Burner Nozzles

When a hot water machine runs lukewarm or coughs smoke, the ten dollar brass tip inside the burner is the usual suspect. Sun Brite Supply stocks Delavan burner nozzles for hot water pressure washers in hollow cone and solid cone patterns, from 1.00 to 4.00 GPH, plus the fuel filters and Protek valves that keep them alive. Read the numbers off your old nozzle to us at 301-519-9274 and we will have the right one pulled before you hang up.

How Burner Nozzle Sizing Works

Every oil burner nozzle carries three markings, and all three matter. First is flow in gallons per hour, rated at 100 PSI of fuel pump pressure. A 1.50 GPH nozzle burns a gallon and a half of diesel or kerosene per hour. Second is the spray angle, usually 60, 70, 80, or 90 degrees, which has to match your combustion chamber so the flame fills the chamber without licking the coil. Third is the pattern letter. A means hollow cone, with fuel concentrated at the edge of the spray. B means solid cone, with fuel spread evenly through the whole pattern. Your burner plate or manual lists the spec, and the fastest path is simply matching what came out.

Nozzle Size Sets Your Heat, and the Math Is Simple

Number 2 fuel oil holds about 140,000 BTU per gallon, so a 2.00 GPH nozzle feeds a burner roughly 280,000 BTU per hour. Divide the BTUs by your water flow times 500 and you get the temperature rise. That same 2.00 GPH nozzle on a 4 GPM machine lifts the water about 140 degrees. Drop to a 1.50 and the rise falls near 105. This is why you never upsize a nozzle to chase hotter water without checking the chamber and air band. Too much fuel makes soot, and soot on the coil insulates it, which makes the water colder, not hotter. It is a spiral that ends with a coil cleaning bill.

Hollow Cone or Solid Cone

Hollow cone nozzles, the red bezel Delavan A series, put most droplets at the rim of the spray where the burner's air swirl is strongest. They light clean and hold a stable flame in the small chambers most pressure washer burners use, which is why the majority of Beckett and Wayne burners on hot water skids spec an A. Solid cone B series, the blue bezel, spreads fuel evenly and smooths out ignition on bigger burners firing above 2.00 GPH or where the air pattern is center heavy. Swapping pattern types on a whim invites rumbling starts and smoke. Match the plate.

Burner Nozzles by Size

More sizes are in the grid above, including 1.20, 1.25, and 2.25 GPH. Call if your spec is not listed. We can order odd sizes and angles.

From the Field

Do not clean a burner nozzle. The orifice and internal slots are machined to tolerances a wire brush destroys, and a distorted spray pattern soots a coil in a weekend. At ten to twenty dollars, the nozzle is a throwaway part. Swap it every season, or twice a year on daily-run machines, and change the burner fuel filter at the same time since dirty fuel is what kills nozzles in the first place. The other cheap insurance is the Protek valve. It snaps the fuel line shut the instant the pump stops, so fuel does not dribble into a hot chamber and puff white smoke on the next start. If your burner smokes for a few seconds at every ignition, that valve is the fix, not another nozzle.

Related Collections

• Burner parts
• Fuel nozzles
• Fuel filters and fuel pumps
• Ignitors and transformers
• Thermostats
• Gas valves
• Hot water pressure washers
• Hot boxes and hot water skids
• Stop by the counter at our Gaithersburg store with your old nozzle

Frequently Asked Questions

What size burner nozzle does my pressure washer need?

Match the spec plate on the burner or the markings on the old nozzle: GPH, angle, and pattern letter, like 1.75 60 A. If the plate is gone, tell us the machine brand and model and we will look up the factory spec.

What is the difference between hollow cone and solid cone burner nozzles?

Type A hollow cone puts fuel at the outer edge of the spray and suits most small pressure washer burners. Type B solid cone spreads fuel evenly and runs smoother on larger burners above 2.00 GPH. Use the pattern your burner was designed for.

Why is my hot water pressure washer not getting hot?

Check the easy stuff in order: fuel level, fuel filter, then the nozzle. A partly clogged nozzle mists poorly and burns weak. If the nozzle and filter are fresh and the water is still cool, look at fuel pump pressure and a sooted coil.

Why is my burner blowing white or black smoke?

White smoke is unburned fuel, usually a fouled nozzle, weak ignition, or fuel dribbling after shutdown, which a Protek valve stops. Black smoke is too much fuel for the air, so think oversized nozzle, closed air band, or a soot-choked coil.

Can I clean a burner nozzle instead of replacing it?

No. The internal slots distort the moment you poke at them, and a bad spray pattern soots the coil. Replace the nozzle. It is one of the cheapest parts on the whole machine.

How often should burner nozzles be replaced?

Once a season for typical use, twice a year for machines that run daily. Change the burner fuel filter at the same time so the new nozzle does not eat the same dirt that killed the old one.

Does a bigger nozzle make the water hotter?

More GPH does mean more BTUs, but only if the chamber and air supply can burn it clean. Oversizing usually just makes soot, and soot makes the water colder. Size to spec and fix heat problems at their real cause.