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New Boiler Smell

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Boiler Talk
Boiler Talk Member Posts: 136
in Strictly Steam
In September of 2011 a new oil steam boiler was installed in my house.  The first few firings made haze and stink in the basement.  Now that we are into it's second season, is the smell something that can reoccur?  I covered the pipes with insulation.  The heat is running regularly now, but don't recall seeing the haze nor recall anyone telling me that it can occur in the second season.  My carbon monoxide detector hasn't made a peep of sound, so I'm not sure of bad smell.  Any thoughts?   

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  • crash2009
    crash2009 Member Posts: 1,484
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    When you look

     at the sight glass, Does it look like there is anything floating on top of the water?
  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 15,716
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    Smell and haze

    When I first fired my new boiler up it of course smoked quite a bit and produced a haze in the room.  This was from all of the oil and coatings on all of the new parts burning off.

    If the boiler runs for a while even to this day I get a hint of that new smell in the basement.  My boiler is natural gas not oil but the same rules apply.



    I beleive crash is suspecting you may need a skim which you probably do, but I don't think its related to what you are asking about.  New boilers have a ton of oil in them internally as well which needs to be washed out and it takes a long time.  As crash asked is your gauge glass clean?  Can you supply pictures of everything including the gauge glass when the system is running?
    Single pipe quasi-vapor system. Typical operating pressure 0.14 - 0.43 oz. EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Control for Residential Steam boilers. Rectorseal Steamaster water treatment
  • Boiler Talk
    Boiler Talk Member Posts: 136
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    New Boiler Smell

    I took significant time last season to skim the boiler.  The last time I did I even checked the water on the stove in a pot several times.  It seemed to boil regularly.  The sight glass shows no debris above the water level.  The water is pretty stable though it is showing rusty water when running.  I had quite a time getting the system not to bang.  I almost never hear it running on the second floor where I sleep.  I hear something like a single snapping sound in the wee hours before dawn but the boiler definitely isn't running.  I guess it can be contraction of a pipe rubbing up against the floor ?  I can snap a few photos of the unit later. 
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