Oil furnace running rich?

[Loose Ctrl]

Lennox oil furnace in a 1500sqft house.



My mother's oil furnace went two years without service. She had it serviced before Xmas. The tech said that the furnace was overloaded with soot and carbon which clogged the nozzle and blocked the photocell that looked for the flame. The furnace would come on but the process to start and run the pump and igniter would fail. After a predetermined time, the fan would kick on. The tech made some adjustments and got the furnace to run. A month later the same thing happened. The week before, I noticed the furnace was pumping out black smoke like an over fueling diesel truck.



Oil furnaces are no longer a common heat source in my area. We only have one company that services them. They are known for underhanded practices. Is it possible that the tech could have adjusted something just enough to get the furnace going and cause the same issue again? They were pushing hard to up sell a new HVAC system complete with all new duct work which would require all new electrical work and some plumbing as well.

 

[Jackfre]

Given that you have so few options as far as service companies for oil in your area you may have just had a weak tech who kinda whipped out the previous service. It is no fun cleaning a crapped up oil appliance. For this to happen again so shortly after a service I would call them on it. I would only speak in person with the service manager.
For a 1500 sq ft home in SC the minimum fire on an oil burner (.5gph) is 70 kbtu input and likely oversized for the building. If they are pitching a new central system with ductwork I would be looking at a mini-split system for the house. It is really difficult to add ductwork to an existing house and do it well. Look at Fujitsu, Mitsubishi and Daikin's web sites for dealer locators and pick qualified contractors. It would be nice getting rid of the oil tank, eh?

 

[fitter30]

Could be not enough combustion air or partially clogged nozzle. Was the oil filter and nozzle replaced at ?

 

[66cj225]

I'd be thinking mouse nest in the intake or raccoon in the chimney closely followed by water in the fuel line. Breached air to air exchanger? How old is it? Then clean it up.

 

[Loose Ctrl]

At the beginning of December 2019 the entire furnace was rebuilt in place at a cost of $1400. The case, pump, and burner tubes were the only things not replaced. The company that did the install 19 years ago has been doing the service work since. They sent out a contract employee instead of their regular employee. He gave me the bad news. The service person in December put in a nozzle that was entirely to large. The entire burn chamber and chimney was coated in soot. This caused the lockout safety to kick in and this time it wouldn't unlock once the furnace was cleaned and repaired. So everything was replaced again same as in December.


I was there for the phone call into the office. The lady was pushing the tech to charge us several fees adding up to nearly another $500. The tech argue with the lady and made it dead clear that every part was under warranty and the previous tech was the fault for the call back. The invoices for work completed are done in office and sent back to the tech's tablet computer with the itemized cost and break down of the pricing. It takes several minutes for this to come through. I was impressed that the tech stood up for the customer. This company is known for underhanded practices and their reviews and ratings reflect that. When the invoice came back, it was amount owed $0.00. I happily signed the invoice and chatted with the young fellow before he set off toward home. Needless to say, I'm happy the tech stood up for what was right and saved my mother and myself money.

 

[66cj225]

x1 Jackfre even though he's from CA. My basic rule is anything with a fuel tank has to run one tanks worth every year or you're below minimums. A 19 year old oil system is not the place to be running .5 gal /hr nozzle. Tank may be crudded fuel line clogged into an older pump suggests a lot of time to me.
You need a basic burner tech with tools and meters to cover the basics. If you decide to stay oil, you might have to fly one in.
Maybe someone to keep mom company while this all goes on.....

 

[Loose Ctrl]

Well the unit quit again at midnight. Same issue, hits the lockout and then won't reset.


Between roughly end of October to the first of April, this oil furnace runs 560 gallons of #2 heating oil go through it. The house needs better insulation and better duct work. Even so, the furnace has always been reliable, until now. I know it's time to replace it with an upgrade but at $20,000 it isn't possible. I'm on disability and my mother is going to be forced into retiring in five years. In this area, a $20,000 HVAC system adds no value to a house this old.

 

[Jackfre]

x1 Jackfre even though he's from CA.

Well, from 1994-2009 I was on the NFPA 31 "Oil Installation" Code Committee, and for 25 yrs represented multiple manufacturers of oil heating equipment in the six New England States and trained a lot of oil techs and grew up with oil heat. I don't miss it. Its time has passed.

 

[DFB]

I would suggest you do try to search out an independent service technician.

Years ago I inherited a house, the former owners had continuous oil burner problems their longstanding oil delivery company had been maintaining. Never seemed to fix it and of course all they wanted to do was replace the system too. When this finally ended up in my hands to do something I did bring an Indie he discerned in one quick visit that they, the big oil company had at one point in the past installed the wrong model burner as replacement.

Long story short he got the correct burner, replaced what was on there and never had a problem after that. And eventually I sold the house

 

[66cj225]

Wow, I burn that in the northeast for heat and hot water for 2 persons in 2k sq ft.
560 x 3.00 /gal = $1680
1680 x 5 yrs = $8400. in oil alone.
Hopes this helps you find a solution and maybe a state energy program to tighten that place up. AC must be brutal in the summer.

 

[Loose Ctrl]

I would suggest you do try to search out an independent service technician.

Years ago I inherited a house, the former owners had continuous oil burner problems their longstanding oil delivery company had been maintaining. Never seemed to fix it and of course all they wanted to do was replace the system too. When this finally ended up in my hands to do something I did bring an Indie he discerned in one quick visit that they, the big oil company had at one point in the past installed the wrong model burner as replacement.

Long story short he got the correct burner, replaced what was on there and never had a problem after that. And eventually I sold the house

I've been trying to find someone else but nothing. All the places that used to do oil furnace work have quit and most of their techs are retired or passed on. All electric HVAC systems have been all the rage here since the early 90's.

Wow, I burn that in the northeast for heat and hot water for 2 persons in 2k sq ft.
560 x 3.00 /gal = $1680
1680 x 5 yrs = $8400. in oil alone.
Hopes this helps you find a solution and maybe a state energy program to tighten that place up. AC must be brutal in the summer.

Oil is cheaper in our area around $2.29 gal.



I agree with your math though. I can't get my mother behind it.


AC isn't really a problem in her house. We have a lot of heat down here in the summer. One 18,000 btu window unit keeps the entire house cool. It takes four ceiling fans and a pedestal fan to keep the air moving but it stays under 75* in the house when the temps break 100*. I think it's because the house was over insulated in the attic in the 80's with 10 inches of insulation. The walls are standard 2x4 construction with fiberglass batts. There is no insulation under the house at all. The ducting for the oil furnace takes up all that space along with the furnace.



The original furnace lasted from 1954 when my grandfather built the house himself until it went out in 2001. That unit was installed after the foundation was built and before the floor joists were laid in. It had to be cut up and taken out to make room for the one that is installed now.

 

[Sevenhills1952]

Forty years ago when I bought my house here it had a Lennox oil furnace. Since I grew up in house with oil heat Dad and I worked on it ourselves. So this furnace I did the same, my own maintenance. Handy when it quit at 2am! To me, they're not that complicated.
My business was two doors down from an HVAC supply house which was also handy.
Important to get the right nozzle, they come in a variety of orifice sizes and spray angles. The air intake port you could adjust. I would go outside watching chimney and adjust for cleanest burn, no smoke.
I replaced it when I put addition on house, 2 Lennox propane furnaces in house, 1 largest Lennox propane in garage. That was 20 years ago, never any problem with propane. Fuel oil furnace needed lots of maintenance to keep running, I even had algae growing in tank!
If you're comfortable working on it, you save money of course and it's not that difficult.

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