hit the reset button about 10 times and lit it off. Due to my ignorance mainly. Called the fire department because the whole house and basement was full of smoke. Scared me to death to even touch the thing again. Couple days later I had a natural gas one installed and commercial gas piped into the house. Some people that are versed in these may like em but me not so much
is it possible some of the oil could be between the sections and have leaked beyond the cast and now the insulation blanket is soaked in oil. You may burn the place down lighting it off in that situation.
My first oil furnace with no training. I got it to light. Finally. Smoking nasty. Shut it off. Took a look it the inspection door. Boom. Lost my eyebrows. Blind for a day. Barometric damper disappeared.
No soot. Fire. Yes, worst case burn down the house. I’m done with oil now. Don’t think I was ever worried about the house. After the first boom I didn’t shut them off if they lit. Never had a high limit hit. It smothers it self. Now if the heat exchanger is bad. All bets are off.
I have had them blow the barometric damper out and blow flames out of the damper tee. After the owner said they only hit the reset 1maybe twice. More like 8-10x.
I have no videos on removal, but it is quite simple. With the gas cock off, remove the gas piping and the wires to the gas valve. I believe there are 6 bolts under behind the gas valve and it will just slide out. GFM
you said replace the heat exchanger. Do you mean replace the blanket? Couldn't you just remove the blast tube and burner or open the door and go to town with a bag of speedy dry?
All I said was the heat exchanger must be cleaned. The combustion chamber may also need to be replaced as it is kind of like a sponge. I will be doing one on removing the burner to get access to the combustion chamber. GFM
I did that recently. Furnaceman really helped me out answering questions I had. A buddy of mine works in hvac, but in my case the 2 nights prior to us tearing into it I knew I had only pressed the button 4 times briefly before shutting it off manually. What I read online was to not hit the reset again while burning off the excess oil, and it worked. With only 4 reset presses I tossed in the paper towel and right before the flame died out completely I hit the reset and it fired right up. I actually had to light it that way a couple times until we tore it apart, cleaned all the components, regapped the electrodes, and changed the nozzle. All is well now, but proceed with caution. In my case I knew how many times it was pressed and read extensively before trying anything crazy. Thanks again furnaceman 👍
I have done that a few times, if the burner has cut out on safety, and won't start on reset, I.E the electrodes are fouled, but that's after hitting the reset maybe twice. I clean the electrodes off, toss a piece of burning paper through the inspection hole, let the excess oil burn off, then restart the furnace. It's a cantankerous old beast built in 1973, probably because it's in a vacant building, and is not run all the time. It seems to be getting better the more I run it though.
My professor told us one of his very experienced friends lit one off after customer told him he only hit it 2 or three times. Needless to say, he lied. He took him at his word and he had a puff-back and BOOM! soot all over the house, flue was in pieces...a real mess. He said a Reaganism, trust but verify. When you get in a rush, your job takes so much longer to finish. I had a Carlin 801 darn near blow up when it went to high fire. I found later in the instructions this was normal after being bleed, but it scared the crap out of me.
What you had there is a puffback which is generally the result of atomized oil mixed with air combined with a delay of ignition. That does not require an oil filled combustion chamber. What we are dealing with in this video is the resulting oil fire from accumulated oil. Yes, the nasty mess from a puffback could be a monster cleanup. GFM
My furnace seems to run but the red button is tripped. Once I noticed it was tripped I reset it one time and black smoke came out the expansion chamber and fire was visible in the flue. I opened the flue, cleaned it out then noticed oil on the floor. Any suggestions?
If you have oil on the floor, I would be replacing the combustion chamber as it is oil soaked. Then a full service on the burner to determine what caused the failure. GFM
What is the best way you recommend to prevent bad things from happening if u did press it too many times will the oil evaporate if u let it sit long enough or do u have to let it burn off or pull the burner off and somehow get the unburnt fuel out of the combustion chamber
Waiting will not help. Worst case, remove the burner and combustion chamber, replace combustion chamber and clean the bottom of the furnace. Best case, fire it off for 1 or 2 seconds, shut it down and let it burn off. You choose. GFM
What if you turn the powerto the boiler off so that it will not start and put a piece of lit rolled up newpaper in the combustion chamber and wait for the oil to burn off.
I saw a guy do that to a pot burner with about a quart of oil in the bottom of the combustion chamber. It started to jump around the floor before we finally got a fire extinguisher to put it out. GFM
HOW CAN YOU TELL IF OIL IS GETTING INTO THE COMBUSTION CHAMBER?? I LOOKED INSIDE WITH A CAMERA AND IT LOOKS BONE DRY. WOULD I SEE THE OIL CLEAR AS DAY? I PUSHED THE BUTTON 15 TIMES BUT I WAS PRIMING IT ABOUT 8-10 TIMES SO MOST THE OIL WENT INTO A CUP. THANKS!!
Just a little more information, I bled the oil at a point on the line which was after the oil pump, so this way I knew the oil pump is working and not clogged. I’m thinking it’s the nozzle that is clogged and needs to be replaced but I’m worried to blow my house up, how do I tell if there is oil in the combustion tank?
What I sometimes do is run a wire into the combustion chamber and push it to the bottom. When I pull it out if there is no level on the wire, it's ok. GFM@@IFoundMyBrand
I thought they used to teach that you should never fire off the burner after it lights with all of that extra oil in there. It could explode without a draft going?
Large amounts of oil in the combustion chamber will not cause an explosion. That can happen when there is a delay on ignition. The problem is a runaway fire. This would generally result from a failure in the on position of the cad cell relay. The demonstration showed the result of 20 resets of the control. You could get a runaway fire from pushing the reset 50 to 100 times, but unless you have a multi gallon nozzle, 20 times will not result in a runaway fire. Just a lot of soot in the heat exchanger and smoke pipe. Not saying its ok, just probably not resulting in a house fire. GFM
@@grayfurnaceman My apologies. I meant to say, after several pushes, and repair done, burner lights, starts smoking really bad, you should never shut off the burner, keep a draft going to vent out that smoke, which could cause an explosion. Is that correct what they used to teach? Steven has always said to never power off a burner after the fire gets lit, after reset pushes.
@@AmericanFarmerHVAC2024 I could not disagree more. The longer the burner is on, the hotter the flame gets. If there is excessive oil in the chamber, a runaway fire could result. The fire, when the burner is off, will be smoky as shown in the video due to low oxygen, but the heat buildup will be reduced. I will not explode is left to burn but the fire could get out of control. The point of the video is that to use care when considering firing off a unit that has had the button pushed many times. Many times it would be best to remove and replace the combustion chamber and clean the oil out of the furnace. GFM
Thank you for video You are handsome man , I know many your video but don’t see you , Can you show us how to change combustion chamber this model , I can’t fine on RU-vid, Thank again, have a good day
We use oil pads to soak up the oil and do a detail cleaning. Customer has almost a 200 dollar bill to just clean it up. Customer gets mad and I said would you rather have a house fire
My solution to an oil soaked chamber would be to remove the soaked insulation, take outside and burn then throw in trash. Then reline the chamber with a new insulation kit. Much cheaper than burning your house down.
I really need some help. The repair man came and pressed the button, spraying fuel everytime, so all together between both us about 13 times. What can I do???
@@koreydevine7766 Glad you further explained this. This one could be a problem. You could have as much as 1 gallon of oil in the chamber. I would remove the combustion chamber, clean out the barrel and replace the combustion chamber. GFM
@@grayfurnaceman Thank you. The entire situation has been a nightmare. Took 6 months to get someone out there. Costed me $1200 for JUST the oil pump to be replaced (mostly labor). It ran for a week. The nozzle is a big one, so they didn't carry it. I pressed the button 2 times. Seriously, 2. Repair man came back out and pressed it 10 dang times. So many times his partner basically told him to pack up and leave. He tells me, "fire it up. Shut it or after 15-20 secs and let it burn off". I watch you and Steve L on RU-vid religiously. I knew that was some cold bs! Thank you Gary. Time to hunt for parts again 😔
I got today . The women said in one day she pushed the reset at least 15 to 20 time . I told her I would have to pull the gun and then Try to clean the firing chamber. But next week we’re supposed to convert her to a new gas furnace. FYI you can smell the oil .
@@grayfurnaceman hey GFM so I went back today . And pulled the gun from the furnace. And looked in side the chamber. It dry . So I put a paper towel in to see if it soaked up any oil. Put it back together. When it fired up it did smoke but clears up in about a minute. So the customer has heat till Tuesday when we do a gas conversion. Thank you for you video and help .
Replace combustion chamber. I would be at 100 plus. Maybe a magic chef. Thermopride or a real furnace will be fine. After learning oil. I have run into many furnaces flooded. Wether I know or not. Once you get it lit it is on. Shutting down causes surging. Searching for air. If you let it run it provides air to the fire. Also a fan to cool it down. Temperature limit will shut it off if too hot. I ran oil maintenance and service for too many years. Great video. Do it again and keep it running. Maybe screw down the heat exchange.
In a worst case scenario, with a failed on cad cell relay, you could have a red hot heat exchanger, melted smoke pipe and damaged chimney/vent pipe. Even a burned down house. GFM
well you got lucky on that one, normaly the furnace will start dancing and dance harder, thats why they lock out after 3 tries, and average person donnt know how to unlock it, my burner a bitch wjen it runs out of fuel, locks out after 3 tries and your trying to bleed the dam thing, it has no by pass, it piss me off, i have asked on here many times if there another way, i gave the make an everything but no reply
@@grayfurnaceman when your on a small disability pension, and long 40 below winters that not easy to do, specially when they will not deliver less then 1000 Lt. only damage it may do it have to replace the tip.. if that, plus we have to have the tank inspected every 3 years, and tank must be replaced every 10 years of they will not deliver, 2 times a year i strip it down for service, and after all new filters and a cleaning, its a bitch to bleed.. not like my old NYT boiler
@@arnoldromppai5395 Sometimes you can't do it right. Been there. But you just need to know, running out of oil can damage the pump, plug the nozzle or plug the oil line. GFM
@@grayfurnaceman i am well a wware of that, only ting that has ever happened is a bad nozzle spray, even tho out feul oil is treated to 40 below, it freezes up, in the line loop, they make use put this 6 nch loop int the line a foot below the tank, must have 3 loops in a coil and that is were it freezes up,, with out it it will not pass the inspections
