Riello 40 early morning flame-out

[stanley]

Good morning, this is about my trusty Riello 40 which generally runs faultlessly. I installed a new nozzle and replaced the capacitor about 3 years ago but apart from that and a regular clean around the diffuser, it's been faultless.... Until a week ago immediately after an oil delivery in the cold weather.
Problem started with lock-out occuring first thing in the morning. This was odd since if its starting to need a clean, we'll notice the start attempts gradually increasing in number and the issue can be resolved before the max start attempts threshold triggers a lock-out. The rest of the day the burner lights up at the first attempt so clearly somebody needed to get out of bed before the first start attempt to see what was going on. Today did just that...
First ignitiion attempt was faultless and burner ran for 10 minutes then flame out occurred, one relight attept which failed, then lock out. After reset, perfect ignition and one hour later it is cycling on and off as normal. It will continue to purr like this all day, then tomorrow we can expect the same again.
Now coming so soon after 1000 lt oil top-up, its got to be the fuel thats suspect, hasn't it? I checked with the depot just in case they put the wrong juice in, but no, they say its the normal 28sec Kerosene. I am thinking water....
Any thoughts?

 

[stani]

Could it be air getting into oil line overnight, then when it as been run awhile its bled the oil line, then no problem

 

[Roger Welton]

Flame lift due to being over aired? Find this to show itself on cold mornings what is the co2 %

 

[lame plumber]

did you last change your nozzle 3 years ago as it seems to say in your post?

 

[Dotty]

I'm thinking the same as you there LP.

Which scares me a little......

 

[lame plumber]

my thinking,may be wrong, is diy servicing and not setting up correctly, nice and sooty, hard to fire up but once its staggered into life, rest of the days ok, bit like a habitual smoker, have a good cough in the morning and then makes it through the day!

 

[Dotty]

Yep.....

 

[Best]

I agree with probably over aired. Classic symptom on a cold start - especially in very low temperatures.
Stanley, if over aired, that means the oil you are using will be excessive - even though the burner & boiler shell may stay very clean, a lot of the oil is going through the flue in fumes.
The co2 will confirm this. Get an engineer in to put a new nozzle in & adjust the air & oil mix & save a fortune!

 

[Plumb Ugly]

Takes us back to the post about should oftec be mandatory requirement for working on oil! A little bit of knowledge and all that....

 

[Best]

On the point of possible over airing, one good tip on a cold morning start to prove if it is too much air, is to put your hand over the air intake partly & see if the burner starts first time. If it does, it is too much air to oil mix, although that could still mean blocked nozzle or oil pressure too low of course.

 

[SimonG]

What's the oil pressure, what's the co2%, it's alright to do a diy service as long as your'e going to do it properly and have the correct gear. A quick hoover and changing the nozzle once in three years or so won't cut it.

I would hazard a bet that what you have saved by not using a professional has cost you more in lost fuel.

Find yourself a reliable pro and save yourself a fortune, failing that, spend several hundred pounds on the correct test gear and go from there.

 

[Best]

Agree ^^ false economy to not get the boiler combustion set. Remember with oil prices so expensive a small, say 10% saving will be £100 a year for an average smallish home usage perhaps.

 

[lame plumber]

plus burnt out baffles will add another £100 plus to repairs as well

 

[Bunker]

plus burnt out baffles will add another £100 plus to repairs as well

Second that. I bet its whumps on start up?