Aga without wicks (hypothetical)

[mary]

Are they necessary?
I just relit my range without the wicks by mistake and it was burning
beautifully (on high ) for a short while before I realized my mistake
What purpose do they serve actually and could an Aga work without them?

[PeterK]

Post by mary
Are they necessary?
I just relit my range without the wicks by mistake and it was burning
beautifully (on high ) for a short while before I realized my mistake
What purpose do they serve actually and could an Aga work without them?

There was a "feature" on Radio 4 early this afternoon about oil Aga's
(listen again at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours -after the caravan
feature )I had to switch it off at the point when the purpose of the wick
was being explained. The jist of the programme was that some Aga owners are
having to have their oil Aga's serviced every few weeks due to the build up
of ash on the burner. What I heard was slagging off Aga's but as it went on
it transpired they were Aga's converted to oil by a third party using non
Aga parts and that the spec of heating oil has been changed to reduce the
sulphur content whilst at the same time doubling the measure of how much ash
can be produced.

Peter K

[The Natural Philosopher]

Post by PeterK

Post by mary
Are they necessary?
I just relit my range without the wicks by mistake and it was burning
beautifully (on high ) for a short while before I realized my mistake
What purpose do they serve actually and could an Aga work without them?

All the wicks do is allow you to light them. After that they are irrelevant.

Post by PeterK
There was a "feature" on Radio 4 early this afternoon about oil Aga's
(listen again at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours -after the
caravan feature )I had to switch it off at the point when the purpose
of the wick was being explained. The jist of the programme was that
some Aga owners are having to have their oil Aga's serviced every few
weeks due to the build up of ash on the burner. What I heard was
slagging off Aga's but as it went on it transpired they were Aga's
converted to oil by a third party using non Aga parts and that the spec
of heating oil has been changed to reduce the sulphur content whilst at
the same time doubling the measure of how much ash can be produced.

Carboning up used to be a once a year and a bit of a scrape: now its a
once every 6 months full blooded drill out of the oil tube.

Post by PeterK
Peter K

[mary]

Post by The Natural Philosopher

Post by mary
What purpose do they serve actually and could an Aga work without them?

All the wicks do is allow you to light them. After that they are irrelevant.

ah so.Well I wonder if they actually are unhelpful then.Do they
accelerate carboning up?
As I said I relit my Aga without wicks by mistake.
I did notice it was different and perhaps it would have been much
harder but for the burner still being quite hot.
It must have been the vapours that caught.
So in theory it could be dangerous.
But if as a result the burner burned cleaner maybe it could be a good
trick???

[PeterK]

Post by mary
Are they necessary?
I just relit my range without the wicks by mistake and it was burning
beautifully (on high ) for a short while before I realized my mistake
What purpose do they serve actually and could an Aga work without them?

Its here http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/items/05/2009_07_fri.shtml

PeterK

[mary]

Post by mary
Are they necessary?
I just relit my range without the wicks by mistake and it was burning
beautifully (on high ) for a short while before I realized my mistake
What purpose do they serve actually and could an Aga work without them?

Its herehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/items/05/2009_07_fri.shtml
PeterK

oh no!
I should be crying but I can't help laughing.
Lucky that I do all my own servicing.So far I din't think the Aga is
any worse than before but if the fuel does deteriorate they seem to be
saying that it may be best to retrofit a new burner (cost unknown)

[cynic]

Post by mary
Are they necessary?
I just relit my range without the wicks by mistake and it was burning
beautifully (on high ) for a short while before I realized my mistake
What purpose do they serve actually and could an Aga work without them?

The only purpose of the wick is to allow the burner to be lit. Once
fuly alight and the casting the wick sits in is hot, the burner
becomes fully vapourising and the wicks are irrelevant.
Someone is pulling your plonker about ash being a problem.
The older burners have a small bore oil feed tube which runs under the
burner and also gets hot. The oil within it boils and a carbon deposit
forms in the tube outlet which chokes things up and the burner flame
reduces or goes out.
Later models had a very much larger tube which was tolerant of a
greater carbon build up i.e. loger between services
Agas are simpe to service but - and I stress this - you do need to
know what you are doing. Never play about with any of the preset
adjustments within the oil flow control unit, always ensure the burner
is level all ways,

[mary]

Post by cynic
The older burners have a small bore oil feed tube which runs under the
burner and also gets hot. The oil within it boils and a carbon deposit
forms in the tube outlet which chokes things up and the burner flame
reduces or goes out.

Would it help to insulate the feed tube ,say with fibreglass wrapped
in aluminium foil.Would that prevent the fuel boiling?

Post by cynic
Later models had a very much larger tube which was tolerant of a
greater carbon build up i.e. loger between services
Agas are simpe to service but - and I stress this - you do need to
know what you are doing. Never play about with any of the preset
adjustments within the oil flow control unit, always ensure the burner
is level all ways,

Well I have serviced my Aga for the last 20years on account of it
being so hard to het anyone else to do it.
Is it dangerous then if the thermostat has gone bust?I adjust the
flame manually,I thought there was a *fire valve* that kicked in
automatically if the Aga got out of control (overheated ) Am I right?