Gas and Oil Home Heating Furnaces - oil furnace

hi thanks for looking i have a rheem oil burn furnace and it keeps going out the fan will kick in so i know the thermostat is working but i have to push the reset switch on the box and it will restart does this mean the box with the reset is bad? i changed the nozzel tank filter and pump filter thanks again

I would recommend checking the flame sensor fist. If you have a fairly modern burner like a Beckett A series, flip the transformer back and look between the transformer terminals at the flame sensor. Actually with the power off, you can unplug it and look closely at it. It should be clean and not all smoked up. Wipe it off and try again.

Your problem could be weak ignition, or a dead spot in the burner motor or even a defective safety control as you mentioned. But in order of likelyhood, I would start with the ignition, then on to the motor and lastly, the control. If you readjusted the air to the burner, you could also have way too much air which would make it hard to establish ignition and could dim the fire to the point that the flame sensor won't sense it.

Not actually a cut and dried answer but you should try to narrow down the possibilities.

i already cleaned the eye thought of it thanks is there a test to determine which one is bad? thanks mike

To test an ignition transformer, use an insulated screwdriver and start the burner and draw an arc from one terminal to the other. You should get a 3/4" BLUE spark minimum. Sometines the spark will reach from one terminal to the other. That is good too. You will need to start close and draw it out. If the spark doesn't make 3/4" or if it is all yellow, the transformer could be weak and cause intermittent lock out due to not lighting the flame. The spark is supposed to be strong enough that the burner fan blows it out in a hoeseshoe shape from the electrodes. That way the only thing that touches the oil spray is the spark. If the spray touches the electrodes, they will get crapped up big time in a few hours. If the spark is weak, the high velocity air going down the burner tube will blow it out like a birthday candle and it cannot re-arc with all the air blowing. Mayb a long explanation but I want you to know why you need such a big hot spark. There was one manufacturer who told us to draw a 1/4" arc and blow on it as hard as you can to see if it can be blown out. Well I never tried that because I had visions of my puckered lips getting 10,000 volts and staying that way forever.

Try arcing the transformer, and be careful. Don't take any longer than necessary becaus while you are doing that, fuel will be spraying in the combustion chamber. You should get set up and do it in about 10 seconds and then power down right away.

Let us know how it goes.