Hi all, came across this forum this looking for information on my sooting up kitchen type indoor Enviromax. I'm a retired electronics/maintenance engineer, (fwiw can answer questions on popular smart home thermostat systems), but I've installed many solid fuel boilers in the last 40 years for family, and a few oil boiler swapouts also.
My Enviromax sooted up quite suddenly last week. I have it running again after a few false starts, I think my issues are with the difficulty cleaning the back chamber from the turbulator tubes up to the flue connector. It ran perfectly for over 4 years, never more than some fine ash on the baffles when I'd inspect it, but then last year It developed a squeaking noise from the motor, possibly a bearing or stator rubbing. Before I got around to dealing with it I had a serious failure, lots of soot, baked photocell. Also disintegration on the top of the condenser trap, some minor burning of the top two baffles on the rear edge, and the door sĺeal was in a bad way. A full overhaul, two new baffles, motor, photocell, nozzle, trap, got it running again, just in time for Xmas, and it was running perfectly till last week, when it sooted up and set off the CO alarm.
I'm thinking that I didn't get enough soot from the back chamber last November, I used a vacuum and a length of hose though the tubes, followed by a spirity rag on a stick. Does soapy hot water down the top flue exit sound like a plan? Let it drain through the condensate trap. Or perhaps DualX.
I've set it slightly lean of manufacturers factory setting, from 2.5 to 2.6 on the air intake. It smells a bit, I'm thinking back pressure from the back flue maybe pushing gas out somewhere. Its not balanced due to location, it vents up the old boiler's flue chimney with stainless extension pipes inserted to the top, and draws its air in from the supplied balanced flue intake kit which is now indoors, but sited in a large cavity in the base if the old chimney. Its at the limit of the vertical flue length mentioned in some Firebird condenser manuals, at 6m. Back in 2017 the firebird guy said it was OK to extend the exhaust flue, a 45° on the end of the included balanced kit and the required number of ext tubes inside the old earthenware liners. I wonder does this extension affect the air setting required. Maybe I should remove the flap from the intake snorkel, some are saying it can cause issues, though it looked fine to me. As the intake is indoors I was happy to have it to stop downdraft entering the utility room when the boiler was off.
Any advice appreciated. Once I get it staying clean, I'll get a chap in with the oil pressure/CO2 meters to fine tune.
My Enviromax sooted up quite suddenly last week. I have it running again after a few false starts, I think my issues are with the difficulty cleaning the back chamber from the turbulator tubes up to the flue connector. It ran perfectly for over 4 years, never more than some fine ash on the baffles when I'd inspect it, but then last year It developed a squeaking noise from the motor, possibly a bearing or stator rubbing. Before I got around to dealing with it I had a serious failure, lots of soot, baked photocell. Also disintegration on the top of the condenser trap, some minor burning of the top two baffles on the rear edge, and the door sĺeal was in a bad way. A full overhaul, two new baffles, motor, photocell, nozzle, trap, got it running again, just in time for Xmas, and it was running perfectly till last week, when it sooted up and set off the CO alarm.
I'm thinking that I didn't get enough soot from the back chamber last November, I used a vacuum and a length of hose though the tubes, followed by a spirity rag on a stick. Does soapy hot water down the top flue exit sound like a plan? Let it drain through the condensate trap. Or perhaps DualX.
I've set it slightly lean of manufacturers factory setting, from 2.5 to 2.6 on the air intake. It smells a bit, I'm thinking back pressure from the back flue maybe pushing gas out somewhere. Its not balanced due to location, it vents up the old boiler's flue chimney with stainless extension pipes inserted to the top, and draws its air in from the supplied balanced flue intake kit which is now indoors, but sited in a large cavity in the base if the old chimney. Its at the limit of the vertical flue length mentioned in some Firebird condenser manuals, at 6m. Back in 2017 the firebird guy said it was OK to extend the exhaust flue, a 45° on the end of the included balanced kit and the required number of ext tubes inside the old earthenware liners. I wonder does this extension affect the air setting required. Maybe I should remove the flap from the intake snorkel, some are saying it can cause issues, though it looked fine to me. As the intake is indoors I was happy to have it to stop downdraft entering the utility room when the boiler was off.
Any advice appreciated. Once I get it staying clean, I'll get a chap in with the oil pressure/CO2 meters to fine tune.
