firing the Harman VF3000 on oil

syncmaster · By: **syncmaster** On: Sat Oct 11, 2008 3:27 pm

When I was looking for info on how the oil burner option worked on the VF3000 no one really had any idea... even the dealers.

I will post the steps below on what is involved in switching the VF3000 from coal to oil

: (295.86 KiB) Viewed 338 times; View: New Page • Popup • Select:BBCode; I am happy with the oil burner.. at water temp=170* I read 380* stack temp with .05draft; [nepathumb]7044[/nepathumb]

: (225.88 KiB) Viewed 102 times; View: New Page • Popup • Select:BBCode; Step 1 move switch from COAL to OIL; [nepathumb]7039[/nepathumb]

: (289.08 KiB) Viewed 146 times; View: New Page • Popup • Select:BBCode; step 2 swing open door and remove the oil burner cover plate.; [nepathumb]7040[/nepathumb]

: (226.83 KiB) Viewed 81 times; View: New Page • Popup • Select:BBCode; step 3 place the cover plate in plate holder; [nepathumb]7041[/nepathumb]

: (200.44 KiB) Viewed 216 times; View: New Page • Popup • Select:BBCode; Close the door and the next time the aquastat calls for heat the gun will fire...here is a shot holding the camera where the ash pan would be.; [nepathumb]7042[/nepathumb]

Flyer5 · By: **Flyer5** On: Sat Oct 11, 2008 10:21 pm

Dont you have to empty the coal off the grate and plug the opening to the hopper with fiberglass insulation . That is what I was told when I was looking last year . Actually I was going to buy one new till I spoke with Harman directly. It was like how did you get this # and why aren't you asking the dealer these questions .After explaining the dealer had no idea how it worked they finally transferred the phone to someone who sorta knew how it worked . Their lack of customer satisfaction is what changed my mind . I had cash on hand and at the time the dealer had one in stock . They look like a very nice boiler though . Dave

syncmaster · By: **syncmaster** On: Sun Oct 12, 2008 1:59 am

there is nothing in the manual.... but if you don't have any coal in the hopper..... then you should probly seal off the coal feeder with some thing non flamable like insulation.

I don't see any reason for clearing the ashes off the grate.

Highlander · By: **Highlander** On: Sun Oct 12, 2008 8:23 am

Sync
Very nice install, your pictures will give folks here a lot of detail about the oil gun option that is unavailable from Harman or their dealers.

As far as the ash goes, I would clean as much of it out as I could, especially the ash in the bottom of the boiler and in the lower portion of the chimney flue. The reason for this would be that these areas of the boiler run the coolest, and any condensation from the oil, will combine with the ash and form a corrosive cake or paste that will attack steel parts, especially if the gun runs in short cycles.

BTW, how much is oil these days, propane by me is about $4.39 a gallon, way too expensive to consider heating with.

Bill

Adamiscold · By: **Adamiscold** On: Sun Oct 12, 2008 8:28 am

Bill

Our lowest price so far is 3.249 locally http://www.newenglandoil.com/massachuse ... 14.asp?x=0. With Mass Energy http://www.massenergy.com as of Friday it's 2.959.

syncmaster · By: **syncmaster** On: Sun Oct 12, 2008 9:14 am

Highlander wrote:Sync
I would clean as much of it out as I could, especially the ash in the bottom of the boiler and in the lower portion of the chimney flue. The reason for this would be that these areas of the boiler run the coolest, and any condensation from the oil, will combine with the ash and form a corrosive cake or paste that will attack steel parts, especially if the gun runs in short cycles.

Bill

Bill, I read a couple places the mention of condensation from oil and I really don't understand why or how.
since the boiler is kept at 150* or higher I don't see how you could get condensation.

when the oil gun fires the stack temp goes to well over 300*
since the boiler has 55 gallons of water in it you can't have short cycles.

If you remove the ashes from covering the grate, CO2 could flow backwards through the grate holes and out the stoker blower that is now off.

coalkirk · By: **coalkirk** On: Sun Oct 12, 2008 10:22 am

syncmaster wrote:If you remove the ashes from covering the grate, CO2 could flow backwards through the grate holes and out the stoker blower that is now off.

Smalll correction. CO not CO2. CO2 makes beer happy. CO kills you.

Highlander · By: **Highlander** On: Sun Oct 12, 2008 6:41 pm

Sync, the bottom third of the boiler is just the sheetmetal base, it runs quite a bit cooler then the boiler weldment. I know on my boiler that even when its firing pretty hard, I can still pull the ash tub out by hand, its never so hot that I can't grab it. If it were me, and I was going to fire on oil for more than a couple of days, I would clean out the ash as best as I could, just to be safe.

syncmaster · By: **syncmaster** On: Mon Oct 13, 2008 4:32 pm

here are some more pictures of the oil gun

steevesj · By: **steevesj** On: Wed Oct 15, 2008 7:33 am

Sync,
How do you adjust the burner for optimal performance? I just install my Keystoker Ka6 and it has the burner also but I don't have a clue how to tell if it is burning correctly.
Jon

VigIIPeaBurner · By: **VigIIPeaBurner** On: Tue Nov 25, 2008 6:04 pm

That can get as complicated as you want. Some just look at the flame after everything heats up and judge by flame color, shape and regularity. If you can find someone with a kit, it will be more time consuming but more scientific. The process compares measurements taken over the flame and just above the boiler in the pipe and the boiler room. Measurements are made of the draft, temperature, %/ppm CO2 and smoke density. Fiddle, change and remeasure. Several times! All the data points are put into a relationship to figure the final % efficiency. My father was doing this for a while. I used his kit and managed to get my early 70's boiler up to 84% up from 72%after adding a new ss nose cone to the gun. Took some time but what a difference.

jeff-tburg · By: **jeff-tburg** On: Thu Dec 04, 2008 3:13 pm

Hi
Just purchased new VF3k and I am interested in adding the oil gun so that I only have to deal with 1 boiler & chimney instead of 2.
Question is do I need to purchase gun & parts from harman or can they be purchased at local heating & plumbing outfit ? ( Or can the gun from my existing oil boiler be used ?)
The dealer I purchased boiler from is less knowledgable than I am so he is of no help.
Any step by step info you could provide would be great.
Thanks
Jeff

syncmaster · By: **syncmaster** On: Thu Dec 04, 2008 4:13 pm

harman sells the oil burner option for $639.00 (price from may-08)
you get a modified door, switch box, fuel flex line, oil gun,fireproof fiberboard(install in hole opposite the gun)
you may also need a new label on the boiler that says it is qualified for oil or coal.

if you are very handy you probly can build everything but the label on your own.
it will take alot more time than it is worth(in My opinion)

there are 2 micro switches on the new door that stop the gun from firing if the nozzle cover plate is on or the door is open.
this set up and alignment would be very difficult to make on your own(but not impossible.

here is the label on my VF3000:

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here is a link to another post with alot of pictures of the oil gun option
http://nepacrossroads.com/post54110.html#p54110

jeff-tburg · By: **jeff-tburg** On: Fri Dec 05, 2008 11:07 am

Thanks for the info syncmaster.
I was wondering if the oil set up on VF3K boiler is anywhere near as efficient as a straight oil only boiler?
If not I may just keep my 5 year old Oil set up, & tie new boiler into it after all.
Also if I do the 2 boiler method what is the best practice for the off heating season when I shut down the coal boiler, should the oil boiler keep the 50 plus gallons in the VF3K warm ? or are chemicals used & the coal boiler is valved off ?
Thanks Again
Jeff

steevesj · By: **steevesj** On: Fri Dec 05, 2008 1:07 pm

jeff-tburg wrote:Thanks for the info syncmaster.
I was wondering if the oil set up on VF3K boiler is anywhere near as efficient as a straight oil only boiler?
If not I may just keep my 5 year old Oil set up, & tie new boiler into it after all.
Also if I do the 2 boiler method what is the best practice for the off heating season when I shut down the coal boiler, should the oil boiler keep the 50 plus gallons in the VF3K warm ? or are chemicals used & the coal boiler is valved off ?
Thanks Again
Jeff

Hi Jeff,
I have the Ka-6 with an oil burner and just had the burner adjusted for the first time. The heating guy said that mine isn't very efficient, about 79.5% was the best he could do. I thought as much since the inside of the boiler is a huge space and 55 gallons of water is a lot to heat and keep hot. I really don't care since the burner is only a backup in case of a breakdown, extended vaction, or if I ever sell the house it has a "traditional" heat source.
Jon

firing the Harman VF3000 on oil

firing the Harman VF3000 on oil

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