Oil boiler cleaning

[b33p3r]

Last week I shut my oil boiler down and drained to tie in my pex lines for the econoburn. While it was down I figured I'd do the maintenance/cleaning for the season(First time I did it myself) . To make a long story short, I put the wrong nozzle in the oil boiler. Don't ask me how it got there but I always take the empty nozzle container that the technician leaves behind, after replacing the nozzle, to the plumbing supply house and get a new one to keep on hand should I need it. Well for all the DIYers, MAKE SURE YOU REPLACE THE NOZZLE WITH THE SAME ONE!
My 9 yr old kid was waiting for the bus at the top of the driveway and I saw him strangely looking back at the house. I asked him what had his attention and he said, "The smoke coming out of the chimney is weird....It's yellow". At that point I got a wiff of the putrid smell and ran downstairs and shut the boiler off. I didn't know what the heck was wrong at this point and figured I screwed something up so I called my oil supplier and got a technician up to the house. After telling him everything I did, he found the wrong nozzle in the boiler. In 9 days my boiler was completely clogged and the flue pipe had 1/2" coating all around it.
Yes I'll do my oil boiler maintenance again but I'll be sure to put the right nozzle in. 75 Hollow! Just a heads up.

 

[North of 60]

Thats why you should always pull a smoke test as a minimum along with a combustion analyzes any time the burner head is pulled. From an air shutter adjustment being bumped to a bungled NEW nozzle. You dont know where your at. @ $5 a gallon its worth the time and effort to know your efficiencies. I work on equipment that burns over 800 gals a day. Yes thats 33 gals an hour. 5% efficiency/heat transfer adds up. Even at your home along with safety/plugged flue and carbon monoxide. ;-)
My 2-cents.

 

[pybyr]

This guy has some pretty decent videos on how to _properly_ DIY; he'll never win an acting or directing award, but the substance is good:

theboilerman.biz

Even going with the very same nozzle, things should be checked-- and two nozzles with same nominal flow rate, angle, pattern, etc., but of different makes, can behave very differently.

 

[Ldl0431usmc]

Have a pro do it. The hundred and fifty bucks you spend is worth it for the peace of mind. BTW we charge between 3 to 4 hours at 85/hr to clean plugged boilers.