Is there something wrong here??

subguy

Hi there, new to this website, but in reading existing posts I can see there's A LOT of brainpower here!



In short, here's my situation: I had my Well McClain Gold Series (circa ~2005) converted over to a Carlin NG conversion burner in August 2012. The work was done by a local company that primarily does oil work. Since install in August 2012 the Carlin has worked fine, although it's definitely louder than the old oil burner was (low frequency rumble).



Recently I contracted with a local insulation company to add additional insulation and sealing to my house, and as part of their pre-check they checked the CO levels in the exhaust stream of both my furnace as well as my gas water heater (which they installed at the same time as the Carlin install). As I understand the insulation company checked this to make sure any sealing changes they make wouldn't run the risk of having CO spill back into the house. The gas water heater showed zero PPM, but the Carlin showed 2200 PPM, and peaked the tech's CO meter. They require the CO to be under 100 PPM before they'll do work on the house. There was no CO spillage into the house, it's only in the exhaust stream in the flue.



The company that did the conversion came by this weekend and cleaned the furnace, but it didn't look that dirty. Their follow-up CO reading (with a different meter that couldn't actually sample within the stack, just a handheld, pushed through the damper) still showed high CO levels. In retrospect I wouldn't consider the company I'm using to be gas "subject matter experts". They've put in a call to Carlin to ask about the high CO issue, but I doubtful they'll get a meaningful response.



Are high CO readings in the exaust stream of converted furnaces the norm, or is something amiss? 

Noel

Still something wrong

Even with a conversion burner, that number is too high.



A gas fire that is the same number of BTUH is a larger fire than oil, and that needs to be taken into account when converting, as clean combustion is more important than matching the BTUH exactly. If the fire touches the relatively cold metal, CO is produced.



Have it checked and adjusted, for sure.

JeffM

seems high

I've got a very similar setup (W-M Gold oil boiler from 2004 converted last fall with a Carlin EZ-Gas). You ought to be able to get good combustion with this setup. Carlin specifies CO below 50ppm in the instructions that come with the EZ-Gas burner. I didn't do the conversion or testing myself, but have read the manual (which if you don't have one is available on Carlin's web site). I found Carlin's tech support to be very good when I called with a question last fall, so your contractor shouldn't have any issue getting tuning assistance from them.

Also, I hear what you have said about the noise. I get the same low frequency rumble. 

pipeking

combustion test!

  we'll if thats the case u should deff get someone there to do a combustion test. then they can dial it in.

Zman

Yes, something is wrong..

I am impressed with your insulation contractor.



I think I would find a new heating contractor. They should have done a complete combustion analysis with the conversion. It appears they do not  have the knowledge or equipment to do so.



Generally, levels of CO above 100 require service. I would not be comfortable living in a house with levels above 400 and would turn the appliance off.



Do you have CO detectors? Your boiler may be spilling under certain weather conditions.



I would look to either Carlin or the "find a contractor" section above for a referral.



What part of the country are you in?



Carl

subguy

BTU matching vs. flame size

Thanks for all the replys, good info, I'm downloading the manuals as we speak.



Your comment re:matching flame size over matching BTUs makes a lot of sense, and piques my interest... When they converted my system they just matched the rating of my boiler (100k BTU) and drilled the orifice accordingly. Is that not what's typically done during a conversion?

subguy

No spillage detected during testing...

I hadn't thought of the fact that under certain conditions my draft might change a bunch and I might get some spillage.  Yes, I do have active CO detectors in the room, and I've never had any alarms. I guess I'll need to elevate my efforts on getting this solved...



I'm in Rhode Island, in answer to your question. 

Zman

Tech

You are in luck being in Rhode Island.

http://www.heatinghelp.com/article/192/Tech-Schools/829/Gas-Training-Institute

Get a hold of Tim. He is one of the very best and should be able to find you a pro.

Carl

subguy

thanks

I spoke with Tim, and he was very helpful. Thanks for the referral... hopefully I can get this resolved soon!

subguy

RESOLVED, but one more question...

So, the original install company brought in a gas expert yesterday, and they found the wrong orifice had been drilled in the conversion pipe. They told me after that change everything was "perfect." Hre are the specs they got from the combusion test:



CO: 20 ppm

O2: 5.2%

Stack Temp: 525°

Efficiency: 80%

"0" smoke



Do these specs look OK for a gas conversion burner?