Heating Help

smoky smell with slant/fin direct vent and riello bf5 combo

I have a 3 year old slant/fin direct vent furnace with a riello burner. oil fired. It has a smoke smell that seems to come from the boiler when running. The smell is not a gas like smell, but more of a burnt smell. I have tried two carbon monoxide detectors and neither register on the LCD, so I believe it is not exhaust.



My furnace technician has cleaned the furnace yearly, has resealed with
high temp silicone the hood each year, and this year put on a post purge
blower, but it still smells. It is a 3 year old furnace.



The technician recommends we convert from direct vent to a chimney with flu. Will this really fix the problem. Are there other options?

What side of the house is the

Boiler vented on?
Did the tech run a combustion test and set up the burner properly? (if so please post results)
When was the boiler clean out last?
What is the model of this boiler?


If you smell fumes its the products of combustion, the burner must be setup right nozzle, pump pressure, co2, draft. A chimney is a bomb proof setup, not much to go wrong. The bf series are only certifed for sidewall vent, you will need to replace the burner to a chimney vent model. You need to look at the rating plate of this appliance too see if it is also certifed for chimney venting.

Before building a chimney try a second opinion, post some pictures so some of us guys can take a look

smelly slant/fin model ...

This is a slant/fin TR-DV-30PT, riello BF5

The direct vent is on the north side of the house (I"m told this is the worst place, but the only place it could go due to code and the window /deck on the other 2 walls.

The furnace is cleaned yearly before the winter season starts.  The cleaning helps the issue, but it gets progressively worse as the season goes on,  but even after cleaning it smells to what you would not want or expect.

The test results were:

c/o b/v 85x70W, 1-A-30, SSC126G, S-OK OSMOKE 11.5x500Degrees=81.5% EFF

test results

Looking again at the results I see what you wanted now (Not that I understand these):  I gave you a bunch of filter and nozzle numbers before in addition to the below.

2009:  11.8% CO2 @500 degrees, 0 smoke, 81.7% efficiency
2010:  11.5% CO2 @500 degrees, 0 smoke, 81.5% efficiency

Most likely a wind

Issue. With the strong cold north wind pounding against the burner it will have a hell of a time venting. Moving the boiler may prove cheaper then building a chimney when you factor in a new burner. If this boiler (intrepid) is vented to the south or east it will work much better.



I have had a lot of good luck installing a galvanized window well around the vent hood outside. This will help to deflect the majority of the head winds. You can buy one at the HD for under $50. I would try a season with the well installed before spending any real money on this system

Unfortunately im told relocating is ...

Not a possibility due to the deck on the west side and farmers porch on the east, then the attached garage takes the south side? I'm limited with options.

Also

What is your post purge time? Less than 3-4 min, no good

Post purge time

Is 2mins right now