Cleaned Boiler, Monoxide Levels Now High

heatingnewbie24

Hi,
Recently cleaned a very old gas Burnham Boiler which came with the house. Flame was burning a very strange orange/red color instead of the usual blue. A professional and I pulled out the pilot and cleaned up a ton of ashes and black dust from inside and around where the flame usually is. We Lit again and boiler is now burning warmer as ever, and flame seems stronger. However, the Monoxide levels are now high while boiler is in heavy use (When thermostat is 70 degrees or higher in house). The Monoxide would start at a high level of around 40 then slowly come down over time and as temperature is reached in the hoise. Monoxide detectors around house have picked up similar readings, and don't go off but show the readings. I've checked the vents and everything there seems to be okay, as the vents leading to boiler are pulling fumes out. Same goes for chimney.

Is it usual for a newly cleaned boiler to let off some Dioxide? Or is the flame burning too high and creating this mess? In the NYC area, seeking assistance if necessary.

Tinman

Did the professional use a combustion analyzer to tune the boiler?
What is the manifold gas pressure?

Jamie Hall

No. What you are seeing is not normal. Nor is it safe. You should turn that boiler off and leave it off until you get a really qualified professional out there to check all the draughts and the vents or chimney, and adjust the burners properly.

Don't mess around with carbon monoxide. That stuff can kill you.

heatingnewbie24

@Stephen Minnich No, he did not. It was just a call to clean, so that is all he did. And pressure when boiler is on is about 20 PSI.

Tinman

The 20 PSI is the water pressure in the system. Gas pressure is a different story. Like Jamie Hall said, turn it off and get someone out there that has the proper test equipment and knowledge to solve the problem.

ChrisJ

I have a fairly decent CO detector 5 feet from my boiler that never detects anything. I think when we were working on it Jstar's detector measured something like 2 ppm ambient right by the boiler.

Having standard alarms go off is never normal or safe. They aren't very sensitive and it takes high levels to trigger them.

That system needs to be shut down immediately and fixed before it kills someone.

Paul S_3

we service all of NYC....give us a call ill resolve your issue....you can find me on the "find a contractor" above

heatingnewbie24

@Stephen Minnich & @Jamie Hall Hall. Thanks for all the comments. Now that I know this is NOT normal I'll deff call a professional like @Paul S. Do not need heating b/c today is a nice day. I've turned it off and searching for a professional. Mods may close discussion if possible.

ChrisJ

heatingnewbie24 said:

@Stephen Minnich & @Jamie Hall Hall. Thanks for all the comments. Now that I know this is NOT normal I'll deff call a professional like @Paul S. Do not need heating b/c today is a nice day. I've turned it off and searching for a professional. Mods may close discussion if possible.

It would be beneficial if you could post an update of what the problem was.