riello 40 black smoke

[brianc1]

when you say half burnt oil do you mean soot. as soot is created by incomplete combustion can you get soot with too much air as well as too little. (cant remember as its a long time since i was at one with too much air)

 

[kimbo]

Yes too much air can cause soot and too little can cause soot. If you check the Riello handbook there is a graph that shows you outside temperature is just as important,A boiler can be set up spot on in winter and if it is tuned right on the borderline , in the summer it can go sooty. I agre with best a smoke pump is definetly one of the most important items to have. If you did a servicing course they should have told you to use the smoke pump first otherwise if you put your fga into a sooty boiler your filter will get blocked and then you will get all the wrong readings. The smoke pump doent lie and it can be used even if your fga packs up.
Take a look at the danfoss website there is a small manual that answers all the questions you may want to ask about the behaviour of boilers and combustion. If I can find the link I will post it.
Riello 40,s are very reliable and normally dont soot up without a valid reason. You dont say what boiler it is on.

 

[Best]

What I meant by half burnt oil is that when the burners have too much air, they are often spotless inside, & will run for years, but some of the oil is not fully used & is wasted into the flue gases. If you breathe any of these gases, they are nasty. Yes, to your point about, can too much air cause soot? - in extreme cases it can produce tar/ soot. Can make the boiler shell coated like bitumen paint. I saw a boiler in this state after service twit had put 2 wks prior, a 0.5 nozzle instead of a 1.0 one!

 

[kimbo]

http://danfoss-randall.co.uk/PCMPDF/DKBDPS060B112.pdf

 

[brianc1]

thanks best and kimbo

 

[brianc1]

kimbo, which riello handbook is it? have you a link? when you say borderline do you mean borderline not enough air or borderline too much air???

 

[Best]

Booklet supplied with Riello burners gives outside air - co2 graph. Think that is what Kimbo means. You can look it up by just :- " oil burner combustion adjustment - Riello burners ". Note how the co2 has to be reduced as air temp reduces. Fairly sure by " borderline" Kimbo meant, the burner air intake set too finely, ( slightly too little air) & therefore boiler at risk of sooting if slight variations occur, like outside air temp, or higher nozzle output due to wear, or even fluff or cat/dog hairs gathering slightly over air intake on some! Oil burners are too crude for to set extremely finely, tempting as it can be.

 

[brianc1]

thanks best. thats why i usually set them up with 25% excess air as i was tought on course. do riello expect people to get their burner settings adjusted as the seasons change

 

[Best]

Guess all you can realistically do, is set to slightly lower co2 readings for the colder air temperatures & that will mean the co2 will be actually higher on warmer days. Good to hear you are so keen to do it right.

 

[brianc1]

good advice best. i just dont like doing things for the sake of doing it, i like to understand why im doing it.