Help! Soot everywhere


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Old 03-05-06, 04:45 AM
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Help! Soot everywhere

Our house is 3 years old. We have a Utica Boiler, uses oil. About a year and a half after we moved in we smelled oil burning in the house and soon found a light coat of soot in the house. Called for service, it became worse. They finally fixed, or so we thought (it was late spring anyway). Insurance company paid for cleanup and promptly dropped us.
Now it has happened again, only worse. Again we called for service (we have had it serviced regualrly by this company). Now the company that services it says we should have had a chimney installed, that a vent wasn't enough so they are blaming the guy who installed the boiler. We are afraid to call insurance company, but I'm afraid that the clean up will be more than we could afford or do ourselves.
My husband and I do not understand what this 'puff back' is or why it is happening. (apparently neither do the technicians that come out to service the boiler.) Is the boiler of poor quality? Should we replace it? Installing a chimney would be a big expense. Utica boiler has not responded to our questions.
Any helpful advice would be greatly appeciated!!!!
Sandy
 
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Old 03-05-06, 09:11 AM
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Vent?

I presume the boiler is sidewall vented. Is there any kind of power venter? If no, is the boiler approved for direct venting? A chimney is far preferable to even the best power venter. That being said, if power venters are installed properly, they work. Yours either has had several safety failures (chances are extremely slim of this) or was never installed right. Of all the power venters on which I've worked in the past 20 years, probably less than a half dozen were installed right.
 
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Old 03-05-06, 09:35 AM
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In my opinion and that of some manufacturers, if you don't have a chimney, you need to take combustion air from outside the structure. On the same side of the building and as close as possible to the discharge point of the unit as possible. The burner needs to be set up correctly and a high density fuel filter needs to be installed at the burner. My guess is that one or more of those suggestions is not present at your house. You didn't say where you are but I would not assume that after a tune-up everything will be fine. Just because winter is over, the problem will recur next year if it is not corrected. Some photos of the equipment and the venting method would be helpful for us to make suggestions remotely.

Ken
 
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Old 03-05-06, 11:50 AM
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Thanks for your response! More info...

There is a vent system, and the last technician that was here adjusted it so that it runs 24/7. He did this because he said that the vent system did not have a pre and post surge whatever that is.
The vent that is on there now is Tjernlund HSUL-1. The model of the boiler is SFH3125WU
He also adjusted the nozzle for less oil to come into the boiler. He thinks that will help.
Now that you mention it, he did say he was concerned that there wasn’t enough air coming into it; but he thought that adjusting the nozzle would offset that. He also told us that he adjusted it against manufacturer’s suggestions.
Do you think that taking combustion air from outside might do the trick? It sounds like an easier solution than the chimney.
I will take some pics
Again, thank you both very much for answering my post, it has been comforting to know that I can get help… this has been soooo frustrating!!
 
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Old 03-05-06, 12:31 PM
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The reason outside air is important is because pressures inside the house change and the powerventer has a fixed capacity to draw air from the boiler. If there is a pressure change inside, like you running a big range hood or a couple of bathroom fans or anythin gthat changes air pressure inside, there is a chance of changing combustion settings. Once a little soot forms inside the boiler it restricts air flow. That changes air/fuel mixture causing more soot. That clogs things up further and it goes until there is no pathway for combustion gasses and they start rolling out the front. That is a problem. Upload the pics somewhere and let us know.

Ken
 
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Old 03-05-06, 01:58 PM
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Old 03-05-06, 04:14 PM
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I can't see the burner but I can see 2 fuel lines. If you want to come close to solving this problem with one more try, get a Tigerloop oil deaerator and a Garber or other brand spin-on filter and install them at the burner. Then get an outside air kit for the Beckett burrner. Use the Field controls one because it has a better air regulation control. Then have your tech set the draft for -.10 to -.12 at the breech and you should be pretty well off. You will get better light-off if you install Honeywells 7184 safety control with pre and post purge and a solenoid oil valve if your burner doesn't already have one. That whole combination should set you back about $600 for parts but the risk of soot will be much less with those parts. The joints in smokepipe should be sealed all the way from the boiler to the vent hood with high-temp silicone.

Ken
 
 

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