Oil boiler dilemma

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I have a Buderus boiler with Reillo oil burner. Top of the line stuff. For the past 10 or so years a local independent guy has done annual cleaning and a few other boiler related repairs. It was cleaned in the fall of 2018.

On Saturday and Tuesday of this week I needed to press reset to get the boiler working. Call the local guy on Wed and he said he would be over in the next few days, Saturday at the latest. Friday afternoon I had to press the reset button many times. Called local guy and told him I was worried it might stop all together. He said he was out of town and would come Saturday. Decided to call my fuel oil company and have them come at 10:00 PM. The guy came and said boiler had an 80 dregree nozzle and called for a 70 degree nozzle. He put in proper nozzle, cleaned some carbon off the flat plate surrounding the nozzle. All is well.

So I am [censored] that I had to pay for an emergency call because my local guy installed the wrong nozzle.

But at least I have heat and it was 7F outside last night.

I think my local guy should pay for this emergency service call or refund the cost of his cleaning. But I am guessing neither will happen.

Am I right to blame the local guy? I am no expert on oil burner nozzle design.
 
I don't know much about boilers but it's too bad there are so few servicemen out there for you to choose from. Seems like it should have been looked at right away instead of you having to wait so long. As far as getting financial reciprocation it would be up to you and him. A real straight shooter should make it right with you.
 
Is it possible it came with a larger nozzle from the factory, and this was something that should have been changed out during install? Im assuming you had an issue with the flame/light sensor, my oil burner used to need a cleaning of the sensor every 6-8 month or it would cut out. If its been working OK for the past 10 years then the nozzle size probably has nothing to do with it, its possible the nozzle was clogged or worn. My 52 year old oil burner at the shop recently ate through the heat exchanger, and we were getting fumes through the vents. Our service guy swapped out a 60 degree nozzle for 80 so it had more of a fan spray inside the burner, and it cut down on the smell considerably. So maybe there was a reason for the other nozzle. If you had repeat issues with the same problem, then yes Id say you have a claim for the service guy since it wasnt fixed, however it was working properly since the last cleaning, and there were no issues beforehand which would give the service guy any indication of a problem until it happened.
 
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You can ask him to make it right, otherwise take your business elsewhere. My boiler / burner combo can accept several different nozzles depending how many btus you want to fire, but if you change the nozzle you need to adjust the air damper otherwise your mixture will be off.
 
Originally Posted by Donald
I think my local guy should pay for this emergency service call or refund the cost of his cleaning. But I am guessing neither will happen.

Am I right to blame the local guy?


(a) - you guess well on what you will get from the local guy
(b) - find a business that specializes in HVAC. Will probably cost more than the independent guy, but they tend to do things the right way (and charge for it unfortunately). When it comes to heat in a cold locale during the winter, this level of service is needed.

I went through this, the local independent guy was nowhere to be found when we had a problem. My general contractor who knows every other service provider in creation had a hard time finding someone to do a one-time job on an emergency basis, it took a couple of days. We hired a firm that the genreal contractor recommended (same firm he used for his own house) and have never looked back.
 
Originally Posted by Kage860
You can ask him to make it right, otherwise take your business elsewhere. My boiler / burner combo can accept several different nozzles depending how many btus you want to fire, but if you change the nozzle you need to adjust the air damper otherwise your mixture will be off.


We are not talking about the size of the nozzle in GPH, rather the degree of the nozzle which effects the spray pattern.
 
You're right, I missed that. Scarey, thats something most people hire a professional because they dont want a fire hazard ... i wouldnt use him anymore. I've heard a service guy refer to that as "nozzle roulette".
 
I have a propane fired Viesmann boiler. Common in Europe but fairly new in Western Canada. There aren't a lot of plumbers who have direct experience on them and there are no factory reps in this rural area. We finally have mine straightened away and my plumber is now an expert courtesy of my wallet.

At least now I now know who to phone.
 
I would ask your burner service man to please consider some type of refund for his services. That being said...normally a 70 degree nozzle will not cause a problem where they specify a 80. But the Riello burner is a high strung race horse and may be affected by the change. Hard to know for certain.
 
I looked up in the Reillo guide for the Buderus boiler and it says a 70 degree like the sticker on the burner says.

Talked to my independent guy today and he said he just replaced what was in there. Could be over the years a repair man put in a 80 degree by mistake or that's what he had in his truck and the next repair man put in same nozzle he took out.

I sense this repair will be on me.
 
Originally Posted by walterjay
I would ask your burner service man to please consider some type of refund for his services. That being said...normally a 70 degree nozzle will not cause a problem where they specify a 80. But the Riello burner is a high strung race horse and may be affected by the change. Hard to know for certain.


This was an 80 when a 70 was called for.
 
My heating guy acknowledged it should be a 70 degree nozzle and somewhere along the way he or his helper put in the wrong nozzle. No offer to compensate me, but at least he acknowledged the mistake was his responsibility.
 
Originally Posted by Donald
I think my local guy should pay for this emergency service call or refund the cost of his cleaning. But I am guessing neither will happen.
If he had some sort of warranty that covers that, go for it. If not and he was not available for emergency service, then you are just being entitled.

It could have been:
1. Dirty (sounds like it)
2. Wrong part from the factory (unlikely but possible)
3. New guy trying to make your old guy look bad to drum up new business (likely)
 
Sorry to hear about the boiler.

I too have an oil furnace. The only time I had to hit reset was when there was air in the oil line.

I've always wondered this about the oil company service. When they send the guy out, how do I know they aren't putting bigger nozzles in or tuning the furnace to use more oil?

In the future I plan to DIY this service. Just some food for thought.
 
Originally Posted by oilpsi2high
Sorry to hear about the boiler.

I too have an oil furnace. The only time I had to hit reset was when there was air in the oil line.

I've always wondered this about the oil company service. When they send the guy out, how do I know they aren't putting bigger nozzles in or tuning the furnace to use more oil?

In the future I plan to DIY this service. Just some food for thought.


I think there is some experience needed. It can be more complex than just changing a nozzle and filter every year. There are many expensive parts in a Reillo for $100 or $200 a pop. So one needs to be darn sure before you replace an expensive part. Need some experience to judge the flame.
 
I have usually found a wider spray pattern nozzle gives a better/cleaner burn than a narrower spray pattern one does.
 
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