Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Oil Furnace Cleaning



Hello,
I have a Williams oil furnace I need to clean.I can't afford to pay to have it done ,it's all I can do to pay for the fuel.I would like to change the nozzle and filter on the tank for starters,I know do that much but, what else needs to be done ?I know to change the air filter.
Also can anyone give me info on chimney cleaning or what to look for in that area ?
I have more time than money.
Thanks

If you can host some pics of the furnace with the front door removed, I can probably tell you get into the heat exchanger to clean it. If you have a Suntec or Danfoss fuel pump, there is a screen inside the pump cover which should be changed along with the filter nozzle.

You can do most of it youself, but only thing you won't have is a tester to test the draft and smoke.
With fuel price going pretty high this winter, I would say be best to spend a few extra bucks to save $100's on heating bills..
If the fire is not tested, you maybe wasting more hot fire up the flue pipe, and not in your home.
Check around for deals from dealer who KNOWS oil. or an oil dealer who can just do the smoke/draft test for you.

Thank you gentlemen,
I'll try to get pictures if I can. Meanwhile I'll check around on finding someone to do the smoke draft.
Will try to post soon, most likely later next week.
Thanks again,

Hello again,
I have taken the pump /heat exchanger out and removed the nozzle and am about to put the new one in.But I have noticed a lot of black sut all over the end of the pump/heat exchanger .Any idea what causes it to get so thick .My guesss not being cleaned in a long time ?? Any how ,shut off electric to furnance removed nozzle and cleaned prongs and am ready to put back together.What else do I need to clean before I go any futher? I don't want to have to take it apart again. Also should I clean the exuaste pipe as well ??

Before you install the new nozzle, be sure to change the filter pump screen (if applicable) flush at least 1/2 gallon of oil thru the system. Also flush out the assembly the nozzle goes into using carb or brake cleaner or some other solvent. Failure to do all of this could easily result in a crapped up new nozzle.
The solvent can also be used to clean the electrodes. The use of solvents should be done outdoors because of fumes potential flammability.
The soot could be due to lack of cleaning but could also be an indication of a cracked heat exchanger. I strongly urge you to have a pro go over your heater.

Question ,will I be able to see if the heat exchanger is cracked and if so can I repair it ? Also please tell me if the heat exchanger is a part hooked on the pump or is it a chamber within the furnace ? I have seen diagrams that show heat exchanger as chamber within furnace ,but have seen picture of tube like part called heat exchanger ??

The heat exchanger is basicly the furnace less cabinet, burner, blower.
It is not repairable. You may or may not be able to see the crack(s) if they are there. Sometimes it takes complete disassembly to find the crack, other times they are quite obvious to the trained eye.

I did some research and got a better understanding of what a heat exchanger is.What I found was If you use a flashlight inside of the heat exchanger you can usaly see most hole or cracks I will try that and see what I come up with.If you have any other thoughts I welcome all the help I can get.

Most oil fired furnaces have an inner outer heat exchanger. Only the inner can be inspected thru the burner opening.

http://www.freepoolheat.com/oil.html
This might help you some and to what Grady has said, check and clean the blower wheel in the burner for sure also. Crack in the heat exchanger hard to find sometimes. you need to heat the furnace . Then put in a smoke bomb. This will tell you for sure if you have a leak. For the soot in it get whats call Chimney Sweep works great.
But I have noticed a lot of black sut all over the end of the pump/heat exchanger .Any idea what causes it to get so thick .My guesss not being cleaned in a long time ?? Any how ,shut off electric to furnance removed nozzle and cleaned prongs and am ready to put back together.What else do I need to clean before I go any futher? I don't want to have to take it apart again.
Could be that the nozzle is not set right to the cone there on the burner airtube. Now you have to gap and set the electrods to the nozzle , check the pump psi, draft over the fire. stack temp and Co2. AND yes you should clean out the smoke pipe from the furnace to the flue.
ED

I am not familiar with this product. If it is a stick or powder you toss into the combustion chamber, do not use it if the furnace has a fiber combustion chamber. It will destroy the chamber. If the furnace has a fire clay chamber, ok. It is still not a replacement for a brush vacuum cleaner. Also, if there is a heavy build up of soot, soot sticks can cause uncontrolable heat destroy an otherwise good heat exchanger.

Thanks again for the insight .I'm still thinking most of the soot came from not being cleaned in years.Which probably explains the heavy soot and the coning of the nozzle as well. I'll clean and check everything and see how it goes .Here is something I was thinking on.If the heat exchanger had a hole in it wouldn't it blow some of that soot into the air vents ?just a thought .Also ED mentioned gapping the electrods .What are they supposed to be set at ? my nozzle is a .75 80 degree A .It was working when I took it apart and I did't move the electrods .If I need to regap them where can I get that info. I'm sure I'll need model# and all that stuff?

Go to that www I gave you It will talk about set everything on the burner. Be sure and get a NEW nozzle there. Dont just try and clean it
ED

Thanks ED, I did buy new nozzle and filter.Also went to web site today and checked it out ,got what I needed concerning electrod adjustment.
Have another question though; Does the electrodes still carry 10 k volts even after electric is disconected from them ?

Once the power off there is no danger from the electrodes.






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