Indoor boiler problem

Darwin

Hi...any advice on the following gratefully received...On Friday I noticed my indoor boiler was blowing black smoke from the exhaust outside (and there's soot on the outside wall). It was serviced exactly one year ago. I then checked inside and noticed either scorch marks or black soot on the wall behind and to the right of the boiler. A pair of runners sitting on the boiler (at the far end) were covered in soot and hot to touch! I have someone coming to look at it tomorrow - is it extremely unsafe to use it in the meantime, even for an hour or so? Is there any danger of it catching fire? (yes the fire would heat the house up nicely ) It's so bloody cold in the house with it off at the moment! Thanks in advance...

gamer

sounds like it needs a good cleaning, if its a gas boiler i dont think theres any danger in leaving it on, i dont know much about oil boilers.just knock it off at 11 or 12 at night,dont leave it on overnight.when you are going out knock it off.

JamesM

The settings are way off, I would not use it at all. You should NEVER see any smoke from the flue - maybe a little condensation on a cold morning.
Apart from the danger of a fire, you will damage the baffles and maybe even the front of the burner.
Different things can cause his to happen. You didn't just get a fill of gas oil instead of kerosene ?
Jim.

Darwin

Jeepers! Pretty sure I ordered Kerosene. We had it filled last December, so I'm sure if it was gas oil there would have been trouble before now? Guess I'll put up with another cold night to be on the safe side. Thanks for the advice...

JamesM

Darwin wrote:

Jeepers! Pretty sure I ordered Kerosene. We had it filled last December, so I'm sure if it was gas oil there would have been trouble before now? Guess I'll put up with another cold night to be on the safe side. Thanks for the advice...

Yea, I'm fairly sure that it would have acted up before now.
Make sure that he cleans out the boiler, as well as re-adjusts the burner - probably new nozzle etc.
Jim.

Darwin

Just thought I'd let you know what the problem was: mice! They had climbed up the outside wall into the flue and started to make a nest inside the boiler. The boiler couldn't breathe properly hence the build up of heat and soot emissions. One of the little feckers was incinerated, I guess the rest of them must have scarpered. I'll have to encourage cats to hang around outside or something.
EDIT: Spoke too soon - the house is reeking of exhaust gases from the boiler. I had to switch it off after an hour. I cannot believe the service man went off without checking this.

JamesM

Darwin wrote:

EDIT: Spoke too soon - the house is reeking of exhaust gases from the boiler. I had to switch it off after an hour. I cannot believe the service man went off without checking this.

Could be different things. The one that you should check is that the smell is not an oil leak. Check that he didn't damage an oil line. Sometimes hitting the oil filter or the fire valve can start a leak. Otherwise, it is bad adjustment or he did not seal the boiler properly. Sometimes the gasket on the cleaning door or cover is damaged and not replaced.
Jim.

Darwin

Thanks for the advice again Jim. I'll have a closer look today - he did mention that the seals needed replacing.