Smell from oil burning boiler

Sheena86 · April 22

is it a good or bad idea to shut it off at night till I get this resolved?? hopefully sooner then later

EBEBRATT-Ed · April 22

I don't know what to say. Can 9 different techs be that stupid?? Seems hard to believe. The chimney has been lined the combustion has been checked.

Possibly an after drip from the pump if it is not clean cut or has no solenoid?

I did have a job once with a failing oil pump. You would get normal oil pressure but every once in a while the pump would drop a couple of psi and the fire would get lean and stinky. Checked pump strainer, nozzle filter and oil supply and all were good. Replaced pump and fixed it.

Cold be a slipping coupling as well. Sometimes ok sometimes not.

Sheena86 · April 22

I’m wondering that as well they all have there own way of doing things some way knowledgeable then others I kno 1 thing they always want to change the nozzle and it’s always a different size I got several down there that they left I know nothing of what there’s surpose to actually do so I can’t say much there I just kno there’s a smell and it’s only when the boiler runs

HVACNUT · April 22

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1853181#Comment_1853181

Tell the analyzer to show draft in the breach. It must be zeroed out first. Over fire needs an extension piece or it'll cook the sensors.

HVACNUT · April 22

Take the top cover off the boiler. There's a flat plate with 4 bolts. It's also has a cover for top flue. Make sure all is tight. No gaps in the kaowool rope.

HVACNUT · April 22

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1853181#Comment_1853181

What size liner? A typical terra cotta chimney is 6.5" x 6.5", and the flue on the boiler is 7 inch. Verify over fire draft.

Grallert · April 22

If that oil pad is still there you are most certainly smelling it. It shouldn't be there.

Jamie Hall · April 22

More and more I'm thinking that either something is overheating or there is a slight oil leak somewhere — but not combustion.

Charlie from wmass · April 22

"I don't know what to say. Can 9 different techs be that stupid?? Seems hard to believe. The chimney has been lined the combustion has been checked." @EBEBRATT-Ed

Yes, I have repaired systems 100+ years old with piping mistakes no one saw. So many different people, some who are trained by the same teachers don't see an issue is not a surprise.

EdTheHeaterMan · April 22

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1853220#Comment_1853220

So if you have one technician that is knowledgeable and then you get another, then the second one does not have the experience of what the first technician did. The third does not have the experience of what the first two already did. It would seem that using several technicians of varying degrees of experience would lead to the same thing being checked several times.

I remember telling this to one of my customers on a third visit to solve the same problem. I said that I already know what is not the problem and will not need to check that on future calls. A new technician will need to do all these things over again to get to where we are today. Can I suggest that we use this Diagnostic primary control to see if we can find a problem that happens when I am not here, and once we find it I will put your old primary control back on. If the replacement primary with diagnostics solves the problem… great. Then it is fixed. If it does not, then it will show the history of how the burner was operating and will guide me to the actual cause. When we fix the problem, I will put your old control back on and you will not need to pay for the part.

The next time the customer called me with the same problem a week later, I found a "Low Amperage Ignition" 17 cycles ago. Replaced the electronic ignitor that was not showing a problem while I was there. Problem Solved! So It took 5 calls to get it right because the ignitor would not fail while I was there. Perseverance! and fairness. I do not charge for parts that did not fix the problem and I did not charge for follow up calls because I guarantee my labor. That's the way my warranty works. The bottom line is that the customer paid for the repair that fixed the problem as if I found the problem the first time I was there.

They also paid for the installation of the diagnostic primary and the primary itself. When I solved the problem, the customer elected to keep the diagnostic primary control because he thought it was operating better than with the older 3 wire type and wanted to keep it, but they had the option to return it for a refund. (part only). The labor to install it and remove it would be considered a cost of solving the problem. But the customer did not pay for 5 service calls and 5 labor charges when only one of them actually solved the problem.

I guess I could of just said "Stick with one guy", but that story was more fun to tell.

Charlie from wmass · April 22

@EdTheHeaterMan that wasn't fair to you as a business owner. The parts weren't free and your time isn't free. Sorry for this terrible treatment by an ungrateful consumer .

MaxMercy · April 22

This thread is long and I concede that I haven't read every single word carefully, but has anyone else given this the sniff test? Sometimes people (and I'm not saying you) believe they smell things when the suggestion is there - maybe there was something wrong that was adjusted/repaired but you think you are smelling it.

Assuming there is a smell -

I would do a draft test as everyone suggested in order to make sure there is negative pressure in the stack and the breech, but I would also leave the draft gauge in place after the boiler has reached full temperature and watch it to see if the pressure goes positive when it cools down. If it does go positive, any leaks will allow/push fumes out of the boiler.

EdTheHeaterMan · April 23

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1853288#Comment_1853288

This was not the customer's doing Charlie… This is how I operate. It is my warranty on the work I provide. I think that there are too many times that customers get abused by companies that offer inferior service that don't result in a repair. Customers get charged for 3 or 4 or more service visits that don't address the problem.

I often get to talk to business owners that have the same trouble that we have in our trade. An appliance repair or auto repair company has a book that says that the repair is a $528.00 repair and you pay for the repair, only to find that the same problem is still there. The parts were never needed, and the actual repair was one that would have cost $725.00 if it was properly diagnosed the first time. Is it fair that the customer pays $1,263.00 when all that is needed is the second repair? Especially when the customer can hardly afford the first $500.00? I often find that reputable business owners will make an adjustment from $1263.00 to $725.00 in order to satisfy a customer. Chalk up the $528.00 to education expenses.

If you (not you in particular, you in general) are not confident in your ability to do the work right the first time, and you believe that you should be paid for your mistakes until you get it right, then you may have too many lost customers that are not interested in paying you to learn on their equipment. I pay to learn in college, I pay to attend seminars. I pay to be educated on a regular basis. Why should your customer pay for you to learn what does not work?

Here is the back page of all my invoices. Notice the Never Pay Twice policy in the center of the page.

Now don't get me wrong on operating at a profit. I’m not actually giving this stuff away. There is a portion of my cost of operating that covers “warranty work” built into the price of my service calls. That "LOST" $528.00 gets put on the books as income for service and an expense in warranty. That way it is a net zero for the accountant. But at the end of the year I take the total of the warranty expenses for that year and compare it to the total income for service. Along with other overhead items like insurance, wages, and office expenses, I also add in a percentage for warranty. That usually hovers around 3% that is added to the cost of doing business and is added into the price per hour for the labor… So that “LOST” $528.00 is not really being given away. By spreading it across all your customers, they all get the benefit of your warranty whether they use it or not.

You need to offer an incentive to your service technicians to get it right the first time. Also offer incentive to upsell by offering a good, better, best list for the repair.

Like on an oil burner with a clogged nozzle,

Good: you can replace the nozzle only which is a consumable (like air filters) and therefore does not qualify for a warranty. That repair is $78.00. including the service call fee of $35.00 plus the labor and the part. (Obviously old prices for comparison purposes because of the no pricing policy on this site)

Better is the oil filter, pump strainer, and nozzle for $148.00. That will offer a 30 day warranty per the terms of the warranty agreement on my back page.

BEST is a complete tune up for $199.00 that is included in the maintenance agreement that comes with it that offers discounts on any future repairs, no diagnostic fee ($35.00) and priority in service over non agreement customers. This option is offered if the time is available which in some instances is not so the $199.00 is collected and the minimum repair is completed to get the heat on. The maintenance is scheduled within a few weeks at you and your customers convenience.

Most times the customer will select the middle price repair, but in this cans the maintenance agreement is often selected and you now have a repeat customer that you can do a good job for and keep them for years

Smell from oil burning boiler

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