Oil Furnace Repair

Oil furnace, as the name suggests is an oil fired burner very commonly used as heating system. Usually these home oil furnace systems which are currently in use are termed as pressure burners. In these appliances oil is sprayed in a combustion chamber at high pressure, which is then propelled by a blower. Then it is ignited by an electric spark. This is how heat is generated in these kinds of furnaces. As the mist is sprayed, the oil keeps on burning. Now when it comes to repairing this kind of a furnace, you need to be little bit acquainted with the following parts of the furnace - the filters, blower, motor belts, switches, and the thermostat. If you have an oil furnace and are zapped thinking about how to repair it, well, this text coming up on furnace repair may help!

How to Repair an Oil Furnace?

Step #1
Taking stock of the electrical wiring within the furnace is essential before you actually move onto repairing the oil furnace. To do that, turn all the furnace power to 'off', using the disconnect switch. After that take out the fuse and inspect it by running it through a digital multimeter or putting it into a working system and then testing it. There is a possibility that your fuse might be in a bad shape. Replace the damaged fuse with another one. Check the furnace blower once again.

Step #2
You tried changing the fuse, but to no avail. Here is what you can do next. Take a wire from the circuit breaker in the blower and see if it is damaged. In case the circuit breaker is showing 'open', push and hold the reset button and check again. If there is a problem, the burner will instantly return to 'open'. In that case, you will have to replace the breaker and again give it a shot. Call an engineer if this too does not work to inspect the wiring.

Step #3
Another important thing is to examine the thermostat controlling and regulating the working of the blower. Your oil furnace may have become dysfunctional on account of a broken heating monitor. To repair that, put a jumper across it, using alligator clip leads. While the jumper is across the thermostat, turn the furnace on. This should work if there was any problem with the thermostat. Switch off the furnace in case it is still causing problems. Here you would either have to replace the thermostat yourself or perhaps call an expert.

Step #4
The filter too might be creating problems for your furnace. The following steps will tell you how to replace or clean the filter which is important for repair.

• Open or remove the access door to the blower which will be located on the front or side of the furnace housing.
• Take the filter out by sliding it or by pressing it into place.
• To get rid of the dirt and dust from the area around the filter, use a vacuum cleaner.
• Some units have a dry-foam filter which requires periodic vacuuming.
• Replace the filter if need be by another one which has the same density and dimensions. If possible the same model advised or suggested by the manufacturer.
• Close the blower door ensuring that the interlocks are in a proper position, needed for the furnace to operate.

Step #5
Apart from these there is a chance that if the furnace is low on oil or almost completely empty, the lines which run from the bottom of the oil tank to the oil furnace may get filled by too much of air. Furthermore, the area may also clog with soot and oil coming from the bottom of the furnace. The oil furnace would not function in this scenario as a result of an inappropriate air and fuel ratio. To fix this problem, fill the oil tank and the bleed lines to get rid of the air build up.

Ultimately keeping the oil furnace clean with the blower and thermostat clean before each heating season will be good for oil furnace maintenance. This is where I sign off!