Beckett AFG Efficiency Testing + Boiler sooting issue

MaxMercy

skybolt_1 said:

Ah, thanks for the clarification! Yes, I just verified that baffle is installed on the burner.

Honestly, I would try removing it and see if that helps the instability.

skybolt_1

OK, I can certainly try that. Unfortunately I am without an analyzer, and it is a warm day today. So I will probably need to do this later on.

I suppose a more general question is whether, given the numbers I've seen to date, I can make adjustments to the airboot, use a combination of smoke test+stack temp, and be reasonably confident that the changes I'm making to increase combustion air aren't having a significant impact in other areas? Probably a pipe dream but figured I'd ask.

MaxMercy

skybolt_1 said:

I suppose a more general question is whether, given the numbers I've seen to date, I can make adjustments to the airboot, use a combination of smoke test+stack temp, and be reasonably confident that the changes I'm making to increase combustion air aren't having a significant impact in other areas? Probably a pipe dream but figured I'd ask.

Short answer - no.

Long answer is that if you can identify the shutter setting that will provide a 1 indication and a 0 indication on your Bacharach smoke tester, you can set your shutter to produce between 0 and 1 smoke and be reasonably close to good combustion. Remove the baffle and check your smoke, if you're at a trace (1ish), you might be where the tech left it.

What you don't want is to soot it up with too high a number (2 or over) or run it too lean by going past (below) where the zero smoke is.

I don't know this, but it's possible the baffle may not change the combustion numbers significantly or at all.

STEVEusaPA

.50@150 is .61

skybolt_1

Update: per the suggestion @MaxMercy I removed the low firing rate baffle and that instantly stopped all of the pulsations. Success! Next morning, wake up to a cold house, come down, burner is in lockout. I reset it, discover that the flame isn't being retained and is getting blown out. I dial back the air from 20° to 15°, burner starts right up. Let it get hot, do a smoke test. Perfect trace-of-smoke! Dial it back up to 20°, it continues running while hot, but the trace of smoke is fainter.

I have had it set to 15° for the past 24 hours and so far, so good. Smoke trace looks good after several rechecks, no lockouts, no pulsation.

Hard to believe that the baffle could be the root cause of all of this, and yet...

I will continue to monitor smoke and update if anything changes. Thanks to everyone for all the different suggestions and assistance.

MaxMercy

Hard to believe that the baffle could be the root cause of all of this, and yet...

Great news.

Still, I'm not convinced there wasn't some contribution to the problem with your last oil delivery (your problem starting the day after your oil was delivered) that removing the baffle "solved". Maybe the supplier changed to a bio fuel? It will be interesting to see what happens on another delivery.

Guys who know these beasts a lot better than I can probably tweak the Z dimension (assuming it's not a fixed head) and/or play with the nozzle angle or pattern to get this to run cleanly and smoothly on any oil with the baffle installed, but if the flame is properly shaped and your combustion numbers are good without it..

MikeAmann

MaxMercy said:

Great news.

Still, I'm not convinced there wasn't some contribution to the problem with your last oil delivery (your problem starting the day after your oil was delivered) that removing the baffle "solved". Maybe the supplier changed to a bio fuel? It will be interesting to see what happens on another delivery.

Guys who know these beasts a lot better than I can probably tweak the Z dimension (assuming it's not a fixed head) and/or play with the nozzle angle or pattern to get this to run cleanly and smoothly on any oil with the baffle installed, but if the flame is properly shaped and your combustion numbers are good without it.

The fuel thing is bothering me also.
Now I don't know the answer to this, so I am just thinking aloud:
What if there was water in the fuel? Would the pump be able to pass it through the nozzle, or would it sputter? What could be done to remove the water?

Back in ancient times when vehicles had carburetors, water would not pass through the carb's jets. You had to add dry gas (denatured alcohol) to the fuel tank to break up the water into small enough molecules that it would then pass through the jet. Yes, it's 2 different animals, but could the same be done here? Worth a try? What could it hurt?

EBEBRATT-Ed

Oil is lighter than water so the water is on the bottom obviously. Before the EPA got involved we would have commercial accounts with underground tanks in parking lots. After a snow plow would rip the flush fill cap and the snow melted we would get no heat calls because of water in the tank.

Take a half inch pipe and cut the end on a 45 and drop it down the tank fill pipe and pump the water out of the bottom of the tank.....and down a storm drain ...............can't do that anymore. Put some oil treatment in the tank.

Had one at a big school once. The fill pipe was in the sidewalk in the back of the school. There was a manhole cover flush with the sidewalk and a 4" fill pipe with a threaded cap under the manhole cover. The driver was delivering a load of oil in a snowstorm. He pulled off the manhole cover and the cap. When he was done he just put the manhole cover on after losing the cap in the snow. When the snow melted we had 3000 gallons of water pumped out of a 10,000 gallon tank. The tank was 16' below the sidewalk in the old coal bin. It was very slow pumping that out. Had a guy with a septic tank truck pump it.

MaxMercy

MikeAmann said:

Now I don't know the answer to this, so I am just thinking aloud:
What if there was water in the fuel? Would the pump be able to pass it through the nozzle, or would it sputter? What could be done to remove the water?

Let me tell you a story - years ago I had my boiler lockout and when I went to bleed it, I got a nice clean solid stream of clear oil. Wait, there is no clear oil anymore! It was a nice clear stream of water! The vent cap outside had disappeared into parts unknown and I got quite a bit of rain into the vent pipe from overflowing gutters (two things I ignored apparently). I let the burner run a couple of cycles on bleed to pump out the water and found there was a relatively quick transition between the clear water and solid red oil - maybe 5 seconds of pink slime tops. Fortunately, my tank is at ground level so I wasn't dealing with overhead lines or tiger loop, so it cleared right out and I also didn't damage the pump as it ran 10 years more before I replaced the boiler.

In retrospect, I should have just left the bleeder open and let it gravity bleed until the water was gone, but what's done is done. Anyway, once the water cleared it ran smoothly and I didn't even need to add any additive although I ended up doing so a couple of days later more for tank protection than anything else.

I think OP's problem would have cleared itself after a few hours if there was was any water delivered with his oil unless it was homogenized - the water in mine just dripped in the vent and settled down into the oil without any trauma - maybe a trip in a oil truck would have suspended the water in the oil better where it needs more time to separate out. I think an additive for him might be a good idea.

skybolt_1

What would the recommended additive be in this case? And would it be recommended to add it immediately or with the next fill?

MikeAmann

This is available at Home Depot.
You are having problems right now. Pour the entire bottle in.