When will they ever learn?

Steamhead

This Columbia steamer was leaking and we were called upon to replace it. The owner was tired of dealing with oil companies and wants to go gas, so we're putting a gas boiler in. We were told the oil company had serviced this boiler every year. This is what we found when we opened it up.

Can you blame them for wanting to switch?

With this level of "servicing", is it any wonder oil heat is declining?

HVACNUT

I would switch Techs, not fuels.

Steamhead

Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to matter around here unless we're servicing the boiler. This is about the sixth or seventh one of these we've seen so far this year.

When we see this, if there is natural gas available, the conversion sells itself. It's like "taking candy from a baby".

HVACNUT

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1808390#Comment_1808390

But if you do oil service, then it's a win win for the client. Save $$ on conversion, permits, etc. And get a new excellent company to maintain it.

And are you typically installing a comparable 83-84% boiler with a power burner, or an 80% atmospheric? Because with steam especially, there's not much in the way of efficiency advances like gas vs oil water boilers.

I'm not against gas fired equipment. I just don't think saying the word "oil" is an automatic need to convert. It's kind of a '90's mentality.

Mad Dog_2

Frank...Unfortunately, poor & total lack of service has lead to oil heat disappearing on Long Island 🏝. There were/are still a few honest companies that always did the right service, but far too many that didn't. Mad Dog 🐕

clammy

As pricing goes i think there is no one who can really do a oil boiler cleaning and burner service for what most oil companies charge for a annual service w a maintenance agreement which usually includes most burner parts excluding oil pump,nozzle and filter which is fuel and tank condition dependant in a hour . It extremely hard to compete w a larger oil co being there getting just about every customer aboard and playing the odds . As for nobodies like myself it would be a losing battle to do a really cleaning and service and include a yearly service contract for a set price unless a regular customer and trying to stay in line w out losing your shirt . We all know its in the small print but as Frank has shown not all oil burner service gentlemen like to use brush and remove there vacuum and brushes from the back of the van for a real cleaning nor remove a few nuts to open the combustion chamber . Nowadays i stay away from oil even after years of doing it mainly because everybody thinks that all burner service is the same but people fail to see any difference in who performs it and usually they don't realize that burner service is just that burner service and that it is not a water side cleaning and that if its a steam boiler well thats about 50 % of a steam boiler operating properly . I will say that just about every oil boiler i run into is usually always down fired and in need of alot of TLC and usually there just about done anyway and its usually from a complete lack of proper maintenance . This is not to say that there is not companies who do do the right thing there are and they are out there,but we cant blame the oil co all the time there's a ton of oil customers who do not get any service until either there have no heat or there blowing through a ton of fuel so some times you cant shoot the messenger . Its really sad that most home don t even realize that real service costs real money not some basic rate which leave no one time to really go over things and allow for any issues to be remedied,repaired truth be told everybody likes to hear all's good . If you think about it 1 hour to do a complete cleaning ,chk safeties for proper operation and set up w combustion analyzer and also check all which should be checked for proper operation all for $ advertised in the papers . I think not for a 1 man shop you would be driving yourself to the poor house aside from dealing w cod oil customers who's fuel comes from where and whats in it been there done that threw that shirt away

thanks for the post Frank

peace and good luck clammy

ethicalpaul

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1808397#Comment_1808397

Atmospheric steam boilers are not 80%, nice try 😅

How much % does the power to run the blower take up? I honestly don't know but you forgot to mention that.

NG no annual service contract, no cleaning, no nozzles, no oil spills, no rusty tank, no missed deliveries, no supply line clogs, no frozen lines, less volatile pricing, difficulty finding a "new excellent company", it's no wonder people who aren't in the business of selling and servicing oil prefer natural gas.

Steamhead

@HVACNUT , if the boiler is in good shape we'll put a good conversion burner in it. But as @ethicalpaul says, atmospheric residential steamers have (finally) gotten more efficient so that tilts the balance when replacing.

Earlier this year we converted another Columbia- same as this one but it's hot-water. I couldn't get a good pic of that one but it was even worse than this. Besides the firebox being chock-full of sulfur deposits and the refractory collapsing, someone had broken off the two top studs holding the front plate and it was sagging- no wonder the owner smelled fumes sometimes. And yes, it had been "serviced" every year.

We drilled out the broken studs, cleaned everything out, put new refractory in and mounted a Carlin EZ-Gas. The boiler was oversized for that house so we down-fired the EZ-Gas about 20%- still got good combustion numbers. As we were tuning the new burner, the owner came down to ask why the radiators were heating up so quickly- he was afraid we'd over-fired the boiler. Nope- we just got all the dirt out of the way! That oil company was taking their money.

This kind of thing makes the entire heating industry look bad. We have to fight this perception every time we get a new customer. I'm sick of it.

retiredguy

I was always thankful that the company I worked for only did commercial and industrial boilers unless we had to check on the boiler for the head guy of the mechanical systems. One thing I learned was that if you came across a sooted oil unit, you could have them switch over to nat gas if they had that possibility, fire it a little lean and let it clean itself. Most of our work was by contract and our contracts were not competitively priced. We always had the highest priced contract. There was one caveat; we fixed it right the first time and the customer never paid for a call back. Also, contract customers never paid overtime rates regardless of the time of day or the day of the week, including every holiday. You call, we go anytime. Glad I am retired.

HomerJSmith

Looks pretty clean to me, you should have seen it before.

SlamDunk

I wonder, if a person who specialized only in oil furnace/boilers' cleaning and burner tuning, and were good at it, would they make a good living?

EBEBRATT-Ed

Thats what an oil boiler service is now. A couple of soot sticks tossed in the chamber and a nozzle and oil filter. Oil service techs are few and far between. been getting worse for years especially the last 15 years. They don't want to get dirty.

Dirty was a thing in the old days but with the modern equipment oil can run 3-4 years without cleaning the hx if set up and installed properly.

So basically, if they did their jobs right, they wouldn't have to get dirty

Steamhead

@retiredguy said:

"One thing I learned was that if you came across a sooted oil unit, you could have them switch over to nat gas if they had that possibility, fire it a little lean and let it clean itself."

I doubt that would have worked with a boiler this dirty. Besides, the heavy-duty burn-off would probably generate enough CO that it wouldn't pass a combustion test. However, we all know that brushes and soot-saws don't always get everything, so as long as you get it as clean as you can and the combustion test is good, this might work for whatever remains.

Mad Dog_2

Yes, Slam Dunk, but it takes MANY years to make a solid name for yourself and you constantly fight against the Lowest Common Denominator, the hacks and lowballers. Most customers don't wise up until they get screwed over. In the meantime, that's a job YOU didn't get.…it's a vicious cycle. Mad Dog 🐕

Mad Dog_2

I'll add..the percentage of sloppy, corner cutters, and subpar technicians & companies are so high and common, that the average John Q Public doesn't trust ANYONE. The guys and companies that do the right thing have the never-ending burden of justifying, explaining & getting beat up on their price. Mad Dog 🐕

SlamDunk

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1808652#Comment_1808652

yeah, I get it, but given how many half a$$d and mediocre jobs we see here, it wouldnt be hard to build a solid name. If I had the market here, I would do it as a side job and if I made some regular clients, have something to do in retirement.

Mad Dog_2

Oh...I'm not saying don't go for it, just don't expect it to happen too fast or to get wealthy. It's nice when you don't have huge overhead employees, big mortgage..big bills...and you can afford to be very selective and picayune…mad Dog

SlamDunk

No one burns oil down here. It is either Gas or all electric. It is exceedingly rare to see an oil delivery truck.

Mad Dog_2

Where's that? Mad Dog

SlamDunk

Raleigh nc

Mad Dog_2

Raleigh Durham? Mad Dog

SlamDunk

City of Raleigh….Durham is a city in the next county which is also called Durham.