Welcome! Here are the website rules, as well as some tips for using this forum.
Need to contact us? Visit https://heatinghelp.com/contact-us/.
Click here to Find a Contractor in your area.

Is this normal operation or a problem

jeremy067390
jeremy067390 Member Posts: 12
in Oil Heating
Hi, I moved into this home 2 seasons ago. Furnace was backing up when the house was inspected so it was serviced. I'm in the process of cleaning it again but in my previous places of residence I don't recall seeing so much crap in the flue pipes. But I never serviced those boilers myself. My chimne was also rebuilt when I moved in and has a brand new liner I watching being installed because I don't trust anyone. The previous one could have killed someone. Should my boiler be this crusty inside?

Comments

  • jeremy067390
    jeremy067390 Member Posts: 12
    Pictures
  • Zman
    Zman Member Posts: 7,611
    Could you post some more details?
    Model of boiler?
    Return water temp?
    Average cycle lengths?
    Where is the flue located?
    Attached loads?
    That does not look good to me.
    "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough"
    Albert Einstein
    Canucker
  • jeremy067390
    jeremy067390 Member Posts: 12
    I will get all the info I can and once I fire it back up I'll get the rest. I have to get some new pipes. It looks like calcium almost or corrosion
  • STEVEusaPA
    STEVEusaPA Member Posts: 6,505
    edited October 2015
    Also you combustion numbers. Probably a combination of what the Zman said, and low stack temperature (underfired?) or lots of condensing--and short run times. Show us some pics :)
    The draft regulator looks like to me that condensation or just water (flue cap missing, rain water getting in).

    There was an error rendering this rich post.

  • Bob Bona_4
    Bob Bona_4 Member Posts: 2,083
    Looks like a boiler that doesn't make DHW, living in a damp basement.
    jeremy067390Zman
  • jeremy067390
    jeremy067390 Member Posts: 12
    3 things to add and one question. It's a peerless boiler. Originally it had a tankless coil. That was bypassed because the tankless coil could not keep the water hot and cause the furnace to run and cycle on and of like crazy. #2 the cap on top of the stainless liner blew off last winter but I didn't think that would let that much water in but could I be wrong? #3 the feed and return loops for the rads were connected on the newer side and I believed this to be incorrect? So I just separated them but the furnace has never run this way yet. But I would think this would cause high return temps not low. I also was under the impression low temps were bad.

    I have cleaned the majority of the furnace out. Would anyone recommend using a cleaner or muriatic acid to get the rest out or is that just overdoing it? I'm sure the furnace operates with some level of debris in it usually.
  • jeremy067390
    jeremy067390 Member Posts: 12
    Bob Bona said:

    Looks like a boiler that doesn't make DHW, living in a damp basement.

    what is dhw? my basement is a little damp and I'm working on that as well
  • jeremy067390
    jeremy067390 Member Posts: 12
    bob bona i figured out what that means. why does it matter that it doesn't make dhw?
  • SWEI
    SWEI Member Posts: 7,356
    No DHW production means the boiler sits all summer being cold (and damp.)
  • jeremy067390
    jeremy067390 Member Posts: 12
    edited October 2015
    I figured that's what you were getting at.

    Don't know if anyone's following but

    So it's all cleaned out. Came out pretty good. Soaked it down with vinegar a couple times. Brushed and scraped the crap out of it. The chimney cap is back on correctly and the leaky door seal replaced. After disconnecting the two sides of my heating system so the water has to go through the rads now, I can't believe how much hotter they get. Makes me sick thinking of my money just looping around in the basement.

    I'm going to try to get all that info you guys wanted and I'll either post it or try to look it up and see if it's ok

    I know low return temps are bad right? My system runs gets everything hot then by the time it's time to cycle again it's pretty cooled off, is this a bad thing or not the same?

Categories