Used Diesel While We Wait for Delivery = Black Smoke

ksand2994 · January 9

Hello!

Our house was built in 1955 and we are not used to having a in ground oil furnace. It is located (kinda) in the middle of the house. Only blows the air out in that one spot. Our oil tank is outside on the side of the house.

We have a delivery for heating oil to be delivered in a couple days but ran out. We used Diesel Fuel to substitute while we wait. It ran for a minute and then stopped. Then we pressed the red button a couple times when all the sudden it started filling up the house with black smoke. We panicked and turned it off. Waited a bit, turned it back on and it is running fine…. I had a heart attack.

What would cause this? Should I have someone come out and clean the lines? I almost don’t want to use the furnace again cause it was scary.

Thanks in advance.

Steamhead · January 9

Air in the oil line, maybe?

Have it serviced ASAP.

Jamie Hall · January 9

How cold is it where you are? If it is really cold, you may have used road diesel but slightly modified for cold weather running. That really requires a fairly complete adjustment of the combustion, as it is somewhat less viscous — particularly when it's cold.

That's not a problem "down south" (like in most of the US) but it could be a factor.

Pressing the red button more than once is, as you have discovered, not recommended. What happened was that the firebox had gotten a fair amount of unburned oil in it from the failed ignitions, and when it finally did fire… well, you got black smoke. Lots of it.

ksand2994 · January 9

Thank you!

We are in Southern Maryland where it’s in the 20s to 30s at the moment. We just went to the gas station and filled up a couple 5 gallon jugs of Diesel and put it in there. I researched beforehand and thought it would be fine as an emergency fix while we wait for the heating oil to be delivered. Now I’m wondering if I should have someone come out and service it. We just bought this house a year ago so this is our first time having to deal with this kind of furnace.

Steamhead · January 9

Usually this is fine. I used to do that when I burned oil, and the tank ran out. Have it looked at.

Where in Southern MD? Maybe "Deep in the Heart of Waldorf"?

ksand2994 · January 9

Afraid I’m even further south than that. All the way at the end 🥲

EBEBRATT-Ed · January 9

When the tank went empty you probably got some air in the line but you should try and avoid run outs as you can get sludge in the oil line, oil filter, pump strainer or nozzle. Check the tank and if you get that low shut it off then get diesel and add it before the tank gets low.

mattmia2 · January 9

the burner and furnace should be serviced by an oil burner tech annually. btw that is called a floor furnace.

maybe it lost its prime and was pumping enough oil to dribble in to the chamber but not spray and ignite for the couple resets. the correct way would be to prime the pump in to a container.

HVACNUT · January 9

A cozy place like that, I would use ductless heat pumps and only use the floor furnace when needed. After it's professionally serviced of course.

Electric water heater?

ksand2994 · January 9

We have had a couple guys come and give us a quote to tie a new heater to the existing unit outside and it wasn’t too bad price wise. We even talked about keeping the floor furnace and getting a heat pump or getting propane….

That leads to my other problem. The floor furnace and electrical panel are original to the house. In order to get anything new hooked up we would need to update the panel. Which is expensive. Picture for reference. 😊

Jamie Hall · January 9

A not uncommon problem. That panel is really is probably maxed out…

Why do you need to replace the floor furnace? Just because it got annoyed once doesn't mean that with some servicing it won't work — but if it has a bad heat exchanger or other problems like that, maybe it does. You need a good honest tech. to look it over and check it — not a salesman.

ksand2994 · January 9

I have never really cared for the floor furnace for a couple reasons. 1. It only blows heat from that one spot in the house. 2. It feels expensive to fill the oil (roughly $1200 for our 275 gallon tank). 3. She is quite loud when she turns on. I have gotten used to it for the most part, but I wouldn’t mind a quieter alternative.

I am going to look into getting someone out here to take a look at it. I’m sure she probably needs a good clean.

Thank you all for the help. It ran just fine all night and we were nice and warm.

Steamhead · 12:59AM

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1833158#Comment_1833158

That's a "split-bus" panel, where you have to turn off all six breakers in the top group to de-energize the entire house. Probably dates back to the 1950s, not sure it's Code now.

EBEBRATT-Ed · 4:27AM

It was legal up till recently and may still be legal.

They recently changed the code regarding the 6 disconnect rule and I am not up on the change they made.

It used to be as long as long as you could kill the power with not more than 6 hand movements you were good.

That's an old Wadsworth panel.

Federal Pacific "the breakers that never trip" used to make a lot of those split buss panels. I think they were popular for electric heat houses.

Never really understood why they used them or what the reasoning was.

Well, I guess now I know. Found this

A split bus electric panel is an electrical circuit breaker panel that divides the main power into two separate circuits: one for the main power to 240-volt large appliances and one for the 120-volt branch circuits1 2. It is typically used in home wiring applications to provide more flexibility and safety when working with electrical wiring 1. Split bus panels are electrical panels with two bus bars. The top bus bar feeds electrical current to the main circuit breakers supplying power to the major appliances. One circuit breaker on the top bus bar feeds power to the lower bus bar that supplies power to general lighting and outlets in the home 2

mattmia2 · 4:50AM

split bus panels are used for cost. up to 60 a breakers and fuses are commodity items and much less expensive than 100 a + breakers and fuses. mostly used in housing developments where someone is trying to save $50 per house on the panel. they can make sense where you have a lot of subpanels or outbuildings or big loads. looks like the 2023 code requires an outdoor service disconnect and essentially requires only one disconnecting means in each cabinet so split bus panels would no longer be allowed in new installations as service equipment.

when the 2023 code gets adopted in your state and if the state doesn't alter that part

Used Diesel While We Wait for Delivery = Black Smoke

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