Oil fired boiler in Narnia

Genghissian

We have an oil fired boiler which has become increasingly cranky.  The pump has been replaced, it's better, but we still have an intermitent fault.  The house had an annex we let as an Airbnb, the boiler is located through a door in the back of the built in wardrobe so once we have a guest we cannot access it to press the reset button (it's an Airbnb thing that you do not enter the guest's space).  There is no access to the boiler from our part of the house.  We have an immersion heater but we have spent a lot of nights without heating waiting for the guest to leave.  We have had plumbers out but they can't find the cause of problem. Now here's the thing, it seems to us that the boiler is mainly or only tripping when we have guests so we have started to wonder if there is a connection.  All we can think of is that when the guest opens the wardrobe door there is some kind of vacuum effect which puts out the boiler.  No guest and the boiler works fine.
Could this be happening or is it just coincidence?  It would be hugely expensive to relocate the boiler our side of the wall but if there is some kind of cause and effect going on its something we would need to consider.

Reed_Richards

No boiler should be exposed to the air inside the house; it should vent its fumes to the outside and draw its air supply from the outside as well, so as not to risk any poisonous or asphyxiating combustion products getting inside the house.  So nothing your guests do with or in the wardrobe should affect the boiler.  I think the problem you are having is not coincidence, it is an example of s*d's law in operation.

Could there be some sort of remote control you could fit that would activate the reset on the boiler from a distance?.  

Cardew

Is there a pilot light on the boiler?

Genghissian

Reed_Richards said:

I think the problem you are having is not coincidence, it is an example of s*d's law in operation.

Thanks - I suspect you are right but I was hoping for a simple cause and effect that we could act on.  Not sure how a remote control would work but we can ask the plumber who must be as fed up with seeing us as we are of losing power!

Genghissian

Cardew said:

Is there a pilot light on the boiler?

yes, but as Reed_Richards says we think it must be sealed.  There is a detector next to the boiler and its not registering any fumes so if nothing can get out except through the flu then presumably nothing can get in.

Rodders53

Make and model of boiler could be helpful and maybe ask the manufacturer for advice as to why this is happening?  Perhaps your plumber / oil-boiler technician need replacing with a qualified person who can diagnose properly.

Surely the AirBnB guests in the 'annexe' also lose heating and hot water when the boiler cuts out, so would want it reset and working?

One possible, is guests hearing the oil boiler running in the wardrobe switch it off to stop that noise?  But if it is a 'fault' or safety cutout operating within the boiler, then it's just a coincidence.

lohr500

Do your guests need access to the wardrobe? If not, why not put a lock on it and see if the problem goes away. Or try sealing the access door inside the wardrobe better, so any vacuum generated by opening the wardrobe door doesn't transfer into the boiler area. But before considering any of the above, I would try opening and closing the wardrobe door a few times with the boiler running to see if it does cause the boiler to trip.
Another thought. When you have guests do you alter any of the settings or turn on a separate zone to heat the annex? Just wondering if the extra load could be causing the boiler to work harder and trip out. 
Our old oil boiler was installed inside and it drew air from inside the kitchen through the base of the boiler casing, so if yours is an older installation it could well be doing the same.