We have a H B Smith heating plant #14 (steam heat Oil fuel) with an AF Beckett burner -nozzle is 2.00 70h tankless water heater tankless size is 59 gpm and temperture setting is 180. This was installed in april of 1985. We are currently getting no spark. My husband has cleaned and regapped the electrode, replaced the nozzle. He thought it might be the transformer so he has replaced that as well as the flame detector and the primary relay. He used a long handled mirror to veiw what happens when he tries to fire up. He can see the oil but no spark. Not sure what else to check. Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance...
Geting cold up North!

 

What kind of stack control do you have? There are two kinds of stack controls.One has two relays in it and this one is called intermittent ignition. The other has just one relay in it and that runs all of the time for the burner and ignition.Now if you rang out the new tranformer and know for sure its good.Is all of the wire good at the burner? IF IF, you have the stack with two relays, look for the one that the burner goes to and put the other wire for the transformer on it.Or at the burner look for the wire that comes back from the stack and runs to the motor. you can tie the transformer to it.Nowyou say you have the gap set right for the electrode ok.

Now Ill bet you say no, put how long and how many times have you ran this burner trying to get it started????????????????????
Before you try any of this get rags paper just anything and get all of the oil up in side the fire box BEFORE YOU LIGHT THIS THIS THING OFF.

AS THEY SAY TRUST ME BEEN THERE DONE THAT ED

 

I asked my husband about stacks and he replied that we don't have any.. that we did with the old style furnace but not this one..To make a long story short.He replaced the electrodes today and after adjusting them we now have heat. In hind site he beleives that he had the electodes to far back and they were sparking on the flame retard ring and possible grounding out. I did ask hm about this yesterday but he didn't think they were adjustable in that way. Maybe I just didn't expain it properly.
Thanks for your help Ed. :-)

 

First : He didnt move the nozzle on the in and out set up on the air tube I hope.How old is burner cause you dont have to replace the electrode to often if unit is set right.Most of the time on an 80d angle nozzle the electrodes should be 1/2" up from the center of the nozzle.1/8" out in front of the face of the nozzle with about an 1/8" gap between them.You only have to replace the ceramic part of them and only when they leak as we call it.
Dont know if you know it but that transformerput out 10,000 volts.If you dont have a stack control you have an eye in the air tube. Glad you got it working ED

 

All I know for sure Ed is that he gor it working again and it's a good thing cause it's getting really cold.. He has his toys (cars and other mechanical stuff) and I have my toys (computers) and we don't play with each others toys without the others permission. But we do play well together.