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Effects of no flange gasket on burner?

0U812
0U812 Member Posts: 3
What would be the effects of not using a gasket between the burner flange and boiler? My installer apparently forgot to put one and I want to know if Im doing damage to the system by using it until he gets here. Thank you

Comments

  • captainco
    captainco Member Posts: 792
    It shouldn't do any damage to the boiler. It will run less efficient because of the excess air leakage but hopefully that won't be too long.
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 15,455
    If the combustion chamber is pressure fired you might smell fumes. If it's negative draft no problem. Open the peep hole to look at the fire and put your hand a few inches away from the peep hole. Pressure fired will burn your hand, negative draft won't.

    Don't get burnt
  • 0U812
    0U812 Member Posts: 3
    Turns out the installer attempted to use Red RVT around the inside of the flange itself around where the air tube comes through the flange. Has anyone heard of this method? I insisted he use the correct gasket which he begrudgingly did. Some people ugh..
  • captainco
    captainco Member Posts: 792
    I doubt that Red RTV is rated for 2000+ degrees.
  • captainco
    captainco Member Posts: 792
    RTV maximum rating is 650 degrees
  • 0U812
    0U812 Member Posts: 3
    edited January 2018

    Why would he have attempted this then? Seems hack-ish no?

    Edit: I found what it looks like on ebay. See the red RVT? Is this how they come from riello? From what I see on ebay , the new ones all have this red silicone looking stuff on them from the factory. They also come with the flange gasket. Interesting.

  • STEVEusaPA
    STEVEusaPA Member Posts: 6,506
    Maybe if you're buying a retrofit with a universal flange. Usually they are one piece. You definitely need one for a Riello, and I don't understand what happened to the original one. Should've been in the box.
    steve
    SuperTech
  • ChasMan
    ChasMan Member Posts: 462
    edited January 2018
    The RTV is correct. You only need a bead of it. It doesn't need to be on the face of the flange or beyond the flange on the burner tube. Then the gasket becomes part of the insertion depth. The packaged burner should have had the flange glued to the burner tube already with a gasket supplied so that the correct insertion depth was guaranteed.
  • ChasMan
    ChasMan Member Posts: 462
    What boiler is it? My guess is the didn't get the packaged burner to save a few bucks.
  • Leonard
    Leonard Member Posts: 903
    edited February 2018
    Seen Red RTV "fireproofing" blow out of exhaust on fire glowing red falling to tar roof. It does burn. Carrier nat gas HVAC with fan suction exhaust, some nut lined fan suction chamber to seal rust.

    Gaskets I've seen where variations of ceramic fiber mats. Ceramic doesn't burn. Guess they use mats when fit is sloppy
  • SuperTech
    SuperTech Member Posts: 2,139
    Seeing how that is a Riello burner, chances are good that it might belong to a three pass boiler that could have a slight positive pressure over fire. In that case the burner gasket is necessary.

    Either way it really does seem hack-ish not to install the burner correctly because the installer is missing an inexpensive part. The fact that he wants to leave it out in place of RTV silicone would make me wonder what other short cuts he's made on your equipment.

    I hope for your sake he set up the burner using a digital combustion analyzer, and left you a printout of the results...