Oil Furnace Error Codes

They’re pretty universal. There are basically two options. The number will be printed on the outside of the canister.

 

Looks like the electrodes are too far up and back, would make it more difficult to ignite the fuel spray and might be a contributor to your nuisance trips
Beckett-AF-AG-Oil-Burner-Electrode-Settings.jpg (808×982) (inspectapedia.com)

 

I had a tech over-tighten the clamps that held down the electrodes after a service enough to distort them and it restricted the line of sight the cad cell had on the flame which caused lockouts when even the smallest amount of debris accumulated. Took me forever to find that one. (I hate house carburetors.) I installed a new Beckett digital control box that gives me real time resistance readings from the cad cell to take the guess work out of it and tells you why you had a lockout so even a dummy like me can troubleshoot it. My local HVAC supply house also had a little metal template for setting up the electrodes that made it super easy. I just do all the services myself now, even though I absolutely hate cleaning that thing or working on it.

 

So it locked out again overnight - clearly me taking the nozzle out and wiping it and the electrodes and electric eye down weren't enough to fix it. Ordered another nozzle this morning to see what switching that out may do for me.

 

What's the height of your gun burner compared to the height of the fuel oil tank bottom, any chance you ran out of fuel oil and the pump needs to be primed again?

 

Here is how I would work this.
Replace the in-line filter... heating oil is rather "dirty" and if that filter is full... oil flow could be sacrificed.
Replace the electric eye... just wiping it will do nothing... it reads the initial flame and tells the furnace to keep going... if that eye for some reason "sees" a weird reading... it automatically tells the furnace to shut down... so as to not blow up your home... or soot the whole house from a bad flame.
Then replace the tip nozzle... the filter portion on the back of that tip can easily get plugged and cause all kinds of oil misting errors... which goes back to the eye reading faulty flame and shutting the whole show down!

 

Negative - tank is fairly full.

I'm planning on replacing the nozzle and the inline filter. Sounds like the eye is down on the list of likely culprits.

For reference, the system was installed in 2008 so not brand new but not a 50 year old unit, either.

 

Eyes usually don't "partially" work... more like a light bulb... once they go... they don't come back

 

So I think this is the path I'm gonna go down (replacing everything possible). I replaced the nozzle a few days ago and had another lockout this morning, so filter and electronic eye are next on the list.

Another question I had - when replacing the nozzle I noticed that this door (says "hot" on it) was partially open and I didn't think it was supposed to be. I closed it all the way, but when I went and reset it this morning it was partially cracked again. Which way should it be? And is that a clue to what's going on?

 

Is this what you're calling an ignition transformer?

 

That little door looks like it is just the view port that you can slade open to take a peek as to what is happening in the burn chamber

 

Yup, that's definitely what it is - just wasn't sure if it not staying fully closed was a clue to what the issue might be or if that's normal.

 

Before I buy these, does anyone know if they're just plug and play swaps or do I need special tools (like vacuuming lines or any of that jazz)? I assume they're plug and play but looking to verify.

At the end of the day my extremely experienced and professional diagnosis rolleyes is that it's a spark issue, so I think the main parts to swap out are the electrodes (if anyone noticed in earlier pics, the ends are kind of blunt vs pics of new electrodes which have finer points) and the capacitor (in my pics upthread, the right capacitor looks a little dirty so wondering if that could be the issue). I'll replace the cad cell because why not at that point.

 

Yes that's a clue. Generally it's evidence of rough ignition which can be caused by poor electrode placement, weak spark, or poor fuel delivery caused by a dirty oil filter.

It may be worth getting an oil pressure gauge to verify you have over 100psi.

Oil furnace heat exchangers are positive pressure obviously, so it could simply be an issue with the spring retainer, either incorrectly installed or just sprung out and needs replaced.

Yes

 

Is there supposed to be pressure keeping that door shut from the spring? Because there's not - the spring on the door isn't connected to anything.

 

Yes the spring tension should hold the door tightly closed

 

Without jinxing myself, I think adjusting the electrodes may have been the ticket. When I was trying to tighten the nozzle on Wednesday morning I realized they were loose and the nut securing them wasn't even hand tight, so readjusted them to be around the proper gapping and it's been flawless since then.

I've still got those replacement parts coming, but may hold off on installing them until there's another issue (save for the filter - I'll install that Monday when people are out of the house).

@JBraun - what else would a professional tech have done that I didn't do? Said another way, if I change out the nozzle every year, change out the air and oil filters and make sure the electrodes and capacitor are in good condition, what else is there? Was thinking I could get by with every third year having a pro come out and put eyes on it but not sure what they'd do at an annual maintenance which is different than what I've done.

 

Sadly in my general experience you are now better trained than the average “expert” aka tech that gets to do cleanings. You might get lucky and get a good one but may not be much value in having someone else do what you can yourself.

 

Unfortunately this guy is probably right. Despite the fact that I barely use my tools anymore, I still consider myself a technician first and foremost. Regrettably that's not that common anymore. The guy that shows up to your house may be only barely qualified, in which case he may do more damage than good. Depending on where you live, you may officially have more experience with oil than him.

You've already learned more than half of what you'll need to know to fix anything that can go wrong. My recommendation would be to stay the course and keep a parts cache at the house, which you've already started.

 

Kind of reminds me of engine builders. I only needed to fix two "professionals" work before I stopped trusting anyone. I built a half dozen engines myself that were plenty fast and lasted multiple seasons. Of the two I paid for, one blew up inside 200 miles and the other never even ran because the builder cut the valve seats with a chainsaw.

I know there are good guys out there, but it was easier to learn to build engines than find one. Your furnace is probably the same.