Put the system back together today with the new combustion air sleeve. Used copper RTV on the joints between burner tube and burner. Then put the doorknob stack back in, moving the doorknob about 1" further into the tube. Then set to moving the electrodes to the new spot, and had a lot of trouble finding a happy spot for them. I'd get an initial spark, then it would drop and just blow oil down the tube. While playing around with it, i stuck my head down close to the burner to look into the tube.
Clearly i was not thinking about what i was doing. I got a little too close.
***ZAP****
I got close enough to the exposed ignition transformer for a spark to jump the gap to my neck. Knocked me clean off my feet onto my ***. VERY good thing i was wearing insulated shoes, and not touching anything grounded, or my widow would be informing you all of my demise in this thread. Whoo. Close call folks.
After i cleaned my shorts, i got back into it and found that the shock must have jumped to the Honeywell oil controller because that is now dead. I might have another, need to rummage around. In the meantime, i jumped it and played with electrodes till i got to a spot they like and it starts well now, and burns extremely well.
I went inside and turned on the combustion air blower, and then back out to view. Found a couple of big differences.
1. NO SMOKE Anywhere. Not in the chimney, not in the shop, nowhere.
2. The flame coming out of the burner tube used to be a lazy thing, that would blow everywhere in the boiler when i lifted the door. Not anymore. Solid column of fire, that does a 90 degree turn and straight up into the boiler.
3. NO hot spot in the burner tube. You can even put your hand on the sleeve its so cool. BIG safety improvement. Another whole level really.
4. No leaks. None. The burner is staying dryer, and it's blowing the oil downstream further. I have noticed some buildup near the entrance to the burner tube. Not sure if that will be an issue down the road or not.
It's been burning for an hour now, the boiler temp is ~105F, the storage tank is ~95F, and it's just humming along.
Once i get everything up to about a 100, i'll turn on the floor and dump some heat into it for the evening. I still need to man the burner until that's fixed, but it's such a quantum leap above what it was, i think i'm in the home stretch. At least for motor oil. Veg oil is a whole other story we'll tackle later.
Some photos for your viewing pleasure.
