Changing Burner Nozzel, how often; annual service

BigMak

I wanted to inquire and get opinions on Annual Servicing of Boiler.

Currently, on an annual bases, I change out my oil filter, screen grinder filter, Nozzle tip, & inspect, clean, (or replace if necessary) Electrodes. I see the need for the oil filter. But as far as the other components, should they also be replaced, or am I prematurely replacing. IMO, they are relatively cheap items to replace, and its better then running out of heat when you need it most.

here's a pic of the nozzle tip and electrodes, it looks pretty clean.

STEVEusaPA

Do you also do a full combustion analysis when finished-draft, true zero smoke, excess air,etc.?
Some 'if's:
IF, your combustion is dialed in perfectly, especially draft, excess air, and clean combustion air.
-and-
IF, you have double filtration (I like General, then Spin-on at the tank)
-and-
IF, you get your oil directly from the refinery, tank is clean, oil is treated.
-THEN-
You can base pm's on the amount of oil you burn. In my case I usually clean my boiler every 3 or 4 years. I crack open the door, look inside, and if nothing is there, bolt it back up and full check of combustion.
I have a vacuum gauge on my oil filter to tell me if it's time to change the filters.

But you really need to know and be able to dial in the combustion.

pecmsg

EdTheHeaterMan

The annual tune up/cleaning/maintenance of oil heat comes from ancient times when burners were not equipped with flame retention devices near the nozzle. These ancient burners were more likely to operate with a significant portion of the fuel passing thru the combustion chamber with insufficient excess air for proper combustion. This unburned fuel would show itself as free carbon molecules, commonly known as soot. An annual ritual of removing the excess soot was commonly performed by oil burner specialist known as Helpers or Rookies.

As oil heating became more and more prevalent in the late 20th century, many improvements were made in the oil burner design. This lead to cleaner operating oil heat systems, however the oil heat movement has held on to the notion that annual maintenance is essential to safe operation of oil heating equipment This lead to its eventual demise as a leading source of home heating in the northern regions of the globe. Now there are only a small "core faction" of oil heat users in what used to be a thriving oil heat industry.

So in short. You don't need to change the nozzle every year, You only need to change the nozzle when it gets dirty or clogged. But to determine if a otherwise working nozzle is dirty or clogged, you need to remove it, disassemble it, then inspect it under a microscope in a ultra clean laboratory. Since this is not very cost effective, compared to the price of a new nozzle, I would just replace it on each tune up.

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