The home heating oil industry has a long and proud history, and Fuel Oil News has been there supporting it since 1935. It is an industry that has faced many challenges during that time. In its 77th year, Fuel Oil News is doing more than just holding
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www.fueloilnews.com | FUEL OIL NEWS | JANUARY 2016 45 HVAC/ HYDRONICS timers will say the damned guy is right AND I am off my rocker! Finally, I bring to you the high-speed, high-velocity flame retention head burner. A few years ago constant ignition became a gas pilot, intermittent ignition became constant ignition on power burners and interrupted ignition was born, or maybe just picks up a new name. Are you confused yet? Read on. Man has gone to the moon, he can go across the Atlantic in three hours and we can microwave a hot dog in a minute but we cannot get a transformer, Figure 3, or electronic ignitor, Figure 4, to last more than two or three years. What in the blazes is going on here? How would you feel if you had just purchased a new burner two years ago and six months into the deal the serviceman had to come and reset the electrodes? At the annual cleaning, he had to adjust them again. And now, two years and five ignition adjust- ments later, the transformer has to be replaced. This is reliable, safe and efficient oil heat? Well, as it turns out it's not all the transformer's fault, and all is not lost. You may not believe this, but the problem is probably the primary control you are using that's killing all these transformers. Remember that reference to the stack switch? That's the key to the puzzle. While working as a burner rep a few years ago I was respon- sible for coming up with ways to teach the product which were technically correct, but would show the advantages of that burner over the others on the market. It was at that time that I found that I might have stumbled across a secret formula. Back in 1990 I worked on a new text for the industry (The Petroleum Marketing Education Foundation's Oil Heat Technician's Manual, 1990 Edition) which also includes this secret formula. Let me give away "the secret" that's now been carried over to the current NORA Oilheat Technician's Manual and is one of the keys to keeping today's burners, even with today's fuels, running right. Let's say that we have a residential oilburner, which consumes 1,000 gallons of oil per year through a 1.00 gph nozzle. Further, to produce both heat and hot water, the burner will start about 2,300 times per year. Therefore, with this criteria established let's look at what would happen. EXAMPLE 1 Intermittent (constant) ignition = ignition is on when burner runs 1,000 gallons at 1 gph = 1,000 hours of ignition on time. EXAMPLE 2 Interrupted ignition = timed or sequenced ignition. A. Stack type relays (typical) 2,300 starts x 60 seconds = 38.3 hours ignition on time. B. Cad cell type relays 2,300 starts x 45 seconds = 28.75 hours ignition on time, 2,300 starts x 30 seconds = 19.1 hours ignition on time, 2,300 starts x 15 seconds = 9.5 hours ignition on time, and 2,300 starts x 8/10 seconds = 30.5 minutes ignition on time. That's right! The stack switch only runs the ignition system for 3.8% of the time that the infamous three wire cad cell control does. But take a closer look at that 8/10-second unit; it only oper- ates the transformer 0.0005% of the time. Or, put another way, that transformer which previously had a life expectancy of just one year now has a life expectancy of 2,000 years. As you can see, by changing the control type, you probably won't have to change as many transformers. You also will lower the number of service calls for electrode adjustments between tune-ups, and will probably have a happy customer who has no reason to switch to another fuel. Remember that burner company I mentioned working for? Well, their burners have ignition on for only 8/10 of a second during normal light off so they have a good reputation for not only lighting off smoothly, Figure 3 Figure 4