No heat

[danf]

My wife called me yesterday afternoon around 4:30 on my way home from work- we had no heat.   Simply resetting the control switch on the boiler did no good.  I had put fuel in the tank (we're low and waiting on a delivery) the day before, so eventually decided to change the filter thinking I stirred up sludge and was restricting flow.  Finally got that changed around 6:30 last night and still no heat despite my numerous attempts at bleeding it out...  After opening the line from the pump to the nozzle I determined there was no fuel getting past the pump.  Awesome.

It got a bit chilly overnight in the house, the basement was 49 degrees when I went down there this morning.  2 space heaters and the oven kept the temp bearable the rest of the day though.  Did some searching on the internet looking for possible solutions and finally broke down and called Beckett.  Spoke with a tech there and eventually determined the pump was probably bad.  A trip to FW Webb in Madison and $90 later I headed home with a bit of a diversion into Conway (thanks again, Dave!!).

Changed out the ignitor, the nozzle and the pump with just a bit of cussing and now we have heat again!  Damn it feels good to be able to do things yourself at times.  I probably need to get the boiler professionally serviced/cleaned at some point though.  Anybody have any recommendations for HVAC types?

[slink]

congrats Dan you just saved yourself a 100 bucks in labor. The only other thing a tech would do is vacuum the fire box and if you hava a direct vent they would check that.

[danf]

Went back down to hook the water softener back up (had had to move it out of my way).  Realized a couple of the fittings were leaking slightly, then realized that there was smoke wafting off/out of the entire blower/pump housing....  Grrrr.  The smoke is fuel burning off of the inside, it's behind the nozzle.  Not sure if the fuel that's in there is due to an adjustment that needs made (pressure, etc) that's putting too much fuel into the nozzle or if it's simply because one of the leaks was above the air intake and it was sucking the drips in.  I tightened the fittings more and I'll keep an eye on it.  I may have to call someone in the morning.  Main thing is that we have heat and hot water for the moment!

[sneoh]

Dan, are you saying there is byproduct of combustion leaking into your living space or basement?  If so, be careful.  Do you have a working CO detector or two in your house?

Too much fuel leads to incomplete combustion.  A byproduct of incomplete combustion is carbon monoxide (CO) which is lethal at fairly low concentration.  CO is odorless which only serves to enhance its lethalness.

[perswig]

Just read this and had the same reaction as Soon. 
Get a couple detectors or check the batteries in the ones you have until your setup is working at 100%, please.

Dale

[danf]

I'm well aware of the CO risk.  I'm on the local fire department so I kinda have access to a gas meter if I really need one.

I'm pretty sure the smoke I saw was from the drips coming from the tubing between the pump and the nozzle.  I've tightened the fittings and I'm keeping an eye on them.

Still planning on calling for service in the morning, if for no other reason to make sure everything is to spec.  Honestly, I put off the regular servicing too long and it's caught up to me now.

[sneoh]

Gald to hear, Dan.  No intention to offend but an an oz of prevention is better than a lb of cure.
Stay warm and stay safe.

[perswig]

If you had not had your CO knowledge, I was going to suggest you log in to NEClimbs every hour on the hour and post your thoughts of sport vs trad in a dedicated thread. 

Failure to do so would result in a call to the local PD for a 'well-person' check.

Glad you're on it, danf!
Dale

[Pete Jackson]

If you had not had your CO knowledge, I was going to suggest you log in to NEClimbs every hour on the hour and post your thoughts of sport vs trad in a dedicated thread. 

Failure to do so would result in a call to the local PD for a 'well-person' check.

Glad you're on it, danf!
Dale

I am glad to hear you have a strong detector ethic and have developed a CO detection heuristic.

I use the company to that delivers my fuel to service my boiler. If you are still having trouble finding a tech, I'd call your delivery company and ask them for help. Good luck!

[kenreville]

If you had not had your CO knowledge, I was going to suggest you log in to NEClimbs every hour on the hour and post your thoughts of sport vs trad in a dedicated thread. 

Failure to do so would result in a call to the local PD for a 'well-person' check.

Glad you're on it, danf!
Dale

I am glad to hear you have a strong detector ethic and have developed a CO detection heuristic.
I use the company to that delivers my fuel to service my boiler. If you are still having trouble finding a tech, I'd call your delivery company and ask them for help. Good luck!

The burning question: is the detector a new fangled sport one, or an old fashioned trad one?

Sport ones are innaccurate and are not to be trusted.....

[perswig]

I blame gym boilers.

Dale

[steve weitzler]

Is it a 2 step aider boiler or not??

[strandman]

It's a canary.

[DGoguen]

There is more than one way to boil water.
I learn many like in the golden year when 50 or 60 tecnicians sit in basement and discuss boiler safety.

[danf]

LOL!! You guys crack me up. Service call scheduled for Tuesday early afternoon. Hopefully it'll all get straightened out then. Ive got the mechanical room closed off and planning on putting an exhaust fan in the window. No one but the cats will be home tonight so it wont be a big loss if it gets out of hand.