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Big time Carbon Monoxide Scare and our Peerless boiler

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  • captainco
    captainco Member Posts: 795
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    icy78 said:

    Jim, as I read this thread the story you told us of the garage door 1 foot 2 foot 3 ,4,5,6 foot opening comes to mind. Is it possible that the house is becoming the chimney in this case?

    Might be part of the problem but I would suspect that would affect the water heater also. I am thinking more of a "door curtain".
    icy78
  • tiitii
    tiitii Member Posts: 35
    edited December 2017
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    I called the recommendation in Staten Island. Thank you for the rec! It was good to find someone who can definitely do the combustion analysis. But the more I think on it the more I am convinced by the forensic engineer's explanation.
    They sent me my boiler's user manual- in it, it very clearly says to not obstruct that opening (must be for some reason, right). Secondly apparently our boiler is not carbonized at all. The Staten Island person mentioned carbonization with combustion problems as did the engineer. I rechecked with the techs who came & apparently they both checked. No soot, no carbonization. If our boiler has been combusting improperly to lead to 600 ppm of CO shouldn't there be soot somewhere? Third, Occams Razor- if an 8 year old boiler hasn't acted like this before or since, simplest explanation is what was different directly preceding the unusual event. What was different- the cover
  • tiitii
    tiitii Member Posts: 35
    edited December 2017
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    And if it COULD be the cover which was the straw that broke the camel's back, then I'd just put out a plea to that those of you who teach their newbie customers how to relight their pilot lights, please make specific mention to them about the proper placement of the cover- "remember, the cover goes here, not here. If you put it in the wrong spot, that's bad." The truth is we are nervous when learning the new skill, and extra attention to something like that would help.
    Even if captainco is right and cover placement does not lead to danger- there must be Some reason the manual instructs not to do it, but most people are probably instructed by their contractors rather than devouring and retaining all the information in a manual
  • captainco
    captainco Member Posts: 795
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    It is a big misconception that when you make CO you will make soot. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I have tested equipment making over 5000 ppm of CO and there was no soot. Then again equipment making several hundred ppm was. If soot is present then CO was produced at higher levels, but the absence of soot does not mean CO wasn't being produced.

    It is so much easier to repeat wrong information from others than it is to go out and find the truth for yourself.
  • captainco
    captainco Member Posts: 795
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    Without proper test equipment or training no one should do anything that goes against the manufacturer. But once you start learning the truth it all changes.

    Just for the fun of it: your boiler has never been certified to have a flue taller than five feet tall and two 90's. your boiler has never been certified to be common vented with another appliance. your boiler was certified to operate in a positive pressure mechanical room. Might be a little too much for an end user but it is not something HVAC contractors should ignore.
  • tiitii
    tiitii Member Posts: 35
    edited December 2017
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    Captainco- regarding this improper installation of the boiler- yes! Exactly, it distressed me so much when I learned the boiler was not intended to be vented like this. How often does that happen? And ARE there boilers that can be vented how ours is?

    I don't understand how the city permitted the installation of this boiler if it is so incorrect. Does anyone have any insight how that happens??
  • captainco
    captainco Member Posts: 795
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    It is installed and vented according to manufacturers recommendations and Code. But when people that have never actually done the work write the rules the outcome can be questionable. I have helped contractors cover up thousands of those type openings over the last 37 years to save lives. but only those trained should ever attempt to do these things.

    I am so appreciative of your posts!! Timmie who is also on here and quite brilliant knows exactly what I am talking about. This site has some of the smartest contractors in the country on it and unfortunately not many of them are near you.
  • tiitii
    tiitii Member Posts: 35
    edited December 2017
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    We have a few split AC/heaters in the house, and learning all this about the improper installation frankly makes me tempted to just shut the boiler down and convert to all Splits. Regarding the fact that at just a basic level this boiler was meant to be installed into a real, regular chimney, and not how it is, that fundamentally feels unsafe no matter how much fine tuning/adjustments gets done to it. Sounds like really we should just get a whole new boiler that is compatible with the set up we have (if there are boilers that are certified to be vented how ours is--are there?), but maybe boilers just aren't worth it given what our set-up is. Then of course I'd be afraid though of losing electricity. Time to move somewhere tropical ;) Uck

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