I have a Riello burner on my Buderus boiler, and there is a very slow drip of oil that escapes from the burner. I took the cover off and put a drip cup under the leak which captures most (not all) of it. Its way overdue on my list to take care of, so turning once again to this forum for advice.

I did clean it up and the butterfly? valve does not see to be the source of the problem, it seems to be coming off the left side as you face the unit. There are a couple plugs there - but its not obvious to me that it is leaking around these (they are snug).

One of the maintenance checks the guy suggested it was likely a 'pump seal', and suggested an entirely new burner be installed.

Its about ..... 10 years old or so.

I will try washing it all down and looking for new leaks and capture some pics (I know you all like pics - )

In the meantime, any recommendations? Is it worth trying to rebuild? (I can likely do this, unless it requires special tools) Is it more likely it should just be replaced? (I would have this done professionally, since it should be tuned for proper firing once installed.... come to think of it, this is the case even if I rebuild myself). Hmmm.... maybe talking myself into replacing as the most viable option, since once I pay someone to rebuild and then reinstall I am likely at a similar cost to replacing new).

Is there something easy/obvious I should check?

Thoughts/Advice??

 

He's suggesting a new burner because of an oil leak? Must work on commission. Check all fittings at the pump. Sometimes a leak will develop there. Particularly check the metric to English adaptors. Even if it is a shaft seal, pumps are not that expensive. I certainly wouldn't even think about a whole burner.

 

Before I scrolled down I KNEW Grady would say the same thing I was thinking... ain't that somethin' ?

"Well, dangit son, ya gots ya a flat tahr, betta go on down an git a brain new truck! Mah brother has his self a deelership in town, c'mon boy, ah'll give ya a RIDE, doan furgit yer chaickbook."

Grady, what about that 'hydraulic jack' thingy on the burner? Is that a possible leak point?

 

Well, Troop, the jack is on the right side & Frastick says the leak is on the left. Something that can happen is the jack leaks & oil is pulled into the burner via the fan then leaks out the joint between the burner halves. The jack's worth a close look. They are known to leak.

Yessir, have I gotta deal fer you.

 

Riello states that certain aromatic fuel oil, mainly in Canada will cause the hydraulic jack seal to fail, if indeed that is the case here, and they say just to plug the jack line.
Sid

 

OK, I tried cleaning everything (a toothbrush and soapy water worked pretty well). But I still cant seen to tell where the leak is coming from.

Here are some pictures with things cleaned up:



The butterfly valve (again, not where the oil gets and this all looks pretty clean)



This end is the problem area:






and then unfortunately the blurry one is after running overnight, you can vaguely see a drop of oil ready to drop from one of the plugs




In the first picture you can see a plug just above another one. This plug seems to be hollow so you can put a screwdriver in there and turn another nut. As best I can tell, this is the one that is leaking and then the oil migrates down and covers all the others.

Can I take these plugs out one by one and inspect the washers?? (and would resurface the washers while out? Do any of these make fuel ratio adjustments? (meaning I would have to have someone come and reset it?) Of course the pressure would need to be released before taking any of these out.....

Tell me, oh great ones, what should be my next step?? (maybe better pictures and more attempts at isolating the leak......?)

 

Grady is the 'great one' when it comes to Riello, in my book anyway!

While we're waiting for his comments, I don't think it's a good idea to do anything with the screwdriver slot ... that one is the PRESSURE ADJUSTMENT on the pump. If it's leaking from there, I'm picturing perhaps an O-ring that has failed...

Honestly though, the best thing might be to just replace the pump... unless the Great One has a better idea!

P.S. check to see if your camera has a 'macro' function. Often the button to activate that has a little 'tulip' on it. This will let you get clear close-ups.

 

I'm pretty sure that you would have had trouble long before this, but since you've got a single pipe oil feed, if the BYPASS PLUG is installed it could be responsible for seals leaking. But this is a huge longshot... 10 years old, it woulda gone long before this.

 

Well, well, well, the computer gods have finally decided to let me post a reply, or so it seems.

From the looks of the strainer cover, something's been leaking a while. As Trooper suggested, don't mess with the screwdriver slot. It is the pressure adjustment. Don't be afraid to tighten those plugs. The one below the pressure adjustment is used for bleeding air.

Another place from where oil could be leaking is around the solenoid stem. You would have to remove the knurled nut, saddle, & solenoid coil to see.

With that pump being the older style, I can't remember just where the hydraulic jack line would connect on the new style pump but I think it is on the same side as & below the nozzle line connection.

One more thing: DO NOT take of the strainer cover unless you have a replacement O-ring for it.

 

This guy I know took the strainer cover off the pump, replaced the strainer and O-ring, put it back together, turned on the burner, and ..squirt squirt, oil all over.

Then he said some bad words and repeated the process.

Squirt squirt again.

Then he said some even bader words and repeated the process again!

Squirt squirt again!

Now he said some really really bad words!

Then he figured out that if you don’t seat the O-ring just right in the groove for the O-ring, you can get a bad leak! So he got his really good glasses on, put the O-ring in the groove correctly, and all ended well!

 

Took him three tries to figure that out?

Definition of insanity: Repeating the same action over and over and expecting a different result!

 

3 tries is lightning fast for this guy! (haha)

 

Im trying to get some decent pics, but its not all that simple (low light, close to the floor, closeup shots, etc etc). Here are a few more:









Some observations. In the second picture you can see the solenoid and this doesnt seem to be the culprit. The top surfaces stay pretty dry and clean.

Second, when I look closely at that fitting with the screwdriver nut inside (the one you all told me to stay away from), I dont see accumulation around this fitting from the INSIDE. There is a metal compression gasket (or appears to be) around the outside nut... and this seems to get wet around the interface with the housing, but not as much as other areas.

In the first picture you can see a drop of oil accumulate on the lower fitting(s), including this small copper line connect. Its not clear to me that these are leaking, or just the lowest point for the oil to migrate to before dripping.

Something that bothers me is that although its not that obvious on the pictures, the surfaces around both of the fittings on the front (the one with the screwdriver slot, and the one below it) get wet. Since gravity tends to pull things down, this suggests at least something is leaking on these higher areas (again meaning, not the copper line connect because this is the lowest point).

I am trying to study the end cover gasket. Maybe it is seeping along the entire area? This would explain more than one point being wet. I did give these screws a turn, and all 4 squeezed down a little more, but I cant tell a difference in leak.

And yes, I would say this has been leaking for over a year now.

What do you all think if I were to remove and inspect all of the plugs (minus the ones you tell me not to touch)??. The ones I am interested in taking out and inspecting (and resurfacing gaskets if metal, maybe replacing if fiber):

The nut below the one with the screw

The ones on the bottom, including the copper line fitting (no doubt a compression fitting, and relatively small so some care as to not over torque this one)

The entire end cover gasket? (I would do this after the fittings, and might just buy a new gasket and replace - not knowing if its this but if I break this apart it might be hard not to damage the gasket).

The solenoid really doesnt seem to be where it is coming from.

Teach me, great sensei.....

 

Under the pressure adjustment is a crushable aluminum washer. Don't hesitate to try tightening the hex. Just don't mess with the screw without a pressure gauge.

The plug below the pressure adjustment should also have a crushable washer. In a pinch I have been known to use a bolt gasket from an oil filter.

I don't think the plug in the return port has a gasket.

Both the fuel inlet & capillary fitting are a compression like fitting & metric. All threads on a Riello are metric.

 

OK, I cleaned this all up again and got some white cotton string and tied a few loops around each fitting. The thought was this way I could see which particular fitting it was leaking from.

Sure enough, it was the top one with the screw adjustment in the center.

Per the suggestion here, I cranked this down a bit (didnt use a torque wrench, just gave it a good solid seating). It definitely turned.

Viola! No more leak (at least so far so good......)

Thanks again for a great forum and all the advice and tips.

As another update - a fewyears back I updated my entire system with the help of this forum and today I got another oil delivery. Every time the oil truck comes its satisfying because the new system ANNUAL SAVINGS IS 40% !!!!

Far exceeded my expectations.

Merry Christmas everyone, and may this winter be a warm one!!

 

Good job & thanks for the tip about the white cotton string. I'll put that one in my bag of tricks.

 

I just noticed a leak yesterday. I put a pan under the burner and it is catching the little oil that is leaking. I looks like it is dripping from the jack like Grady has suggested. I can see oil movement all around when it is burning. I do think that it is only the blower making it seem as if it could be coming from anywhere. I think it would be smart to just pay the $29.99 for the jack and try to fix it that way first. What would be a good replacement for the Riello 40 F5? Could I buy a burner that is more efficient(maybe used) or is my burner a good one? I'm newer to the oil burner thing. We did not have oil heat in Ohio. LOL

 

Hi Hamilton... normally a new thread should be started for similar questions... it's too hard to keep track of who is answering who when there are multiple people asking questions... but it appears that frastick's questions have been answered, so I'm leaving it here for now. (we call this 'hijacking a thread'... a derogatory term... but we'll go easy on ya since yer new! )

First thing you want to do is wipe all the oil off and then see if you can determine with some certainty where the leak is coming from. You don't want to just start throwing parts at it... but you could be correct of course.

There's no reason to replace your burner.

You should know that an oil fired system should be serviced yearly. There are a number of maintenance items...

 

Sorry for Hijacking the thread. I just thought that it would make more sense to keep it all together. Lesson learned. It was the jack that was leaking. Fixed the problem!! Thank you for the tip on yearly servicing for the boiler/burner.

 

No problem really... it's generally OK to post on the end of an existing thread that has 'finished'... logically it does make sense, but sometimes a fresh new post gets more attention.

Glad ya got it fixed up! Happy heating!