combustion analyzer

Unknown

If that $90 is for annual maintinence to include:
Nozzle, filter, strainer change,
Check of pump pressure,
Transformer strength,
Burner fan cleaning,
Electrode cleaning/check,
Safety control timing check,
Cad cell eye check,
Flue cleaning,
AND Combustion check then it is worth it. In Mass on the South Shore $90 seems to be a standard price.

Ericjeeper

89.95 dollar fee

I had my Bock water heater installed last year. The guy that hooked it up, basically left it at factory settings. Would the 90 dollars be money well spent? Or if it is not blowing smoke consider it good enough and let it go?Thanks trying to get my heating cost down

Maine Ken

I'm glad I don't work on the south shore!!!

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soot_seeker_2

make him check the anode rods too....


make him check the anode rods too (1.25" sockets on top)....

if you keep up with them the bock tank may last decades...

ss

pitman9

Absolutely

$90 is a pittance.

Jim Davis_3

$89.95 is normally cheap for a combustion analysis. Might want to ask if the contractor has a certification to do this type of testing. If not the price is right.

Ron Schroeder_3

Here on the West Coast

It costs $200.00 per day to rent an analyzer. It costs approximately $90.00 per hour to operate a combustion service company. At the rate quoted either the mechanic is not taking any pay home or he is using his someone else's tools and equipment.

Jim Davis_3

Rent Analyzer??

Wow! I can't imagine any company working on any fuel appliance without one because they are ripping off their customers. They only cost $900.00. On commercial equipment I have had students that charge $300.00 to $750.00 to tune equipment that took less than 30 minutes and the customers saved over $25,000. Even residentially contractors that know what they are doing generate $100 to $300 more income on each call in about the same amount of time and increase equipment sales over 20%. I have been to California, Oregon and Washington which covers most of the West coast and testing has revealed very little is working anywhere close to correct.

Ron Schroeder_3

Where can you find

a 900.00 combustion analyzer? A Maxilyzer costs around $5K, a Quintox around $4K. I understand all about exchange rates but the US dollar is not that strong, is it?

Jim Davis_3

Analyzer

You must do all commercial industrial work because that is what the analyzers you are talking about cost. You must be measureing NOX. Might want to look into Testo 330. No it is not $900, but it should be about half of the other ones your are looking at. In 1985 I was selling $3000.00 Bacharach Analyzers like popcorn to industrial contractors and they were making a fortune. But they did not see the need for them or buy them until they went through my training and saw they could make a small fortune with them. They learned that malfuntions and equipment failure was not normal. I was even selling these to residential contractors until the smaller equipment came out in the 90's. If you can pre-determine that your customer can save $30,000 a year after a tune-up, what do you think you should charge? If this can't be pre-determined then the person doing the test doesn't know what the analyzer is saying or how equipment should operate.

Ron Schroeder_3

I service mostly residential

and light commercial equipment. I need an instrument that can display NOx and measure and record draft on the fly. I used to use an EMCO AC but it has now become too old and expensive to keep operating. I was asked to consider the Maxilyzer by a friend who works at KW Electronic Service in Waterloo Ontario. I have rented and like the Quintox because the repair depot stepped to the plate when my own analyzer failed during a start-up. Thanks for the Testo tip. I will look at their site. Do you know where they can be serviced?

Jim Davis_3

You can replace both sensors without sending them back to Testo. They are hard to break and rarely need to be sent anywhere.

Ericjeeper

Thanks to all who replied

I was mainly curious if the 89.95 would pay me back in fuel savings and efficiency.

Ron Schroeder_3

sorry for the rabbit trail

Eric, the long answers to your short question is yes. How to quantify that is less short. A consciencious service person would not pass off a service call as complete without a proper combustion analysis.

It is still appropriate to set up burner with a smoke fuel pressure gauge,smoke pump, stack temperature thermometer and a fyrite dumbell, even though one does not have the detailed printout that is achievable with an electronic analyzer.

Thanks for a good question.

Steve Ebels_3

Assuming..............

Assuming that the 90 bucks is for a tune up including a combustion test, I would be very likely to conclude the guy doing it doesn't have a clue. Find someone else.

That being said, your Bock is capable of pretty decent efficiency. Have it tuned by someone who does what is recommended in Norm Harvey's post. You should expect to be charged around $150-$200 for this and at the price of fuel this year it'll be a fast return depending on your DHW load of course.

I have never seen ANY fuel oil fired appliance of any type that was correctly set "out of the box". There are too many variables that can't be taken into account with a "factory setting". I gotta say that's about my favorite thing to hear from a customer. "The other guy said it was factory set". What a joke. Both the factory setting part and the "tech" who espouses such drivel.

If I sound a little harsh it's because I mean to be. I'm tired of technicians who don't know and don't care that they don't know. I'm tired of people questioning whether a good technician is worth the money. I'm tired of witless homeowners perpetuating the existence of these brain dead parasites by buying goods and services based only on what they cost.

Sorry for the rant but.......hey, it's up to all the homeowners reading this to do their part in raising the bar also.

tim smith

anlayzing

We have 7 or 8 analyzers and have never charged an anlayzing fee. We do this as part of our annual maintenance service. It is a normal practice if you do your job right. West coast. Tim