Soot-Vac was HEAVY when I finished this one

Steamhead

Today's job was servicing this Burnham V-84 with Riello F5 burner. Here's what I found when I opened it up:

Steamhead

Progress- look at all the sulfur buried under there. Remember, fuel oil has been ultra-low-sulfur for almost a decade now. This shows how long it's been since it was opened and cleaned:



The firebox was in bad shape, so we replaced it. A previous flamehead had put in a 0.60x80B nozzle (at 145 PSI) probably to keep it from sooting. We put in an 0.85x80B- yes, this is one Riello application that does use an 80° solid nozzle.

I won't mention the oil company's name, but we've encountered their "servicing" a bunch of times- see these threads:

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/184249/you-can-tell-how-long-ago-this-was-serviced

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/132567/one-of-the-worst-maintained-oil-fired-boilers-weve-seen

I didn't take an "after" pic, but you all know how it looked at that point It tuned up nicely.

ChrisJ

Is that a steamer?

Steamhead

ChrisJ said:

Is that a steamer?

Hot-water.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Badly neglected by the owner or the previous service company "cleaned" their boiler with soot sticks

Steamhead

Owners have had the oil company "service" this boiler since they've owned it, for a few years. They were always in and out in 45 minutes or so. This oil company is gonna get the boot

EdTheHeaterMan

Unfortunately, third and fourth generation oil dealer ownership has no clue as to what it takes to build a successful family business like our father's and grandfathers did in the 1920s, 30s, 40s, and 50s. Offering expert service on oil heating equipment is a thing of the past. I know of at least 4 fuel oil dealership in my market area (south NJ) that are run by the wealthy son of a boss that has never cleaned an oil burner in their life. They sit behind their desk with their business degree from some college or another and read spread sheets and calculate profit and loss reports with no clue as to the 4th generation customer that has been with the family business.

Steamhead

This particular oil company is not a family business, and hasn't been at least since Star Gas bought them. They own the four largest oil suppliers in the Baltimore area now..............

Big Ed_4

Level one cleaning

STEVEusaPA

Big Ed_4 said:

Level one cleaning

That's Level II or Level III in my book/pricing.

EBEBRATT-Ed

The sad thing is with modern oil equipment a cleaning every 3 years or so is probably enough.

The old and neglected equipment always gives oil a bad rap.

Steamhead

EBEBRATT-Ed said:

The sad thing is with modern oil equipment a cleaning every 3 years or so is probably enough.

I wouldn't push our customers that far- but given that when we go back there's very little brushing and vacuuming needed, if it weren't for the need to change nozzles and filters yearly due to fuel quality, you might get away with two.

EBEBRATT-Ed said:

The old and neglected equipment always gives oil a bad rap.

Even an older boiler with a properly-installed and tuned flame-retention burner will stay clean and efficient all year. If we can make this happen, they should too.

I ran into an old Arcoliner steamer recently that had a very short (front-to-back) firebox, and though the oil company sticker said to use a hollow nozzle, one of their "techs" had installed a solid one, and the flame was slamming the back of the firebox. That was an easy fix, but- couldn't the guy even read the sticker?