I had my annual oil burner service done by the same guy that always does it from the same oil company I've had for years. It's an old essex 1000 multi-fuel and the oil side has been in use for years and the wood side hasn't been used in years. It's the same old rig I've talked about many times on this forum that I'm in the process of hooking together with my Garn. It's our DHW source for a two family house so it runs in the summer and the oil burner is a Riello 40.
Right after the "tune-up" we started getting an odor that we NEVER had before. It smells like diesel exhaust to me. I have three diesel tractors and have worked around equipment all of my life. I'm familiar with the smell. The odor is coming out of the top of the chimney. I smell it out in the yard, when the wind is right, I smell it in the chicken houses near the house when the wind is right. It never smells in the cellar where the boiler is. It is a problem though when the windows are open, especially in the evening when we run the "whole house fan" to cool things down. The crap just pours in the windows if the burner happens to fire.
I called the company, they sent the same guy back. He's the only guy they have with a solid fuel license. So he is always our guy. Anyway, he said maybe a bad nozzle, replaced it again, re-adjusted the air, said he didn't know what he could have done to cause this. He pulled both access panels back off, re-checked heat exchanger tubes and smoke pipe. We couldn't get the wind right, of course, while he was there so he never smelled it. He left and said that his flue gas anylizing instrument show everything was good. Good draft, good clean burn, right temps etc. He left and charged me another $111.00
It did no good. We called him back. This time he smelled it and said it smelled more like croasote to him and told me to clean the chimney. I got charged another $96.00. I cleaned the chimney with a 6" round brush on a 6"round poured liner. It didn't fit real snug but pretty good. I got half a cup of soot. It did no good.
I'm thinking of having it cleaned by a pro. Maybe they can vac in out spotless. I don't know. If you have taken the time to read this F****ING thing, THANK YOU!! I'm about ready to choke somebody. I can't believe a thorough cleaning will help much. Any ideas????????
Right after the "tune-up" we started getting an odor that we NEVER had before. It smells like diesel exhaust to me. I have three diesel tractors and have worked around equipment all of my life. I'm familiar with the smell. The odor is coming out of the top of the chimney. I smell it out in the yard, when the wind is right, I smell it in the chicken houses near the house when the wind is right. It never smells in the cellar where the boiler is. It is a problem though when the windows are open, especially in the evening when we run the "whole house fan" to cool things down. The crap just pours in the windows if the burner happens to fire.
I called the company, they sent the same guy back. He's the only guy they have with a solid fuel license. So he is always our guy. Anyway, he said maybe a bad nozzle, replaced it again, re-adjusted the air, said he didn't know what he could have done to cause this. He pulled both access panels back off, re-checked heat exchanger tubes and smoke pipe. We couldn't get the wind right, of course, while he was there so he never smelled it. He left and said that his flue gas anylizing instrument show everything was good. Good draft, good clean burn, right temps etc. He left and charged me another $111.00
It did no good. We called him back. This time he smelled it and said it smelled more like croasote to him and told me to clean the chimney. I got charged another $96.00. I cleaned the chimney with a 6" round brush on a 6"round poured liner. It didn't fit real snug but pretty good. I got half a cup of soot. It did no good.
I'm thinking of having it cleaned by a pro. Maybe they can vac in out spotless. I don't know. If you have taken the time to read this F****ING thing, THANK YOU!! I'm about ready to choke somebody. I can't believe a thorough cleaning will help much. Any ideas????????
