becasue sometimes the trained and experienced eye will see things that the untrained dont. there is obviously a problem and if its fumes you need to get an oil engineer in
I'm not at all suggesting I wouldn't get an expert in. It's just that I've wasted money on two already. What I'm asking here is what could it be (what are all the options), not how I could identify which of the options it is. If no-one can even think of anything it reasonably could be then I'm reluctant to pay for an expert to just come round and confirm that he too doesn't know what the problem is. So far I've been able to rule out the options that people have suggested just by logic alone, unless I'm going to accept massive coincidence as part of the explanation (which at this rate I might have to, but not without a thorough investigation).
The burner must be perfectly level, the drip rate correct and the inlet totally clear of carbon deposits ( without widening or damaging the jet). Sometimes an ultra sound cleaning is needed
OK, I think I've done that, obviously my cleaning could be improved, but it's never been a problem before, so probably not this one.
The flame pattern on high should be even and totally blue, - when on low, the burner top should glow dull red.
Yep, flames totally blue, burner glowing red.
In your earlier post you referred to “the burner” popping - that is oil starvation - how did you correct that if the adjuster valves are rusted? - or have I miss understood.
Weird thing that. I took the burner out, scraped really well at the chamber lid, which still had a little carbon on it, made sure everything was really well seated, put it all back and no more popping. I can only presume that the small amount of carbon was enough, or maybe I'd not seated everything properly. Certainly odd, and I'm sure it's connected somehow, but it's not popped again since my first re-service.
Normally by taking time and thoroughly cleaning and methodically rebuilding the burner they work. Occasionally you get a burner that is level after setting up, heats unevenly and then distorts to being off level in use - that can cause poor combustion.
Interesting - would it go back to level again when cold? I've checked levels each time I've had the burner out and they've been OK each time. By OK I mean just like they always have been.
Are you sure that you have not cracked the cast iron part of the burner?
Can't be sure, but the seepage is not limited to one place, it's around the chamber lid and at the very top edge of the channels all around, so not like I would expect a crack to show.
What I do with two older (1970’s) ranges that I service (and are difficult / problematic to set up) is have a second burner set. So at service time, I clean the chamber and swop over the burners. I then refurb and clean the old burner in a workshop environment ready for the next service.
Good Idea. One of the solutions I'm thinking I might do is just buy a new burner and keep the old one a s a spare. Can I still buy burners, and do I need to worry about what size pipe it's connecting to, or are they all standard?
Sadly, with old ranges, they all have their own idiosyncrasies
So I'm finding. I just read on some other forum someone who had this smell for four years, despite servicing twice a year, they changed engineers and after the first service by the new engineer the smell went away. Apparently the engineer couldn't even say what he'd done!