Field Controls Oil Vent Damper

mark schofield

Has anyone had experience; and if so, comments on the new Field Controls oil vent damper? From what I understand the older (20 years+) vent dampers were problematic. This unit is a few years old. For a non cold start oil fired CI boiler. Thanks for any opinions. Mark S

<a href="http://www.fieldcontrols.com/pdfs/46567100OVDInstSheetRevA0109.pdf">http://www.fieldcontrols.com/pdfs/46567100OVDInstSheetRevA0109.pdf</a>

Alan R. Mercurio_3

Re:Field Controls Oil Vent Damper

Mark, I have not used any yet but they do seem to have come a long way from the old ones. The only thing I’ll caution you about is that much like many power venters I have found these to be wired in parallel, not in series as they should be.

This usually happens when the directions are used as a knee pad ;-)

mark schofield

field controls oil vent damper

Alan; thanks for your reply. Like many others , I'm limited to oil or

propane. My WM WTGO 3 is 7 years old. The tankless coil outlet feeds an older

Carlin Aquabank for DHW storage. The tankless coil inlet is fed by a

solar DHW storage tank. I've insulated the two storage tanks (R19) over

the existing tank insulation; installed drop tubes on the inlets and

outlets of both tanks, insulated the boiler on the outside of the boiler

casing or shell, insulated all the near piping except for the Taco 007,

and have an outdoor reset. I changed the flue from top to rear. The low

limit is set at 125, just high enough to keep the Aquabank at a

comfortable DHW temp for me and keep the aquabank circlator from conatantly running. The differential is 20.The boiler is

cleaned/tuned professionally yearly and no condensation issues are

evident. I put an hour meter on the burner a few years ago and during

the non-heating season the burner run about 20 minutes a day. About

$10/week at $4/gallon. Because this isn't a cold start boiler and I have

to maintain a minimum temperature, I think I've exhausted all the

things I can do except to minimize standby loss up the flue pipe. Thus

the question about the oil vent damper. They aren't that expensive and

the technician can re-tune the boiler for any changes in draft. But I did hear bad things about them in the past.   Mark S

billtwocase

As Alan said

They need to be wired right. Also, your flue is 7" on that, and to increase efficiency, I would have that set for rear flue, as they are optional top or rear flue. Carlin EZ-1 also gives better results I find. When your aquabank lets go, your best option would be to have an indirect installed, and maintain next to nothing for temp. Cold start is not the way to go

meplumber

Agree on the EZ-1.

In my experience, the EZ-1 matches up best with a power venter.  As bill and alan stated, proper wiring is the key.

Ron Jr._3

Haven't seen the damper

on an oil fired boiler yet . But I can tell you by watching my own boiler's temp drop like a stone from loss up the chimney that this unit is a great idea .   



Any troubles wiring it in with a burner that has post purge ?

Ron Jr._3

double post

mark schofield

post purge

the instruction/instlation papers indicate a 3 minute "hold open time" after the burner shuts down. The Carlin has a 15 second post purge. I asked my oil/service company for their opinions. One of the techs said that trapping excess heat in the chamber might have adverse effects on the burner head and nozzle when the unit isn't firing.

Alan R. Mercurio_3

Re:Field Controls Oil Vent Damper

That’s a pretty sharp tech you have and that was a good catch on his part. I fully agree with his concerns. Perhaps you could install a Beckett GeniSys or a Honeywell control that you could adjust the post-purge to 2 min. Carlin also has a new control that has an adjustable post-purge however I’m not sure if it’s available to the market yet?