Heating Help

Changing blast tube lenght

I may be in the market for a new Riello burner. Mine is 25 years old and needs some major repairs, blast tube and motor. I see that burners come with different length blast tubes. I have an 8 inch now but because of the burner location a shorter tube would fit the boiler room better. Could I replace an 8 inch with a shorter 5.5 inch assuming I replace the complete unit and a shorter tube would not cause maintenance interference problems?

My Understanding.

My understanding from reading Beckett documentation intended for retrofit applications is that you should choose the burner tube length to match your application (insertion depth). So, I say go for it. Probably best to keep it as short as possible anyways, all else being equal. Pensotti uses the USBT in one of their boilers.

Tube length

I would not change the length. I know some of the manufacturers have had problems with Riello and the only change Riello had to make was tube length. I do believe it may be more of an issue with positive draft boilers as opposed to negative draft boilers.

Would be more comfortable..

Would be more comfortable lengthening it than shortening it.
What boiler is this for?

boiler type

The boiler is a Utica Starfire 2 without the swing out door running a .65 nozzle. 91K btu.

Can't see..

Can;t see a manual for it. I think the boilers that needed a longer tube were Buderus and they only did that when they changed their insertion depth. The starfire doesn;t run positive pressure so there shouldn't be an issue using a shorter tube if you maintain insertion depth. But then, crazy things can happen.