Oil Burner Service and Maintenance

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What are Oil Burner Tune-ups, and What Can I Expect?

Routine oil burner service maintenance is critical to ensure heating systems, including oil burners, boilers, and furnaces, stay in top shape. This translates to a lower risk of your system failing or needing major repairs. You can also look forward to your oil burner lasting longer. With your oil burners performing at peak efficiency after a tune-up, you don’t have to worry about high heating costs.

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Oil Burners Tune-Up Checklist

To enjoy the benefits of a tune-up, it is crucial to ensure that it is done right. This starts with leaving the work to a qualified and experienced HVAC technician. A professional will do a thorough job, which means not missing any tasks on the following checklist.

  • Cleaning: A build-up of dust, dirt, and grime on your heating unit will certainly affect its performance. From the heat exchanger to the combustion chamber, cleaning up the different parts of your oil burner is a major part of your tune-up.
  • Oil-pump Pressure Check: the technician will check and, if need be, adjust the oil pump pressure.
  • Conditioning or replacing oil strainers and filters
  • Checking and resetting operator and safety controls, including limit controls to manufacturer’s recommendations.
  • Checking and oiling pump and blower motors
  • Cleaning and lubricating the burner fan, electrodes, motors, and the system’s transformer
  • Checking for leaky signs of wear and tear and sealing any cracks
  • Bleeding the oil pump if necessary
  • Replacing the nozzle
  • For older models, assessment of the potential of baffling installation.
  • Completing final combustion tests. The technician will attach a tag to your system, outlined in your system’s final combustion efficiency, according to the combustion test results.

A qualified HVAC technician is trained to identify potential problems and resolve them before they become major problems that would otherwise lead to system failure. All this while observing the necessary safety protocols.

Your Service Tag

After completing the inspection and service, the HVAC technician will attach a tag to your system. On this tag are the following important details:

  • Final combustion efficiency
  • Percent carbon dioxide (C02)
  • Smoke reading
  • Net stack temperature
  • Details of other work done  

Pro-Tips for Homeowners

For safety and the best results, all tasks on the checklist above should be left to a trained HVAC technician. While you should not do-it-yourself with these technical tasks, you do have a significant role, and these are among the tips to help you.

  • A comprehensive tune-up is necessary for all oil burners, regardless of their age. Whatever the model of your oil burner, new or old, ensure that you schedule regular tune-ups.
  • Inquire about reducing your burner’s firing rate. This is especially important if you have an oversize burner. Your burner’s nozzle affects the firing rate, so lowering the firing rate requires downsizing the nozzle. If the downsizing is applicable, consider doing so during the next tune-up as it will save you money. 
  • Schedule your oil burner tune-up for the summer and spring. Fall is a busy time for HVAC companies as everyone is rushing to have their heating system inspected and maintained in time for winter.
  • Keep all tune-up records. These records serve as proof of inspection and service and will come in handy when you need to file a warranty claim.

 

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