Kerosene Heater mishap

[mwe3302]

hello GJ, its been a while since I posted on here, well sat, feb 7th I asked my wife to go out and start my kerosene heater for me so I would have it semi warm when I got home from work so I could work on the Kubota, 3 hours later when I get home from work I go into the garage and it is so thick with black smoke and soot that I can not see anything, there must have been a 1/4" of Soot all over everything , my new Kubota BX25D and the attachments my new dewalt DW780 Miter saw, everything was just covered, I have the insurance company coming over today ,Feb 10th . I don't know if they will do anything or not, my question is what do I do to clean all of this stuff? I spoke with an Oil burner Technician, and he said do not get the soot wet because there is a high sulfuric acid content in Soot and it will corrode stuff. can anyone please shed some light on where I go from here , thanks like what type of degreaser I should use because K-1 Kerosene is used in the Heater, and it smudges everytime I try to take it off the pretty orange paint on my new Kubota. thanks Mike

 

[dfiler2]

This really should be covered by your insurance, I would give Service Master a call. I have seen the entire interior of homes coated with the black residue and if oil heating is common in your area Service Master or a similar cleaning company will know how to take care of it.

 

[mwe3302]

who is service master?

 

[littleponderosa]

Bummer. No help from me. When I screw up a coal stoker at home, same issue with a different fuel. Fuel issues @ work with #2 diesel creates a real pita soot/scum. It does take the paint off, I'd be cautious.
Bill

 

[Catadj78]

http://www.servicemasterclean.com/

 

[DangerousDan55]

Glad you didnt have a fire. We do get unitentional results somtimes.
Thats way I mentioned a couple weeks ago about hazards of Nitrogen being used by the public that truly understand the unintentional results. Some self made experts stated that Nothing would/could go wrong. We, may know the
unintentional results, but do our teenage children or wifes?
Sorry that you have a mess to clean up.


re saying that Nothing would/could go wrong. Some may understand the

 

[mwe3302]

http://www.servicemasterclean.com/

thanks for the link,

 

[Catadj78]

thanks for the link,

The link was to better explain what they do. Servepro does the same thing

Keep this updated as I am curious to hear the bill the insurance company will be paying

 

[smttysmth02gt]

I had servpro clean some of my stuff after a housefire in 01/2013. It was an awful experience. Soot is certainly corrosive and it's almost not worth even trying if it is on certain things. I was able to save a lot of stuff but even things that were cleaned thoroughly still have soot on them to this day...I have some plastic pistol cases that will get your hands black from handling...it's like the stuff never fully goes away. I'm sure they'll try to have them clean the stuff, but be forewarned...metal stuff with soot on it is almost impossible to clean off. I have a coffee table that has hinges and locks on it....all rusted up.

 

[Bondo]

hello GJ, its been a while since I posted on here, well sat, feb 7th I asked my wife to go out and start my kerosene heater for me so I would have it semi warm when I got home from work so I could work on the Kubota, 3 hours later when I get home from work I go into the garage and it is so thick with black smoke and soot that I can not see anything, there must have been a 1/4" of Soot all over everything , my new Kubota BX25D and the attachments my new dewalt DW780 Miter saw, everything was just covered, I have the insurance company coming over today ,Feb 10th . I don't know if they will do anything or not, my question is what do I do to clean all of this stuff? I spoke with an Oil burner Technician, and he said do not get the soot wet because there is a high sulfuric acid content in Soot and it will corrode stuff. can anyone please shed some light on where I go from here , thanks like what type of degreaser I should use because K-1 Kerosene is used in the Heater, and it smudges everytime I try to take it off the pretty orange paint on my new Kubota. thanks Mike

Ayuh,.... Start with compressed air, a blowgun with a l o n g snout, 'n a respirator for yerself,...

Open all the doors, 'n windows, 'n blow as much soot off everything,...

 

[smttysmth02gt]

There are cleaners you can buy that are specifically designed for soot removal. In my experience though, they don't work all that great. It is pretty much a losing battle on this with anything having nooks and crannies or anything metal.

 

[mwe3302]

The link was to better explain what they do. Servepro does the same thing

Keep this updated as I am curious to hear the bill the insurance company will be paying

will do Catdj78
I also have servepro coming this afternoon and they say it might be so bad that they have to take everything down to the studs!, ouch, if that's the case I am looking at thousands in damages

 

[mwe3302]

I had servpro clean some of my stuff after a housefire in 01/2013. It was an awful experience. Soot is certainly corrosive and it's almost not worth even trying if it is on certain things. I was able to save a lot of stuff but even things that were cleaned thoroughly still have soot on them to this day...I have some plastic pistol cases that will get your hands black from handling...it's like the stuff never fully goes away. I'm sure they'll try to have them clean the stuff, but be forewarned...metal stuff with soot on it is almost impossible to clean off. I have a coffee table that has hinges and locks on it....all rusted up.

/sigh, that Kubota I mentioned was over $23,000 alone with the attachments I have in there. I tried using some **** N Span spray cleaner on my nice " or should I say WAS nice sliding compound miter saw and it just smudges and is not really a yellow but more like a smoke damaged blackish yellow.

 

[mwe3302]

yeah and how much is this going to make my House insurance premium go up, they love taking your money every year for the bill but hate like hell Dolling it out!

 

[Catadj78]

will do Catdj78
I also have servepro coming this afternoon and they say it might be so bad that they have to take everything down to the studs!, ouch, if that's the case I am looking at thousands in damages

they would never over dramatize to the customer..lol, yours may be that bad but they have a rep for inflating estimates. Let the adjuster look first just to make sure you are in fact covered. I cant think of any reason why not but it is early in the morning for my brain to be functioning properly too.

 

[rburke65]

Oh I will bet your looking at thousands already! Good luck.

 

[ratdoggy]

Was this a torpedo heater or one of those that use a wick?

 

[CoyoteKyle]

What brand of heater was it. All those heater companies have insurance policies as well. Might be worth getting the serial number off the heater and contacting the factory.

 

[John in OH]

Was this a torpedo heater or one of those that use a wick?

Also wondering this same thing!

I sometimes use a wick-style heater, but the worst problem I ever had with it was excessive smoke if the wick isn't properly set. No soot.

 

[mach158]

Once you get everything blown off you can try some Dawn dish soap and start scrubbing. Fancy cleaners don't always work and sometimes they can cause problems to the surface your cleaning.

For example, my fire helmet gets cleaned with dish soap and a nice cloth. If that doesn't take care of it then its not coming off in my experience.

 

[yeldogt]

Don't do anything until your insurance looks at you garage and you determine what is covered. Ask the adjuster what is covered in your policy -- what the limits are and what will not be covered.

You don't want to do damage to covered things and then have an issue. Don't allow anyone to do any work before you understand what is covered and not covered and what your insurance is going to do for you.

Your insurance company must explain the policy and limits -- reread your policy. Have them explain.

You don't want to blow stuff off .. trust me.


I have been through this twice. Many things will clean up -- other things will not.

In my case the insurance company simply wrote off large parts of my contents. The items value were not worth the labor to clean and then the risk that they would then have to replace anyway. If the walls can't be cleaned .. they will remove them. I'm sure if the tractor is covered they will try and clean .. it all depends on your coverage.

Insurance is a process .. don't get in front of it. If the item is covered, it is the insurance companies responsibility .. find out what is and is not covered and get to work on the stuff that will be your responsibility.

We cleaned all kinds of stuff. Mr Clean and Simply Green both work well for hard surface items. We used a lot of Windex. Plastic often will not clean .. but the item may be serviceable.

 

[dfiler2]

This make a lot of sense.^^^^ IMO

 

[Jackfre]

If you financed the Kubota and the note is still going, they have an excellent insurance package. I would check with them on this before anything else is done to the tractor. I have a 2660 and a BX23. I couldn't keep the place without at least one of them. When I bought the 2660 I was going to pay for it, but as I wasn't yet living on the property I bought it on their 0% 5 yr plan and took their insurance. For me it worked out as a better deal.

 

[Jackfre]

Also, you are in Maine. That is the biggest market in North America for the Rinnai Energysaver. I was the rep there for 20 yrs. I'd suggest that you look for a used 1004 or ES38 (pretty much the same unit) to heat that garage. Really sorry to hear what you are going through

 

[JACDes]

OK, so you had someone else turn it on and then left it unattended?

When you got home everything was covered in soot?

I use one for supplemental heat (ie I don't want to fire my gas heater) once it is going you have adjust the wick to the low setting, you can't just turn it on and walk away.

 

[Youngguns]

So what exactly happened? Did the heater malfunction? Does your wife not know how to use the heater properly?

 

[smttysmth02gt]

Good advice in her brother...listen to these folks. What I did was what the adjuster advised me to do...My dad and I both worked ONLY weekends at the time and we were both capable of doing most of the work ourselves so that is what we did. Made some $ while being able to customize the repairs and make sure it was done RIGHT. I'm not sure how that works anywhere else, but in AL, which it is perfectly OK to act as your own general contractor.

Now, my insurance company raised my rate while the house was being repaired...they didn't even wait. Then the following year, after I was moved back in, they sent me a letter stating they were not renewing. This is the same thing as being dropped. I hope this doesn't happen to you. It essentially blacklists you for the next few years. I did everything I could to avoid it but sadly I could not. Now I am paying a higher insurance cost, but a much lower policy. I am not happy about it either. I was told it would be like this for 3-5 years probably. My claim was pretty big though. By pretty big, I mean around $250kish in total.

 

[yeldogt]

The most important thing in any claim is for YOU as the insured to get the insurance company to take responsibility for a given item or procedure. Once they agree that something is covered .. move on to the next .. getting them to agree is the first step.

 

[rlitman]

Also, you are in Maine. That is the biggest market in North America for the Rinnai Energysaver. I was the rep there for 20 yrs. I'd suggest that you look for a used 1004 or ES38 (pretty much the same unit) to heat that garage. Really sorry to hear what you are going through

There is something to be said for a direct vent heater. Especially in a shop, where shop air can contaminate and mess with unvented heaters. Rinnai does make nice stuff. I happen to have a Monitor kerosene heater. Same basic idea.

I agree with much of the advice above. From what was described, this is probably not something you want to clean up yourself. Carbon black can be nasty stuff. Corrosive, and carcinogenic, among other wonderful things, and not easily cleaned with solvents (especially because you don't want to be using solvent on many things).

I would expect a professional to start by removing as much as possible using HEPA RRP rated vacuums. A regular vacuum may appear to pick up some dust, but the finest (and most dangerous) particles will get blown right out the exhaust into the air, making things much worse.

 

[Speleo]

TSP...Tri Sodium Phosphate, works wonders to remove soot and grime from walls and many other non porous surfaces. Find it at paint stores. Some stores won't sell it any more, but an internet search will help you find it. TSP replacement is not as good as the real stuff.

Bruce

 

[MisterMike]

I don't have experience with this particular problem, but I do think it's worth getting your insurance company involved very soon if there's any indication that you can't/won't pay for the cost of cleanup out of pocket. They generally have contractors on call who are capable of dealing with every sort of calamity.

Also, if a concern is the acidity of the soot, would it not be worthwhile to consider cleaning everything with a somewhat alkaline cleaning solution, so as to de-acidity the corrosive surfaces?

 

[Lippyp]

I remember my dad having this happen with his greenhouse heater, came out one winter morning to find the entire greenhouse had turned black inside. From memory I think he emptied it out, sprayed it down with some detergent and hosed it out. Once or twice my parents oil fired central heating boiler did this too and covered the conservatory roof that ran across the back of the house and part of the lawn in black soot.

 

[dogdas]

If you do it yourself there are "Soot Sponges" that fire restoration specialists use. These get used once per side, wipe then flip over wipe then throwaway. I don't know if that is the name of them but I have seen them in action and they work very well.

 

[mwe3302]

The link was to better explain what they do. Servepro does the same thing

Keep this updated as I am curious to hear the bill the insurance company will be paying

Servepro wants $4,894.93 to clean the whole garage!

 

[mwe3302]

Was this a torpedo heater or one of those that use a wick?

a round stand up heater with a wick, its from home depot called a dura heat I believe

 

[Catadj78]

Has the insurance company taken a look? That estimate is not near as bad as I anticipating

 

[smttysmth02gt]

Servepro wants $4,894.93 to clean the whole garage!

That's nothing. Seriously. Is this the only cost you will incur? If it is...I'd say pay it out of pocket. Take out a loan if need be. I would not file a claim unless it's a lot bigger than that.

 

[johninct]

I hope you are covered but you may not because that heater wasn't part of the garage, it was temporary. They will look for any reason not to pay. When my building collapsed, they would not cover my 10 ton Bulldozer because they said I could register it.

 

[mwe3302]

So what exactly happened? Did the heater malfunction? Does your wife not know how to use the heater properly?

3 hours before the end of my work shift I asked my wife to go out in our garage, and light the kerosene heater, She told me she did not feel comfortable doing this: at this point I should of said just forget it!, but being me I reassured her she could do it and trusted her, I explained exactly what to do and thought I told her to make sure the chimney that surrounds the Wick needs to be made sure it is seated in it's little track, .... she did this so I thought when she texted me back and said its all lit> I never thought any more about it. until I walked in the entry door and saw nothing but thick black smoke!. that's when I knew exactly what had happened and when I opened the little door on the heater the chimney was right up against the wick as I suspected. its not her fault I don't cast any blame here other than on my self. she told me she did not feel comfortable doing it and I did not listen to her. My Fault, I am just glad no one was hurt , stuff can be replaced.
Mike

 

[smttysmth02gt]

I hope you are covered but you may not because that heater wasn't part of the garage, it was temporary. They will look for any reason not to pay. When my building collapsed, they would not cover my 10 ton Bulldozer because they said I could register it.

Idk how that would work on a vehicle of sorts, but his heater would be part of his contents coverage. Anything taped, screwed, nailed, or glued would be building coverage.