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Re: great advice (Reply to this comment)
by the_gas_man
Thanks for taking time to leave your comments Cape Cod Oil Guy. I haven't seen the Sootmaster product you reference but I'll take your word for it that it's better than a ShopVac.
Appreciate your comments.
Regards,
The Gasman
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Feb 24 '11
6:37 am PST
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great advice (Reply to this comment)
by capecodoilguy
This is a very thorough and helpful article. Those of you who read it and opt to not do your own service on your oil burner-and you shouldn't do it unless you're SURE you know what you're doing-can find this article very useful as a means of ensuring that your service person does a thorough and careful job. Far too often I go on a job and find a service ticket hanging on the unit-and plenty of evidence that the work wasn't actually done, or wasn't done very thoroughly. If the heat exchanger or boiler sections are badly sooted after only a year, for instance (especially with a flame-retention burner), somebody didn't do their job. If I don't find a telltale 1/4" hole drilled in the smokepipe (or a screw or cement patch over said hole), chances are no test instruments were used-and you can't properly adjust a burner without them. I find this kind of thing with maddening regularity. The advice in this article can arm you with the knowledge to ask the right questions, about proper draft, percent CO2, flue gas temp, etc. Don't let someone bill you for glancing at the unit, changing a filter, setting the air shutter by eyeing the flame, etc.
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Feb 20 '11
2:32 am PST
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vacuuming oil furnace (Reply to this comment)
by capecodoilguy
I would strongly recommend AGAINST using a Shopvac to service an oil-fired furnace or boiler. The industry standard is a Sootmaster® vacuum made by Mastercraft and also sold under the Sid Harvey name by the hvac wholesaler of that name. The reason: typical Shopvac-type vacuums have only one level of filtration-not enough to keep soot from getting into the air. The Sootmaster has three; a paper filter bag, which allows for clean disposal, a cloth secondary filter and a nylon backup filter which snaps over the cloth one with an elastic band. They're expensive-the one I bought at Sid Harvey was over $300 for the smallest model (really all you need unless you're cleaning industrial boilers). It's well worth it considering the damage that soot can do to a house if a shopvac filter should have a tear or hole in it.
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Feb 20 '11
2:22 am PST
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While we're on the subject of fans (Reply to this comment)
by aohcapablanca
Brother gasman,
You wrote: " While we're on the subject of fans,"
which allows me to echo your complaint about a review category not being broad enough for what you want to say.
Can I entice you to opine a bit pro and con attic fans, attic heat removers, especially hot garages.
My wife and I have just received an all clear from our retirement home management to buy a fan and related and they will install it.
Here at 2500 feet above sea level in the generally cool (but often humid and pollen-filled) air of the Carolina mountains, my guess is that we can extend our A/C-less season by two months, sucking in cool night air (down to high 50s) and forcing out 160 degree stuff in our attic.
Your thoughts?
Patrick K/AOHCAPABLANCA
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Jun 08 '10
10:18 am PDT
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excellent and help information - thanks. (Reply to this comment)
by conceptx5
I stumble on your article and must say it was very helpful. I created an account on epinions just to let say that b/c I am having issues with an Old Oil Furnace and your article help a bit. Just for giggles... model is HB 100-1100-150-1500. Google that and see what you find. Again, Thanks for your helpful info. Hopefully this comment finds you beside a beach enjoying the hooch!!
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Oct 23 '08
12:11 pm PDT
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Re: "Thanks!" (Reply to this comment)
by the_gas_man
You're welcome...I hope you got something useful out of it. I really enjoyed your review of the ski lodge in Colorado. Got it on my list of places to go now.
Thanks for the comments.
Regards,
Gasman
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Dec 20 '01
12:45 pm PST
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"Thanks!" (Reply to this comment)
by ExBrave
The_gas-man,
First, thanks for adding me to your WOT. I appreciate your confidence!
Another thorough, and well-written review. Great job!
Epinions won't open a new category just because you and I think it might be beneficial. I'm not exactly sure how it works, but, I would bet an advertising fee has something to do with that situation.
Mike(ExBrave)
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Dec 20 '01
3:29 am PST
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Re: Great Job (Reply to this comment)
by the_gas_man
Thanks very much for the comment. Just out of curiosity, I wouldn't mind knowing what was not covered under your service contract? What part was repeatedly failing? Did they tell you or just bill you? *S*
Thanks again,
Regards,
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Dec 18 '01
7:37 am PST
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Great Job (Reply to this comment)
by glomarrone
Hi,
I think you gave lots of helpful information here. I have an old oil furnace that every year needs a service call. Naturally it isn't covered under the contract. Last year, I complained so loudly after needing two service calls for the same problem that they replaced it for free and guaranteed it wouldn't be a problem for next (this) year. So far so good but the weather has been warm so far.
I added you to my alerts so I'll be reading more of your epinions in the future.
See you again.
gloria
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Dec 17 '01
2:28 pm PST
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Re: Experience. Educated. Expertise. i.e. Excellent (Reply to this comment)
by the_gas_man
Ahhhh, geeez...now ya'all got me blushin'.
Watch those comments about us "older guys" though eh! Some of us "older guys" do carry a lot of history around in our heads that help make a service problem easier to resolve. However, that isn't to say that some of the younger guys servicing these days aren't quick on troubleshooting.
It's really hard to find a really good service person these days. Sometimes it takes a bit of trial and error and asking as many questions as you can. The good ones will be willing to share their thoughts as they evaluate your appliance and you should be able to tell by their answers whether they're confident in what they're doing or guessing.
In your case, I would tend to look for an older oil burner mechanic, only because of the age of the furnace you described to me. They'll probably enjoy working on an older more familiar product and bringing it up to spec.
I'll look forward to a follow up when you get settled in. Have a great holiday season.
Thanks for the comments, very much appreciated.
Regards,
Gasman
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Dec 17 '01
8:25 am PST
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Re: I predict (Reply to this comment)
by the_gas_man
Thanks for the comments. They're much appreciated. Sometimes I wonder if the stuff I write is too dry and technical, but, at the same time, I don't like to insult people's intelligence with simplicity. Comments like yours are always good for the old ego. *S*
By the way, I tried your cake recipe the other night, however, I'm not much on brandy, so I substituted scotch. It came out pretty fine! *L*
What happened to your recipe, it looked like it was deleted this morning? In any case, I enjoyed reading it too.
Regards,
Gasman
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Dec 17 '01
8:15 am PST
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Experience. Educated. Expertise. i.e. Excellent (Reply to this comment)
by suspecterrain
Too bad i can only "MH" one of review in each category... I can't begin to tell how much I appreciate your thoughts, gas man. I read the thing twice and I’m still having a hard time soaking it all in (I got the Monday-morning Blues, too).
I be sure to get back with you on some of the other details on my unit -- i plan on getting it serviced soon after the move-in, so I’m sure I’ll have lots and lots of goodies to share. BTW, I'm assuming that i should look for an "older guy" to do the work; -any particulars i should address with him before I give him the job?
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Dec 17 '01
7:10 am PST
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I predict (Reply to this comment)
by ginzo
you will become of greatness in here. You need to ask for some categories that accomodate you. I can't give a most helpful more than once in this category. Keep up the great info. I hope people here appreciate what you do.
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Dec 16 '01
3:37 pm PST
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