Oil burner leak???

[sheba84]

I have an oil heat burner. There is a 1/2 copper pipe coming up from the top of the burner, this pipe is elbowed twice, so that it is pointing towards the floor. There is no fitting at the end of this copper point, where it points to the floor. I have noticed lately, water dripping from the copper pipe. I put a bucket under it and have to empty the bucket once in a while. BUT, today the room where my burner, ther was one or two inches of water on the ground. It's a small, seperate room, about 5X7. I'm in this house about a year and this has never happened before.

Would this copper pipe be an overflow?

Should there be a fitting on the end of this pipe?


Thanks!

[Wgoodrich]

I suspect you are running a/c not heat. If this is the case it leads me to believe you have an "A" coil inside you plenum on your oil heater that is condensating water during the cooling process. If this is the case then that pipe is the drain for the "A" coil and is needed to rid the system of condensed water during the cooling process. If I am right than you need to create a drain outlet for this water to flow into. Do you have a nearby plumbing drain. If so connect a hose to that pipe and let it slide into a stand pipe and drain into the normal drain system of your home or outside into the grass.

Air conditioners remove excess water from your home to assist in its cooling process. This is normal.

HOpe this helps

Wg

[sheba84]

No, I don't have air conditioner. The water coming out of the copper pipe is hot.

[firescale]

Sheba,

It sounds like you are describing an oil fired boiler? Is this a boiler for your baseboard heat? If so, boilers ( and hot water heaters) have a spring loaded pressure relief valve located on top of them. This is a safety device that lets the hot water escape when either the temperature gets too high inside the boiler or, the pressure gets too high. There should be a valve with a lever on top
of it and then copper pipe the rest of the way. It would be nice if these were all plumbed into a drain but most of the time they are not.
The cause of a leaky valve is A. pressure too high B.temperature too high or C. worn out rubber washer inside the valve.
Boilers should have gauges on them to monitor the temperature and the pressure.
The causes of A and B are too many too list. And potentially
a dangerous situation. I would have a qualified plumbing & heating person look at it!
Hope this helps.

Jim

[sheba84]

Thanks for the reply. The burner is oil fired and it's the old heavy radiators for heat, the boiler is about six years old. It does have some sort of valve on it, on top of the valve, there is a lever, you can move the lever up and down and turn it 360 degrees, like a screw.

I just signed up with a new oil company with a service contract. In a couple of days there are coming over to clean and look over the burner, so I'll have him look at the leak and fix it. Thanks again.