furnace crack

Bob Bona_4

What's up with the hijack?

stacie b

furnace crack

new homeowner- i have a 2004 "ultimate" oil-fired furnace which has been giving off exhaust fumes. my oil service co. has been out several times to assess. so far the small gasket has been replaced where it fires up & the seal on the top of the unit has been recaulked with a high temp sealant twice as well as giving me a closed air combustion unit, new ignition starter & a fresh air kit. 90% improvement but still am getting fumes in house.

2nd issue is that we have a negative air pressure in house which could contribute to some of this as we were getting only a negative 2 draft on reading. we are in process of resealing all ductwork and finding some holes in the returns.

any suggestions? thanks

ed wallace

furnace crack

if this is a warm air furnace it should be replaced now hi temp sealent on a heat exchanger will not work where was the negative draft reading taken at over fire? or at the breech?

don_185

location

Location of unit? And if you are anything like my wife..and it sure sounds that way, that untill you have it removed out of the house, I or the oil man will never hear the end of it.Keen nose for the obvious.

Sorry..I had a flashback after reading your post.

No truly tho I think your info is alittle confusing because... if you had a negative pressure in your envelope then the oil furnace is not the problem.

stacie b

this is a oil fired tankless unit, 1994 not 2004 which heats up water and heats up the water to the coils in the air handler in the other room fora forced hot air system. the negative 2 was read at the breech level. draft control damper was eliminated and i now have a closed/sealed combustion unit. i actually assisted on the jobs and did see the original seal on the unit all cracked. my oil service co. has resealed a second time & will here again in the a.m. i am aware i have 2 different problems here but am mainly concerned about the fumes. thanks again

stacie b

hey don

i do have a keen nose. as far as the neg. air pressure, i am aware it is a 2nd problem. not enough returns/hole somewhere in return in basement, house built in 1970. we are resealing ducts in order to get a better read on the flow meter when tested. have had some improvement but not resolved. i may not be so good with the lingo here but am pretty good with the details. i am the one who discovered the negative air pressure in house - would you believe???

ed wallace

negative draft

has the oil company made it a true sealed combustion system? have they installeda combustion air kit so outside air is feed directly to the burner you said they removed the draft control did they do a full effiency test before and after the removal of the drsft ontrol? there should be a negative draft over fire around -02 and a negative draft in the smoke pipe around -03 to-04 are you running a hole house fan? an exhaust fan in the kitchen? is there an air handler in the basement that is pulling air out of the same area as the oil burner ?

stacie b

hi ed: i do have a sealed combustion unit with a fresh air kit fed from outside directly to burner. today my oil svc co. changed out the gun/drawer assembly part. tests are showing -1 at smoke pipe with a +3 or +4 over fire. there are no exhaust fans/whole house fans in house. the forced hot air system is in the basement as well as the oil-fired furnace/oil tank. different rooms. at the top of stairs i hung a curtain & when the heat comes on the curtain/heat from the 1st floor is being sucked right down into the basement. i have only 2 returns on 1st floor. they are pulling air. the 2nd floor returns are not pulling anything. 2 different problems in this house, i think. my oil co. states that i should try to have chimney co. run a liner to the oil burner, not enough draft. my chimney inspection earlier this fall stated that too many 90 degree runs & said i needed a class a chimney. i did see a video on this old house about a guy w/ same issue with a gas furnace & they relined furnace & extended the chimney flues, one higher than the other. check it out - this old house. i dont know what to do anymore. everyone has there opinion however i could go bankrupt w/ all these fixes. looks like i'm in for a overhaul.

ed wallace

furnace crack

Hi Staci if you have +3 over fire and -1 at the smoke pipe then that points to a problem with the boiler passages has the oil co brushed and vaced the boiler from the top down I believe your boiler has removable baffles have them remove a few baffles also they should down fire the boiler can i ask where you live? what model boiler do you havem

stacie b_2

hi ed:

i was told today that there are no baffles & they dont want to risk down firing the boiler due to loss of efficiency w/ hot water/heat. ultimate boiler, i will have to get more info. last night the heat went. needed a new blower. i told you i was in for an overhaul. ciao for now

stacie b_2

hi ed:

i am back. my tankless unit says dunkirk radiator corp.
ultimate oil fired unit serial#019400249 pfd3t.
today the aquastat was changed out and expansion tank, system too hot apparently, few days ago the relief valve was changed out. week ago the flow valve above the exp. tank was replaced. i have shut system down due to ductwork being done and the unit has leaked 3 times. the smell is a bit better but still not right. i am in the framingham area. this is a slow process, i dont know ed.

thanks

ed wallace

furnace crack

sounds like the boiler is being replaced 1 piece at a time and the smell issue hasnt been addressed time to call someone else

john_180

crack

ultimate boilers do not have removable baffles and if the firing rate is to low than you will have insuff hot water problems.if you have neg press or draft in house than you need to correct that issue. why did they change out the aquastat? was it over riding and blowing off the relief valve? most likely. you need to run the limits up on a boiler with a tankless coil low 170 hi 190 sometimes low 180 hi 200 if aquastat is off it may over heat with poor drafti9ng chimney and neg draft in house you need to correct both chimney and duct work returns!!! the serial # if right makes that boiler about 7 years old should be fine ultimate boilers are good eff boilers

stacie b_2

found the problem

hi ed:

i finally found the problem, i have a cracked oil flue, great- the oil fired furnace would have been easier to correct. now that i have all the parts replaced I need to now demo my basement fireplace. thanks for all your help!

ciao

tom_49

Stacie,

Why not just line the flue with a stainless liner?

stacie b_2

too many 90 bends, there are . also, forming plywood was left in basement chimney, demo job to correct if we want to use it.

GW

draft

I don't understand why you have oil odors in the house due to the chimney. If it's negaitive, how can the flue gas be leaving the flue?

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