Help with Thermecon oil boiler please!!

[pond]

Hi,

We have a Thermecon 100/150 floor standing oil boiler with balanced flue. It has not been used very much since we moved in (July 2009), 10 mins twice a day to heat water, but obviously has been used more in the last couple of weeks.

Anyway it has started to soot the end of the flue in the last couple of days and utility room is starting to smell of Kerosene!

I checked this morning and there are puffs of black smoke from the flue along with steam!

I phoned a chap to come and service it but he can't get here till Friday!

He suggested that I increase the air supply a bit to prevent it sooting up completely in the meantime, but I can't see how to do it! There is no paperwork or manual for it at all, and the importers I found on the net to download the info want me to pay for the privilege!

There is a hex screw with + and - on it saying 'firing head setting'. Is this for adjusting the fuel/air mix? If so, is + for more air or more fuel?

Obviously I dont want to make matters worse!

One thing worth noting is that the oil tank is nearly empty (ordered some today). I wondered if any debris in the bottom of the tank could cause the problem, or just a coincidence? There was oil in the tank when we moved in which had been sitting for ages as the house was empty for over a year.

Any help greatly appreciated as I don't want to have no boiler till Friday when it doesn't get above freezing at the moment!

Andy

 

[Burnerman]

Don't adjust the firing head setting - its the distance between the oil nozzle and the blast tube.
There will be some adjustment on the air supply to the burner but I really can't say adjust that either without knowing what the pump pressure is at. I'll see if I have any info, and post back.
John

 

[Burnerman]

Hello again
I find your Thermecom is fitted with a Ecoflam Minor 4 burner.
For starters: The oil pressure needs to be around 125 psi, and the adjustable air door (front of burner with like a ruler scale going left to right) needs to be set on no. 4 or 5.
This should give a CO2 reading of between 10 and 11% - all pretty standard stuff.
Anyway, adjustments are not a good idea without a smoke test and flue gas analysis.
However, you could try removing the trunking from the burner to the balanced flue...this would do no harm and may help with the kerosene smell as the combustion air is now being drawn from the room.
Check out all of the filters and water traps from the tank to the burner. Remove the baffles from within the boiler and give them a good clean. Get rid of the soot with a vacuum cleaner.
Really the rest is up to your boiler man - but I do hope it keeps going!
John

 

[pond]

Hello,

Thanks for the replies! Yes it has a 'Minor 4 HES' burner

The air door is set at its minimum setting (about 0.5 on scale of 0-9). Will increasing this increase air volume?

I don't really want to take air from the room as it's a small room and we have a problem with oxygen in the house already as there is an o2 hungry Rayburn coal fired range in the next room and a big coal-fired stove in the living room (all on as hot as possible as we're running out of oil and the boiler's a worry! . Keeping enough windows open to feed these is proving draughty enough, negating any heating effects!!

if oil filters were restricting flow, would it not burn lean, rather than rich?

Thanks again

 

[Burnerman]

I can't think for a moment why the air door is almost shut!
just for curiosity I'd be moving it towards the mid way position. Anyway, only a flue gas analysis can really sort that one.
If the boiler has been used in this way for some time, expect it to be well sooted up.
Blocked filters would generally cause lockout, so its as well to keep them clean - but sometimes the pumps can draw air if they are really bad.
John

 

[pond]

Hi John,

I've just had a horrible thought!

When the house was empty all services were de-commissoned; the water was drained and isolated and electrics turned off. I'm wondering if the company hired to shut the services down have shut the air valve down too? (although why they would I don't know!).

I re-commissioned everything else myself; the water, heating system, electrics but didn't know about the boiler and it fired ok; heated the water and rads, so was happy!

This might explain why it's sooted up so quickly?

Would this cause the boiler to run rich all the time and use more fuel?

I'm gonna open it up and see what happens!

Andy

 

[Tibbot]

Air settings on this model vary fron 1 to 7 depending on the set output (choice of 6). I find Thermecon Select & Option models on BF are the trickiest to set up so figures in manual not always reliable.

 

[pond]

I've opened the air valve up to 4 and fired up the boiler.

No smell of kerosene and no black smoke from the flue!

I think I made a boo-boo!

Next question is how to dismantle baffles to clean all the sh**, I mean soot out.

Then I can just get the boiler bloke to analyse the gases and set up the jets.

 

[pond]

Hi Tibbot,

The boiler is set up for 100,000 btu/h according to a little sticker on it.

I don't have a manual so the figures are irrelevant!

 

[Tibbot]

Next question is how to dismantle baffles to clean all the sh**, I mean soot out.

Then I can just get the boiler bloke to analyse the gases and set up the jets.

100/150 has access door on top of combustion chamber. Your bloke will need to do more than analyse as burner will require strip & clean.

 

[Tibbot]

Hi Tibbot,

The boiler is set up for 100,000 btu/h according to a little sticker on it.

I don't have a manual so the figures are irrelevant!

Unfortunately you can only rely on nozzle size & pump press.

 

[Burnerman]

I guess the system was decomissioned by closing the air door just to prevent any draughts passing from the flue into the interior.
I don't know how to send attachments, but if you send me an e-mail with your address, I'll send you a copy of the manufacturers instructions courtesy snail mail
John

 

[pond]

John,

email sent to the address on your profile (the bt internet one).

Thanks guys for all your help, I appreciate it very much.

The boiler's chugging away lovely now, I only hope it's just sooted up and not done any damage!

Andy

 

[Tipper]

You may find that some of the soot 'burns' away. But it should be opened up and any remaining soot vacuumed out before resetting the combustion settings properly with an oil pressure gauge and flue gas analyser.

 

[pond]

a follow up on this:

Had the boiler serviced today. It turns out that not only was the air valve shut down, but there was a partial blockage in the air inlet hose (cobwebs and bugs!). Some of this debris had found its way into the burner, hence the smoke and soot.

I would like to say a public 'thank you' to Burnerman (John) for all his help and for sending me via special delivery a full manual for the boiler. My OFTEC bloke needed it too for pump pressure and nozzle clearance!

Thanks Burnerman, please email your address and I will send a cheque for the postage!

Andy