annual oil boiler maintenance question

tommyoil

Had a yearly servicing yesterday on my Peerless Oil fired boiler. A few things had me wondering and was hoping for some clarification here. Same co. for a dozen years or so. They sent another new face to do the work. Seemed to be into his work. This guy did stuff NOBODY in the past has ever done before and therein lies my problem. Upon arrival, he briefly fired the boiler. After shutting it off, he proceeded to take off the front of the unit as usual. Then, he took the top(he called it the flue collector) off and the exhaust pipe off. Nobody EVER took the top apart. After brushing and vacuuming both,(exhaust pipe and this collector thing) he took them outside. Curious to see why I followed him out to find him washing them out with my garden hose. Nobody EVER did that before. I gotta tell you, the stuff came back in looking brand new. Proceeded to vacuum and brush out the boiler. Put all the parts back on the boiler using all new gasket material on the front plate and this flue collector thing. Nobody ever did that either. Now I'm a little nervous, but then the real show began. After everything was re-connected he fired up the unit and went back outside. He returned with a garden type pressure sprayer. I watched him fill it with water and he swore that was all it was. Took the front plate back off and began to spray the inside a little at a time being careful, he said, not to get the unit soaked or to allow the firechamber to get wet. I couldnt believe all the excess stuff that the brushes he used wouldn't remove. The residue literally flew off the boiler. After getting "down to the iron" he proceeded to rebrush and re-vacuum the unit a second time. It was cleaner than I have ever seen it.He finished that and put everything back together and spryed the outside of the unit with some sort of orange smelling stuff and polished the outside of the boiler. Now its green. I always thought it was supposed to be black. He went back to his truck and came in with a whole assortment of meters and gauges. He took off the fuel filter and then took the oil pump apart. NOBODY ever took the pump apart. He said it was part of annual service. If thats the case the why has nobody ever done it before???? Is this guy blowing smoke up my ****? At any rate, a black slimy screen came out which he promptly changed and put on another new gasket(this time on the oil pump). After changing the filter and this screen thing he re-lit the unit and ran it while he cleaned up a bit. He took the tip(if thats the right word) out and pointed out that it was not the manufacturer recomended tip. Something to do with spray angle or pattern or something like that. Can this be right? Aren't they all the same? Stripped all the grease off of those parts and washed them too.They came back in spotless. After doing that and draining some oil into a bucket with the pump running he began to attach a whole slew of gauges and meters to see if the pressure and suction on the pump was o.k. Now I'm freaking out because this is all uncharted territory for me. Oh and also some electric meter to check if the "eye" was seeing enough light? Does any of this sound o.k. to anyone? WHY HAS NOBODY EVER DONE THESE THINGS BEFORE??????? After making some "minor adjustments" he put everything back the way it was supposed to be and made me turn up all three thermostats to see all the zone valves work. They did. Something else never done. The other guys used to get it running somehow by touching wires together. I asked why nobody ever had done these thing all he said was that he can't account for what other people do, he can only account for himself. Told me all the company technicians were "qualified" to do the job. I'm assuming he was just being safe so as not to alienate me from the company. I think he could tell I was somewhat pissed. To top it all off, he told me that his best work was done installing boilers, not servicing them. If thats his best work should I request him when this boiler finally craps out? I think I got a good job, but I'm just not sure. Are all of these things part of annual maintenance? or is this guy a nut.When he was done he put a card on the unit with all the info. on the parts he just put in and the for future guys to refer to. Another never been done thing. Should I be happy or should I be pissed. Should I call the company and complain or should I offer up some praise for a good job. I'm just not sure which i should do. Any advice would help. Sorry for being so long winded. I tipped him $50.00 bucks( which he said would go to his kids) Should I have? He said that he was trying to help do his part to restore an industry that has a tarnished reputation. I think he's right. He convinced me that I should be glad to have oil heat. And I am. My efficiency went from 77% to 83.5%.

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