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Posted by Pete on October 22, 2006 at 19:28:40:
I have a Burnham residential steam boiler that was just installed and has barely been used. I'm getting a burning oil smell when it's firing and there's a lot of oil in the system (the "water" in the sight glass is black). I've been draining the condensate and boiler water until it runs clear afer every firing but it doesn't seem to be reducing the amount of oil. The water in the sight glass is fluctuating wildly (when it's firing) and the burner is cycling off when it seems that it shouldn't be (i.e. water has not yet boiled and thermostat is not up to set temp).
The installation instructions say that a brand new boiler needs to be "boiled out" to remove this oil. Clearly my plumber didn't do that.
My questions are:
1. Does the boil-out need to be done, or if I just keep draining the condensate will it eventually be clean enough?
2. Can I do it myself?
3. How do I do it? And how do I get my hands on the chemicals.
4. Did my plumber screw me or is this usually left up to the homeowner?