This is our 2nd winter in this house. There were issues last year and I replaced parts last summer.
The biggest problem last winter was that there were black soot in the baffles with black ash around the top of the heat exchanger.
Last week it happened again. When this happens the flames seems to fire up to the bottom of the heat exchanger and the ashes will accumulate at the front burn pot. I cleaned it on December 6th, again on the 10th and and on the 14th, all times the baffles were covered in black soot, but was easy to remove. When it happened last year I just cleaned the boiler really good and it fixed itself.
After cleaning yesterday, I noticed that our living room was cool at 15 C, I checked the temp gauge and it was at 60 C. Thinking that it was still recovering since I turned it off to clean it I left it alone. Checking back almost 7 hours later, the living room was still at 15 C and temp gauge at the boiler was still 60 C. The boiler seems to be burning good (not lazy flame). I left it overnight and temp was still 60 C,
I turned off other zones other than the living room's and it recovered to about 85+ C. But as soon as I open the upstairs' valve, temp went down back down to 60 C and stayed there and boiler seems to be still making good fire. I closed it again and half-opened the zones that's getting cool. Once I open the upstairs zone temp will just stay at 60 C.
My system also has a combi-boiler for hot water and sort of back-up for heating. I noticed that when someone is using the water the temp gauge will go to 85+ C and once tap is closed it will go back down to 60 C. I observed it all day with a combination of open and closed zones and if both the upstairs and living room zones are open it will just stay at 60 C.
I must also say that we're having a cold snap with temps outside at almost -50 C with the wind, actually hit that a couple times last week. It will be a few more days before we get over this cold snap. I am not sure if this issue is related to this cold snap but I never experienced it last year.
I will try to clean it again when I wake up in the morning and see if it's still sooted, If so, I think it's time to call a pro to sort this out.
For the meantime, any suggestions to troubleshoot will be appreciated
Thanks.
The biggest problem last winter was that there were black soot in the baffles with black ash around the top of the heat exchanger.
Last week it happened again. When this happens the flames seems to fire up to the bottom of the heat exchanger and the ashes will accumulate at the front burn pot. I cleaned it on December 6th, again on the 10th and and on the 14th, all times the baffles were covered in black soot, but was easy to remove. When it happened last year I just cleaned the boiler really good and it fixed itself.
After cleaning yesterday, I noticed that our living room was cool at 15 C, I checked the temp gauge and it was at 60 C. Thinking that it was still recovering since I turned it off to clean it I left it alone. Checking back almost 7 hours later, the living room was still at 15 C and temp gauge at the boiler was still 60 C. The boiler seems to be burning good (not lazy flame). I left it overnight and temp was still 60 C,
I turned off other zones other than the living room's and it recovered to about 85+ C. But as soon as I open the upstairs' valve, temp went down back down to 60 C and stayed there and boiler seems to be still making good fire. I closed it again and half-opened the zones that's getting cool. Once I open the upstairs zone temp will just stay at 60 C.
My system also has a combi-boiler for hot water and sort of back-up for heating. I noticed that when someone is using the water the temp gauge will go to 85+ C and once tap is closed it will go back down to 60 C. I observed it all day with a combination of open and closed zones and if both the upstairs and living room zones are open it will just stay at 60 C.
I must also say that we're having a cold snap with temps outside at almost -50 C with the wind, actually hit that a couple times last week. It will be a few more days before we get over this cold snap. I am not sure if this issue is related to this cold snap but I never experienced it last year.
I will try to clean it again when I wake up in the morning and see if it's still sooted, If so, I think it's time to call a pro to sort this out.
For the meantime, any suggestions to troubleshoot will be appreciated
Thanks.
