The Protectorelay causing Oil Burner Problems

One of the easiest repairs on an oil burner is changing the protectorelay. This control can give you fits like no other control can. Sometimes it will work just fine and then for no apparent reason decide to lock out, shutting down your heat.



If you are in the situation of not having good dependable heat from your oil burner, then you may need to look at changing the protectorelay on your burner. This safety control is great when it works and a real pain in the rear when it does not.

The one caution that I have is that you check or change the cad cell before you rip out the relay. The cad cell “sees” the fire when your burner lights and tells the relay to keep the burner running. If it becomes weak it may not send a strong enough signal to the relay.

The process to change this control is very simple. Turn your power off so you don’t get zapped. Loosen the two screws on the junction box and slide the relay off. Mark the wires and the connection for each one of them, so that you can get the wiring back right. It may even be helpful to have the new control handy and just move one wire at a time.

When all the wires are reconnected, just replace the relay back on the junction box and restore the power. Your oil burner should now start up and run smoothly. Hopefully this will solve whatever problem you had and you will be comfortable and warm!