Oil Furnace - radiator baffle - issue soot coming out of barometric flue
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Oh boy! Ya something is way out of whack. Is that a fiber insulation in that cage? You don't want to heat this but someone with a combustion analyzer needs to look at that and determine what went wrong and set it straight.
Miss Hall's School service mechanic, greenhouse manager, teacher, dog walker and designated driver
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Who do you purchase fuel oil from? That company should have or know a person that has a Sootmaster® or Mastercraft® vacuum cleaner and the necessary brushes to remove all the soot from that furnace. Once that is done, That same person should have the needed combustion analyzer to replace the nozzle, filter, strainer, adjust the electrodes and start up that oil burner and adjust it so it does not make soot.
Something went really wrong for that much soot to happen. You may have a problem with insufficient combustion air, A blockage in the exhaust vent or chimney, or the last guy just didn't adjust it correctly.
Page 14 of your manual should have the procedure that the technician must follow to get the burner to operate soot free. Page 15 and 16 have the annual maintenance procedure that should be done every year unless you use very little oil. Then you should have that maintenance done ever 200 gallons or every 3 years which ever comes first.
OMF112K14A Manual is the manual where I found the information
Edward Young Retired
After you make that expensive repair and you still have the same problem, What will you check next?
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Fuel oil has been purchased from Lykins Energy Solutions for 20 years (they just discontinued providing residential fuel oil this year). Will check into new fuel oil provider regarding vacuum/brushes to remove soot from furnace.
All furnace ducts have been vacuumed and blown out. Chimney sweep confirmed no blockage in chimney/flue and also did furnace flue sweep.
Relied on the HVAC installer that put the furnace in to do annual maintenance every year. Last maintenance was on 10/31/24 was told all was good and furnace was burning clean. Soot issue started 1 month later on 11/30/24 at which time I contacted the HVAC installer/maintenance provider and was told I most likely needed a chimney liner and they would look into getting one and installing. Multiple voice messages left and texts sent with pictures of soot issue…still have not heard anything back…working with another HVAC person now. Thanks!
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As far as question:
Is that a fiber insulation in that cage? My recent research indicates best I can tell that the material in the radiator baffle is glass wool borosilicate fiber. The radiator baffle with that material came with my furnace. Very concerned that I haven't had a fire after seeing that part when it was removed. New HVAC person has contacted manufacturer to find out what the purpose of the radiator baffle is/life expectancy of the part/maintenance requirements etc. Waiting until Monday to hear back from them.
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that ceramic fiber (white stuff) is there as a muffler. it cuts down on the noise from combustion process. You can try firing the furnace with out it but it may end up being too noisy for your liking. The parts BO3630-1 (#15 on the illustration) are metal baffles that are supposed to be placed inside the heat exchanger (HX) tubes. If you remove them (and don't put them back in after you clean them) you will use more fuel and have a higher stack (exhaust) temperature. There should be one baffle for each of the tubes in the HX.
The fact that you have taken the furnace apart enough to take a picture of the radiator baffle suggests that you may attempt to do the soot removal yourself. You ca ncertainly try to use your shop vac but you may find that your shop vac filter is not up to the task and there will be soot blown out the vac and it will settle all over your house. Hope you didn't try that yet. You should use the proper vacuum cleaner for the job.
After you have removed all the soot and put the furnace back together, you will want to have a professional make the proper adjustments. You need combustion analyzer and a smoke spot tester to ensure that the burner does not make any more soot.
Edward Young Retired
After you make that expensive repair and you still have the same problem, What will you check next?
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Ed, the new HVAC person suggested using shop vac (bought a filter bag for the inside of the shop vac) and also covered the shop vac exhaust with pillow case to alleviate soot blowing out. Also used high powered leaf blower to blow soot out of the chimney flue (large plumes of soot of course blew out). Chimney sweep came this weekend and did their thing. The radiator baffle was removed (afraid to put it back in before receiving new baffle/filter material due to fire hazard as it was melted/disintegrated also it had large pieces of papery ash/soot on it). Since removable of that defective part we have not noticed any increase in noise from the furnace at this point in time. Once the new radiator baffle is rec'd the new professional HVAC person will be installing it, changing the filter and the nozzle and doing further inspection as well as completing the necessary testing (combustion etc.).
Original reason for the post was to find out if anyone knew the purpose of the radiator baffle and the material/fiber with in it and to possibly provide assistance with finding those parts since the HVAC person and I have been given 8 week leeway on getting the parts. Thank you for your advice it is much appreciated.
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An HVAC service tech made those recommendations? At least you know not to use them. Where are you located?
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