If you find an oil furnace with a tripped primary control, what should you do?

Finding an oil furnace with a tripped primary control indicates that the furnace has detected a fault condition that prevented it from operating correctly. This safety feature is designed to prevent hazardous situations, such as unburned oil pooling, which could lead to a fire or an explosion.

Choosing not to reset the primary control is crucial because doing so without investigating the underlying cause could effectively ignore a potentially dangerous issue. By checking the firepot for pooling oil, you are assessing a common problem related to oil furnaces. If oil is pooling, it indicates that the burner is not igniting properly, which is likely the reason for the primary control being tripped. Therefore, inspecting the firepot can help determine whether it is safe to reset the control and attempt to reignite the burner.

This approach ensures that safety is prioritized, allowing you to troubleshoot the furnace properly before deciding on any further steps, such as resetting the controller. By checking for pooling oil, you are taking a necessary precaution to avoid further complications that may arise from an unsafe furnace operation.