Heating Help

mass. oil lines

@ February 28, 2012 10:05 PM in mass. oil lines

should you work on a oil burner in mass. with a oil line not up to new code? is this liability for a company or contractor or only for homeowner?and is overheads lines exempt from this law without plastic sleeve or a osv... thx

steam radiators

@ February 24, 2012 5:28 PM in steam radiators

can you use old steam radiators when converting to hot water system,without leaks, muck and problems

slo.115

@ February 22, 2012 6:27 PM in carrier oil furnaces

thankyou!! i have tried all my 30 yrs. of burner know how doing exactly what you said. i spent hours trying nozzle, pressures, heads, air discs you name it.i have killed myself trying to get these pos to run decent.i didnt put them in and people have had trouble since they were installed, some for 10 years or more and they say they have always run sooty. almost need to clean 2 times a year.i inherit these things. but i have come to the end of my rope with these problems that are not mine. i was wondering if i wasmissing something. now on some of the newer ones made by icp which seem to be the same desighn they are not as bad with combustion smoke etc.for whatever reason. does carrier have any feed back or are they saying what are you talking about.

combustion

@ February 22, 2012 6:01 PM in carrier oil furnaces

thanks steve, it calls for .75 70 b nozzle. it runs like real crap with that type.put .75 70 a and runs better. gaskets are tight, didnt see any cracks in chamber. runs smoky even with blower not running. i have had several like this and i cant see that they all have cracked exchangers. is the beckett just bad for chamberless furnaces like some chamberless boilers? wouldnt the fire be ok until blower came on?on the subject of checking heat exchanger how do you like to do this procedure.no sighns of oil odors on these jobs either. like i said the flame is really bad looking when blower is on or off.i dont like the furnaces without a box with becketts. and also the same furnace with riellos are no troubles, i dont know still if i am missing something but i dont like these furnaces, i think carrier should stick with ac and gas!!

carrier oil furnaces

@ February 22, 2012 1:16 PM in carrier oil furnaces

has anybody run into the residential carrier oil furnaces with beckett burners with the round cleanout ports and no combustion box? i forgot model number but i cant seem to get a good flame and smoky and sooty i tried different nozzles. i have run into many with same situation. i am a tech, the chamber area seems to me to be too big and runs like crap.i have seen ones with riello and not have bad combustion.i dont like these furnace for other reasons also but this situation i cant put my hands on why.

gas school

@ February 20, 2012 7:47 PM in gas school

tim how can i find your school schedules?

ca

@ February 10, 2012 9:59 AM in sooted up gas boiler

thx ice, ido really try to do whats right and not turn my head. i am self employed and it sounds like the digital anaylizer is a must. does it have to have print out?

ok

@ February 8, 2012 10:39 PM in sooted up gas boiler

i will take you up on the classes. i shut unit off and homeowner called gas co. and they put it back on and told him there was enough combustion air and good draft and i dont buy it at all.i went further after i shut it off and called plumbing inspector and told him that this job was never inspected and he was going to investigate this job. a contractor for sears put this in. i may need to learn more about everything you mentioned and may not know what else is going on but i was very concerned and i feel i did what was right tim.i think the chimney might be wrong there also. so i will say it to you this way if the contractor who installed did what was right and pulled inspection then things would have been brought up to code and would be safe. i saw a few things here that are more than likely wrong and not up to code and furthermore saw there was NO INSPECTION PULLED.i called the inspector and sears and let them know what i saw and what i did. i will call these people after and find out what became of this job.i may need some more knowledge with this area of venting and air etc.but i really am trying to do whats right.on a new boiler it should have been inspected and up to code before i got involved servicing it.

soot

@ February 8, 2012 6:14 PM in sooted up gas boiler

thanks tim for your info and help. i am a heating tech. not a plumber so i dont get into many gas installs unless i have my plumber with me. i can work on gas boilers and furnaces but cant do venting or gas fitting i was told but can service units in mass.so i saw this mess i told you about and was confident it was lacking combustion air. can i still take classes on venting even though i am not a gas fitter or plumber? but what really got me on these two boilers plugging up is the room doesnt look like it has changed and had all these appliances for 15 to 20 years. hoe did it get by all these years? or have they had trouble and not tell the truth, thats what gets me really baffled. i see the 4 inch vent and say not eneough and customer says its always been like this and didnt soot up until now!! thanks alot....            paul

sooted up gas boiler

@ February 7, 2012 9:57 PM in sooted up gas boiler

what are causes of gas boilers plugging up with black carbon soot. good flame and proper gas pressure. boiler room is tight with 2 boilers 75000 and 100,000 btu atmosheric boilers and 2 gas 40 gallon water heaters.has one 4 inch round vent from out side only and a grill on boiler room door going to a area that is tight and no air infiltration and tightly construced.they just replaced a boiler that was red tagged for being plugged with soot and a company installed a new boiler and this one was plugged with soot 3 weeks later. i dont think its both boilers and i dont feel it has eneough combustion air so i called the inspector and there wasnt a permit pulled it looks like and they are coming out to look it over and i didnt want to have problems so i told homeowner to get this done and get installer back as well.also has 5 inch flue liner on 2 story house and wondered if this was able to handle load as well. but i cant believe that this would be proper air for code and if isnt is there something else causing the soot up and there is something else going on that i dont see that would cause this to happen to 2 boilers 3 weeks apart. wow i seem to get alot of other companys messes.

air for combustion

@ February 7, 2012 4:29 PM in air for combustion

how can you tell if a boiler room or basement has eneough combustion air when doing routine check ups and service calls. alot of jobs i notice rooms getting enclosed after inspection.even if there is no apparent problems i would like to be able to cya and not be liuable if a problem arises after i have been there. i am a tech.

duct run

@ February 6, 2012 9:11 PM in mass sheetmetal law

thanks for your input bill.if you were going to run a 8 inch supply duct to imrove heat would you pull a permit for something this small?this whole thing seems crazy. i can see new construction projects and whole new systems but for small duct run or two you are going to pull a permit where every thing else is exsisting?and have it inspected on a system that more than likely has other outdated ducts.and pay a mechanical and or a sheetmetal permit fee for a tiny situation. i dont get it, are they just looking to make money on any job big or small?so what are they looking at if you just add something small, that what you ran is up to code only? there must be some guide lines to go by like the cmr code for burners that states whats required. this is all to new and grey to know whatssuppose to be done to stay out of trouble.

mass sheetmetal law

@ February 6, 2012 6:02 PM in mass sheetmetal law

new mass.sheetmetal law, does anybody know a site with info. on where and when you need to pull a permit on residential heating and air conditioning installs and repairs. i am a licensed sheet metal contractor.example when you change out a air condtiong or heating system and tie into exsisting duct with transition or if you add one supply duct or return duct only do you have to pull permit etc.i know if its new construction and whole new system you need this but mainly questions on replacements and minor duct work repairs.very new situation and i am looking for guide lines with residential systems only.

test

@ January 31, 2012 8:22 AM in utica gas boilers burning up thermocoupling

tim when you test operating millivolts do you have pilot on and one lead on tip of thermocouple and other lead on outside of copper lead and it disconnected at gas valve?? thx

atmosheric gas boiler

@ January 30, 2012 5:53 PM in utica gas boilers burning up thermocoupling

tim it is a atmosphric gas boiler.the thermocouple goes in horizontal and the flame from pilot goes underneath the thermocouple which i have never seen this on a boiler before. everything i have seen is vertical. this pilot seems to really bake this thermocouple really bright cherry red. i will take your advice on adjusting pilot. i have seen many posts with other techs with same trouble with these old uticas that have horizontal thermocouples.  thanks

utica gas boilers burning up thermocoupling

@ January 30, 2012 3:17 PM in utica gas boilers burning up thermocoupling

i am a tech and have a 25 yr oil gas boiler m- 75 that has a horizontal thermocoupling and i replaced it 3 months ago. i went back and it seems like the pilot is large and makes the t coupler burn cherry red. the bracket that it screws into also is hot from pilot and distorts aluminum threads.can pilot be lowered or does this unit need a husky thermocoupling?i have seen alot of posts about similar problems. tim can you give any advice

test

@ January 24, 2012 8:42 AM in pennco atmosheric boilers

tim to be honest all i did was check draft on this job -03. the boiler was spotless in the flue passages.

re phrase

@ January 22, 2012 2:02 PM in pennco atmosheric boilers

i am a professional, i am asking question about this boiler because i have checked everything from pressure, comb. air, draft etc. it only happened one time this winter during cold spell where boiler was running often. i saw a post from Tim m. and dancando about these boilers running very hot in the combustion area,causing thermocouples to go often and dancando said these boilers had bad insulation on front panel that curls up and causes extra heat to radiate out metal combustion panel. i found this unit running properly but noticed that it seemed like the front panel was very hot and wires on top off roll out switch and plastic wire connectors going to top of roll out switch were heat worn. these wires are right next to this hot panel and roll out switch is under these wires so if flame was coming out it would trip switch more often and not cause wires to heat wear.i am just asking that could it be something to do with a insulate panel deficiency on these boilers and not be a combustion issue at all where this boiler seems to be running properly at least when i am there testing everything over. unless there is something going on that i am not seeing like lack of air or exhaust fans or something like that.just asking to see if this is a possibility and i know it is usually something more severe going on and i am a concerned tech just want to see if there could be something with boiler design flaw.again this only happened one time and hasn't happened again after many days and cycles,and by the way the customer reset switch i got called to check it out and i told them not to reset to call me first if happens again which it hasn't happened. i believe i am being consciences and pro fessional i am looking for some advice.

pennco atmosheric boilers

@ January 21, 2012 7:35 PM in pennco atmosheric boilers

could a roll out switch on a pennco atmospheric boiler 2 years old just be to hot where front combustion plate be because of lousy refractory insulation? rollout switched tripped one time only. draft good and boiler passages clean and seems to run perfectly and good combustion air etc.. i felt near the roll out switch is located and it seems to me that it is radiating to much heat even when running properly.i know you want to say there is danger but it runs great and cant find a fault and it has only done it once during two days of very cold weather. it also has a hood cover over the combustion area and that i think could help trap heat if it wasnt very well insulated on front plate. i called ecr and they said no to my question about insulation. but i kept saying that the panel seems to be giving off to much heat and the rollout swich on this boiler is almost kissing this plate.

powerloss

@ January 16, 2012 7:01 PM in power loss

thanks to tim and furnacefighter for your patience and advice. electrical intermittent problems can be fun for sure. i will put your advice in my hard drive. i know we are always learning and get problems we have never seen before.and i am not ashamed to ask what i dont know. but what i do know is not to replace boards or components if i cant prove them bad!! better to come back and maybe get more clues than waste peoples money.

power loss

@ January 16, 2012 5:21 PM in power loss

thx tim and furnace fighter tim i didnt get model # of board. but from what furnace fighter said about losing voltage when i put load of transformer on board makes alot of sense. i was suspicous of door switch but not toggle switch. i know i had 120 volts off board going to transformer but when i hooked it up it measured nothing. i then took off wires immiadetly and measured volts 120 again.but it now has run 24 hours in cold weather and has not acted up.but if it happens again you would suggest testing both switches while it is live i take it. but could there be other things on circuit going from furnace to circuit breaker that could do the same thing?is it wrong of me to have them have a electrician test circuit b4 i replace board or anything else? this has been hard to put my hands on because it ran for 2 days one time.i had very weird things going on electricaly that was stumping my troubleshooting. i have never seen it b4. usually just normal failures that you can put your hands on not this on again off again problem.

board

@ January 15, 2012 8:15 PM in ruud gas furnace board wont power up

one time i even took a jumper cord plugged into a socket in basement and hooked it up to board and it started right up. then i put wires back on from furnace circuit it then started now on this circuit i shut it off again and turned it on again and it didnt work .and then one more time it went on again. i dont have board and its cold so i left it on for now.it is intermittent and i dont know what to do because i cant prove out whats wrong