non-maintaining boiler start question

Leo

Jim,

He said apparantly the chamber gets soaked with oil but he hasn't seen it yet. He also said it has happened before. It is very common for a WM that has been off all summer to get damp and plug. All the products of combustion that didn't get brushed and vacuumed out lift from the dampness, drop down and plug the boiler. It needs a good cleaning and tune up then needs to maintain minimum heat during the summer. The same boiler on all summer to make domestic hot water has no fall start up issues.

Leo

ThermalJake

W-M startup

A friend says that her W-M (I don't know model yet) wont startup by itself during the beginning of th3 heating season. The tech told her that "it was wet". They changed the blaket and target in 2003, because of this, and now they changed it again.
Before I get too deep into the investigation, does this sound right to anyone? Apparently, the chamber gets soaked with oil. I assume someone was "reset happy", but the tech told her that this boiler just does that, and you just have to have the service perfomed before startup.
Now, they want to give her a maintaining control to keep the water at 100 degrees all summer even though DHW is separate. Tech says that if the boiler keeps maintaining, it will fire up okay, but if it sits, it will misfire and he will have to come out and dry it, and service it.
Again, does this make sense, or is it creative marketing?
Jake

Weezbo

uh uh... take your test kit...

tools and some new rope

joe_66

that boiler cant maintain 100 degrees without condensating all summer

ThermalJake

thanks

I thought it would be a hands on job, but I figured some of your experience could help steer me.
Does "bring rope" mean you think it is a draft problem?
Jake

ThermalJake

I thought the idea of making the boiler fore all year to avoid startup problems was scary. It would be like fixing the starter on your car by never turning it off.
Jake

Leo

It is wet with water (dampmess), very typical of this model. Come fall it either steams or smokes or both. It sounds like she was given good advice. Factor the cost of the oil saved vs the fall service call, which is cheaper?

Leo

Empire_2

Q:

Is this a common problem with this boiler? and if so It sounds like It could be used for target practice for my 30/06. Would lowering the w/b in the basement help or is the water so cold during summer that condensation forms? It sounds like a big problem.

ThermalJake

Thanks Leo...

are those the only two choices? What does the tech do to "dry" out the chamber? Does he just monitor the fire after his service to make sure it keeps going? I assume the steam kills the fire, right?
Do you know what it is that causes this? The humidity of the basement, maybe? I would think that any non-maintaining model would do this in the same basement, right?

Thanks Jake

Mt. Falls Mikey

Used to see it all the time...

Around here, in NW Va, in older homes w/dirt cellars,and old coal bins. I used to get the HO to start/run the equipment once a week for about 10 min. to dry it out,especially before I would come to service it in the fall.

Jim Davis_3

I do believe you said your boiler was getting soaked with oil not water! This would indicate that the wrong oil nozzle is being used or the burner is firing improperly. A technician that can do a proper CO test on oil could pick this problem up very easily if it is occuring during normal operation.

Rich P.

The Wet Ones

We would call these the wet ones. Every fall they would need our attention. Fire them up brush them out then throw the brush away(muck..)
Boilers that ran for hot water tankless or indirects no problem. We always recommended a 8124 control that maintains a lo temp usually 140 degrees
Also is it a converted gravity system, these were especially bad. I say "were" because I pipe them much different now Primary/secondary.
Happy Cleaning!
A warm boiler is a happy boiler

Rich P.

Jim Davis_3

Run Boiler all summer??

That has to be an expensive cure at the price of oil today. Does this house have cooling? During the summer the flues on many heating appliances become fresh make-up air for the house. The humidity from outside can resaturate the residue that remains in the system and cause it to be wet. Closing off the flue in the summer or using a motorized flue damper would make more sense. I have sold 1000's of boilers over the past 20 years and wetting of the combustion chamber or target wall was never considered normal.

ThermalJake

Thank you all very much (as usual). I now understand what to look for. It appears that the crap in the stack, gets wet and clogs. Then it plugs the boiler, and then (say it isn't so) the tenant tries the reset button. This fills the chamber with oil, and they call for a repair.

This is my hypothesis, and I will test it.

I guess there is no fix for this condition. It sounds like the first fire has to be given by a tech, right?
Jake

Ted Robinson

Keeping the boiler warm during the off-season

Last year I shut off my old steam boiler for the summer, and had to deal with the firing chamber cloging with white deposits. This year I was happy to burn 34 gallons of oil, May to Oct, justing keeping it fired to 100 degrees, and problem-free.

Ron Schroeder

You should never leave an oil burner luke warm. Either let it cold start or set the low limit to prevent the boiler from going below 115 degrees F or you will shorten the boiler's life from condensation. On most triple aquastats, the burner comes on at 10 degrees below the set point so 125 degreees is the lowest the low limit should ever be set at. Also the higher the differential setting, the less often the burner will have to run. Depending on the chimney, you may need to set the low limit even higher to prevent condensation in the chimney.

Ron