A ? for when the oil service man comes

Hi all you handy people. So I don't look like a dope even though the more I learn the less I know.

I have a oil furnace forced air that will be getting a yearly service call next week. At the barometric damper soot is being shot out on to the floor. Not a lot but I would think none should shoot out at all. All my home fix it book have nothing about that problem. Is it something a knuckle head like me could fix, adjust, modify?

Hopefully before too long this will not matter because I'll be burning coal.

Thank you all once again.

If you have soot shooting out the barometric, I would submit there is a problem with the setup of the boiler. A professional service man is in order. One will weigh in soon.

Kevin

Joeski wrote:Is it something a knuckle head like me could fix, adjust, modify?

I don't think so as there are too many possible causes ranging from chimney and draft to poor adjustment of the burner to bad design of the unit to begin with.

You might be getting puff-backs due to a bad nozzle. The service dude usually replaces the General filter and puts in a new nozzle. Your firebox should be checked and the whole machine checked for any obstructions or soot buildup from the gun to the chimney top. No soot should come out the baro since there should always be negative pressure there. Possible wind gusts can come down the chimney and toss soot out the baro, but that's only one remote possibility. Just show the guy the soot and hope he isn't a low-brow slack-jawed yokel

Dann757 wrote:You might be getting puff-backs due to a bad nozzle. The service dude usually replaces the General filter and puts in a new nozzle. Your firebox should be checked and the whole machine checked for any obstructions or soot buildup from the gun to the chimney top. No soot should come out the baro since there should always be negative pressure there. Possible wind gusts can come down the chimney and toss soot out the baro, but that's only one remote possibility. Just show the guy the soot and hope he isn't a low-brow slack-jawed yokel

Haha a low-brow slack-jawed yokel, That's how I feel most of the time. I want to learn, learn, learn so as not to be dependent on potential a low-brow slack-jawed yokel.

Well, you came to the right place! It is a long road with many turns, but many have traveled it. Enjoy the ride.

Kevin

I'd certainly point it out to the service man & ask him to discuss the issue with you after the cleaning is done.

When I service a boiler I put in a new nozzle & sometimes a new filter. When my boiler man services a boiler, he removes the stove pipe, cleans it, then removes anything needed and cleans the inside of the burn chamber & heat exchangers. That's why I'm done in 7 minutes & it takes him 2 hours.

You should run clean as a whistle after the service.

Don't forget oil is DIRTY!!! YUCK!!

The soot could also be the result of a lack of combustion air. I had a similar problem with my EFM years ago when oil was cheap. Adjusted for more air and the problem went away.

Flyer5 wrote:Don't forget oil is DIRTY!!! YUCK!!

Your so right. As I wait for my coal install to happen I go out to the tank and measure the inches in the tank to see how much poorer I am for the not too much heat it just produced. Every time I get that hard to wash off oil on my hands or gloves or something that makes it dirty and stinky for a while.

rubicondave33 wrote:The soot could also be the result of a lack of combustion air. I had a similar problem with my EFM years ago when oil was cheap. Adjusted for more air and the problem went away.

Is that something a semi handy person can do or is it best for the service man to do it? Or would just a cracked open window provide it? I'm new to oil heat but can't wait to be stopping the use of it for coal.

On mine, the air adjustment is simply a screw with an index located right where the oil lines connect to the oil gun. Just loosen the screw and increase the amount of air. Chances are, the screw vibrated loose over time and the plate vibrated closed. That's what happened with mine.

Joeski wrote:

rubicondave33 wrote:Adjusted for more air and the problem went away.

Is that something a semi handy person can do or is it best for the service man to do it?

I'd let the service guy do it, since you have scheduled him anyway. He will have the right tools and instruments to set the air mix properly. Too little air and you have soot, too much air and the burner flame will go out. As to the soot around the baro, like Freddy said, point it out to the guy and see what he has to say. When the burner first fires off, there may briefly be little or no chimney draft, so the pipes and baro can get dirty from those few seconds on each startup. I have looked into my oil burner baro and it's not bad, but it's not shiny clean either.

P.S. We're all being very sexist here, talking about the "service MAN". It well may be a service WOMAN who shows up. If so, be comforted, remember that she had to be twice as smart and work twice as hard as a man to get the same job.

JoeSki,

I feel for you my friend. I have a great radiant floor heating system that I am expanding to do all of my house and not just half of it, and in the next year or two hope to be able to buy and install a coal boiler to help heat the water rather then the propane system I have now. In the mean time I am hand feeding a pot bellied stove so I go anthracite I am burning, but I know how it feels to have to wait for the ideal coal burner to arrive.

Good things come to those that wait however.

rubicondave33 wrote:On mine, the air adjustment is simply a screw with an index located right where the oil lines connect to the oil gun. Just loosen the screw and increase the amount of air. Chances are, the screw vibrated loose over time and the plate vibrated closed. That's what happened with mine.

Thank you very much for that info.