Oil Heat Annual Cleaning Combustion Testing

The Annual Tune-Up Oil equipment must be serviced on a yearly basis. The annual cleaning must be done once per year, it does not matter what time of year it is done. Every manufacturer has its own recommended procedures, this is a rule of thumb.

Annual Clean-up The annual tune-up or cleaning has the following steps: Customer Contact or Interview Check system Clean system Do Combustion and Efficiency Test Clean up Final Check of system

Annual Clean-up Depending on your company while you are doing your maintenance you should be looking for opportunity: Add-ons IAQ equipment Energy saving add-ons Maintenance plans

Annual Clean-up All of your time spent should be spent cleaning and adjusting the equipment and educating the customer. This is an opportunity to be in contact with the customer when there is NOT a problem. This happens rarely.

Customer Contact Upon arrival on the job site spend a few minutes talking with the customer. Ask about: Any unusual sounds Any cold spots Fuel usage Any strange smells Any concerns or things they want you to check.

Customer Contact Ask the customer to show you all the thermostats in the house. Check each thermostat, if it is a mercury thermostat check it with a level, and recommend to the customer it be replaced as mercury is a hazardous material. Turn all thermostats up above room temperature by degrees.

Customer Contact Next, ask the customer to take you to the furnace or boiler. Explain to them what you are going to do and how long it will take. Ask the best route to your truck since you will be carrying oil and supplies, try to use an outside door or a basement hatch. You do not want to walk across customers white carpet.

Customer Contact Offer to show the customer what you are doing. Most will say no, they will see you when they are done. Offering builds credibility with your customer.

Check equipment The furnace or boiler should be running at this point. You had turned the thermostats pretty high above room temperature. Check and see if there are any signs of problems, like smoke, oil leaks and water leaks.

Check equipment Check anything that the customer may have complained about during your initial conversations. Note anything wrong on your service ticket and anything that will not be repairable as a part of your preventative service give customer a price to repair.

Clean System While burner is still running close firematic valve next to oil pump. Do not close the one at the tank. Burner will start to loose oil pressure and then loose flame due to lack of oil. Primary control should trip after the appropriate time written on the control.

Clean System Next, turn off the service switch if it is a forced air system, or disable the burner if it is a boiler. For a boiler you want the water to circulate as it will cool it down. Turn off the tank valve next to the oil filter.

Clean System Next, put a pie pan, or a frisbee, under the oil filter. If you have oil absorbent pads put one on the floor as well. Slowly unscrew the oil filter and allow the oil in the filter to spill into the pan. Change the filter, if a cartridge filter make sure you change the inner gasket. If standard filter make sure you clean all sludge out of filter housing.

Clean system After putting filter back on, check to make sure all gaskets in and make sure only ONE gasket is around the filter. It is very easy to forget and put a second gasket on a filter housing. Turn oil tank valve back on and bleed air out of the filter. Check for leaks and wipe all extra oil off.

Clean System Leave a clean absorbent pad under the filter. You will let customer know when they can remove this later. Go to the burner and remove the nozzle assembly, being careful not to drip oil on the floor or burner. Take nozzle assembly and old oil filter and spilled oil to your truck. Dispose of oil and old filter

Clean System Remove the nozzle from the assembly. Check the filter on the nozzle for any signs of metal shavings from the pump. Remove the electrodes and clean all sings of carbon off of them. Check the tips of the electrodes and if they are worn, replace them.

Clean System Re-assemble the nozzle assembly, replace the nozzle with a new one of the same size, spray pattern, and angle. Replace the electrodes and adjust them using the electrode adjustment gauge. Do a final wipe down of the nozzle assembly. Take your soot vacuum back into the basement with you.

Clean System Back at the equipment, replace the nozzle assembly and change the pump strainer (do not do on a Webster pump). Reassemble the burner and on all equipment make sure the service switch is OFF. Do not open oil firematic at pump yet.

Clean System Remove the flue pipe from the breach (connection point at furnace) and the chimney or power vent connection. Gently tap the flue pipe on a drop cloth to get all residue out, vacuum this up using soot vacuum and put it aside in an area that will not get damaged.

Clean System Open up the heat exchanger or the top of the boiler. Use brushes to completely clean the inside of the boiler or heat exchanger and vacuum it out. Open the combustion chamber and carefully vacuum out any residue. Do not damage inside of the combustion chamber.

Clean System Re-assemble the furnace and put the flue pipe back on. Check and make sure all screws are replaced. On a forced air system change the filters and check the blower assembly.

Clean system Take your soot vacuum and all old parts and all garbage out to your truck, all oily and sooty parts should now be away from the equipment.

System Startup Turn the firematic next to oil pump back on and check to make sure you had opened to oil tank valve. Attach a hose to the pump bleed valve Have a jumper ready for the primary control. Turn the service switch back on.

System startup Once the burner starts, jump the FF terminals to leave burner running. Open the oil bleed valve and bleed oil into pan until it runs clear. Air in the oil will show as a milky substance. Close the bleed valve and remove the jumper.

System Startup Burner should be running normally. Check for any oil leaks all the way along the fuel path from the tank to the nozzle assembly. Fix any leaks found. Wipe down the entire system, make it look clean.

System Startup Shut the service switch off and remove any remaining tools and parts and get your combustion efficiency kit.

Combustion Efficiency The final portion of the tune-up is the combustion efficiency check. The tools you need are: Smoke tester with strips Draft Gauge CO 2 Test Kit (vial and pump) Stack Thermometer

Combustion Efficiency Start the furnace or burner again by turning on service switch. Wait 5 minutes. Put the draft gauge into the flue pipe in a 1/4” hole below the barometric damper and above the breach, as close to 12” above the furnace as possible.

Combustion Efficiency Put the draft gauge on a level surface and note the draft reading. It should be between -.04 and -.03 “W.C. If not, adjust barometric damper so it falls in this range. Remove draft tube from hole in flue and check the draft over the fire. Should be between -.01 and -.02” W.C. If not, check air and venting and heat exchanger.

Combustion Efficiency Remove draft gauge. Using the smoke tester insert a clean piece of test paper and put hose into hole on flue pipe. SLOWLY check pump the smoke tester 10 complete times. Check the paper for smoke, use the chart to identify the level of smoke.

Combustion Efficiency Use the primary air adjustment on the burner to adjust for a 0 or Trace of smoke. The less smoke the cleaner the burner is running. Anything over a smoke of 1 is unacceptable. Do NOT go further until the smoke is cleared up.

Combustion Efficiency Use your CO 2 tester and put the tube into the hole in the flue pipe. Pump the pump a few times to prime the tube. Check and make sure the CO 2 tester is calibrated at 0. Press the tube into position on the top of the CO 2 tester and pump 18 times.

Combustion Efficiency Remove the test tube from the flue pipe and release from the top of the tester. Turn the tester over and observe where the liquid levels off at. Record this number. Insert the thermometer into the flue and get a temperature reading.

Combustion Efficiency Subtract the room temperature from your stack temperature reading to get the NET stack temperature. Record this number.

Combustion Efficiency Use the temperature reading and CO 2 reading to find the equipment efficiency. Rules of thumb: Flue temperature should be over 250 degrees and under 550. CO 2 should be 12%. If it is above this, open the air shutter to increase combustion air. If it is below this amount, close the air shutter.

Combustion Efficiency The combustion efficiency can be compared to prior service records, but it is what it is. Do not attempt to increase the efficiency by altering nozzle sizes or other adjustments. If you have no smoke and proper draft and proper CO 2 the efficiency is true. The numbers will change with weather conditions and age. They are not the same every year.

Combustion Efficiency Put a 1/4” bolt into the flue pipe to seal it for future use. Record all your numbers on the furnace tag and your service ticket and wipe down the equipment. Check and make sure you have all tools. Check and make sure anything you moved is back where you got it.

Clean Up and Customer Review Find the customer and ask them to inspect your work area. Show and explain the efficiency tag and ask that they check the absorbent pad you left under the filter for leaks. Let them know to call if any leaks suspected, if not they can throw the pad away in a few weeks.

Clean up and customer review Ask the customer to take you to each thermostat again and turn each thermostat back to the customers preferred settings. Take your tools to the truck and complete your paperwork.

Final wrap-up Walk the customer through your paperwork and get signature and payment. As a final step, ask the customer to let you do a final walk through of the equipment. Look for any tools left.

Final Wrap-Up Make sure all jumpers are removed, valves are open, and switches are on. Did you adjust any zone valves - Check Them. Did the burner shut off when the temperatures where turned back down?

Final Wrap-Up Thank the customer for their time. Tell them you will see them next year. ASK for any referrals to neighbors. ASK for permission to have the office call them in a month for a follow-up.