Sparks

jhansen

Last year I installed a CG-50 gas Beckett power burner on a Weil McLain 1388 cast iron sectional boiler that was 7 years old. The past burners tube was a Gordon Pyatt and was disintegrated at the end. The boiler was cleaned and the new boiler dialed in per specs. This year went to service boiler and there is a large buildup of rust colored powder in the base of the sections and when in high fire it is like a fireworks show burning this stuff off. I pulled the burner and brushed and blew out the pins and vacuumed all debris. The burner was very clean. Still sparks on high fire and has high CO reading. The atmosphere serves animals and there is a lot of hay dust. Could that be it. They just cleaned out boiler area and made a pretty good cloud of the stuff. The new burner picks up combustion air 6 inches off floor where the Gordon was up much higher. Appreciate any insight.

Tim McElwain

Not the best conditions for

the burner. The sparks are probably from all the airborne particulate burning off in the chamber. This could also account for the high CO.



What were your combustion readings?



Is there some way to protect the burner area from all the debris?

icesailor

Sparks:

If this application is in an animal building with hay and animal dust/dander, I would be worrying about spontaneous combustion from flammable dust. If the dust levels are high enough to get "sparks" in the chamber, and it is coming from airborne particles, I would be concerned. You have heard of grain elevator explosions? The old farmers had wooden shovels to shovel the grain off the floors in their granaries. A spark from a metal shovel on a floor nail could cause a explosion.

But before that, I would take a torpedo level with a magnet on it and put it in that red rust stuff in the chamber. If it is iron, it sounds like the fire is causing deterioration of the fire side of the boiler. Maybe the new burner is too hot for the application and needs a chamber. Contact Weil-McLain about the application. Doesn't sound right to me.

Tim McElwain

This is the procedure for Combustion Test

for that Beckett Burner:

Recommended combustion test sequence:

 

1. Adjust the draft or breech pressure to the appliance manufacturer’s recommended level.



 

2. Measure the carbon monoxide level and adjust air settings, if necessary, to regulate it to about 50 PPM for a starting point.



 

3. Measure the O2 or CO2 at the 50 PPM CO level. For this discussion, assume the O2 is 1.5% (11% CO2).



 

4. Open the air adjustment until the O2 level is increased by at least 1% or to 3% O2 (whichever is higher). This should reduce the CO level and

provide a margin of reserve air to accommodate variable conditions.



 

5. Sample the CO level again. It should be in the 0 to 20 PPM range.



 

6. Check the draft to ensure it still meets specifications. If a major change in draft is required, repeat the above steps.



 

7. Perform any final adjustments and lock the air settings securely. Run the burner through several cycles to verify prompt ignition and stable burner operation

Tim McElwain

I looked up specs for Weil McLain

I could only find specs for the Beckett Burner up to a Weil McLain Boiler Model # 1280. Is that burner speced by them as a replacement for the 1388 Model?