AboutJ Cook Expertise With 25+ years experience, I am familiar with residential, commercial, and industrial HVAC equipment including but not limited to boilers, chillers, reciprocating and screw compressors. I am trained in all manners of control wiring.
Experience I currently have three HVAC licenses and Refrigeration license by the State of North Carolina. I have been in this field for over twenty years. I have been a service technician for a contractor and also worked at a state college in the repair and maintenance of steam lines and equipment. I am currently the Building Maintenance Superintendent for a municipality.
I have a 147K BTU New Yorker oil fired boiler that heats my domestic water in the furnace itself with a coil and heats the house with baseboard fin radiators. I am guessing the furnace was installed when the house was built in 1978. The model number is FR147 with a Beckett burner. Last year a new Beckett igniter was placed on the burner. My furnace is in the basement of a ranch house.
When the Beckett burner ignites, it produces a sound of a small boom. My dad describes the sound as like somebody shutting a door but not slamming the door. This sound has been happening much of the winter season.
I only have had this house for 4 years. The first 3 years I don't recall hearing this sound. What are some possible things that could cause this boom sound when the Beckett burner ignites?
This furnace made the same sound before the Beckett igniter was replaced. Oh, I have an underground oil tank.
Many thanks for any suggestions you offer for possible causes of the boom sound!
Mike
ANSWER: Mike this could be several things. Some are insignificant and are not a problem, but a cracked exchanger letting air infiltrate the burner chamber, or a delay in ignition after fuel is injecting into the chamber could be dangerous. I would seek out a boiler expert to check out the sequence of ignition and also inspect the firing chamber, vent, and boiler tubes. With the cost of oil, I would also consider installing a separate water heater, even an electric one to prevent using the boiler year round for hot water. This will dramatically increase the life of the boiler. If you do this or not, I would have an annual inspection done just before heating season to test all of the safety controls on a boiler. Thanks J
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Hello J,
Thank you for your insight6ful and thoughtful response. I do have my furnace cleaned and inspected every June via a heating service contract I have with my oil company since I purchased the house 4 years ago. I asked the furnace technician at the last cleaning about the boom sound in June of 2008. He look shook saying that it could be caused by many different things and did not seem like he knew or may wanted to get into that problem He put on a new igniter last June in case that was the problem. I did call the service manager today sharing the matter with him. He said he would research the matter and call me here at home but I have not had a call as of this evening..
You make a good point about heating the domestic water outside of the boiler instead of running the furnace all summer. The furnace does make the basement much warmer and uncomfortable. I have been pondering this domestic hot water idea. What happens to my New Yorker boiler if I shut it down from May through the beginning of October? Does the cold water sitting in the boiler rust it or do other damage?
With regard to having a water tank outside of the furnace, I have two main questions:
First, installing an electric hot water tank. I presently have shutoff valves for the hot water out of the furnace and the cold water into the furnace. I could solder in Tees on the correct side of the valve to have the cold water go to the electric tank and the hot water out of the tank into the hot water line that comes out of the domestic coil in the furnace. I live alone and don’t use much hot water so I plan to have the hot water tank powered off all but a few hours a day. Should I get a slow recovery heater or a quick recovery heater? What size should I get?
Second, New Yorker makes external tanks for furnaces. The tank has its own zone so the furnace only runs to heat the water in the tank to a certain setting. Then the furnace does not run again till either the hot water cools down to the min temp or it is all used. I believe the tank is insulated to the point that it only loses one degree of temp per hour. What are the pros and cons of getting this type of setup connected to my 1978 New Yorker Boiler instead of using an electric hot water tank?
Many Thanks J!
Sincerely,
Mike
Answer The auxillary tank is usually much larger than you would need. A 40 gallon quick recovery unit would suffice for hot water. Since you will only power it part of the time, I would install a time clock on it to just be on the few hours you will need it and you can forget about it. We have a number of boilers and all are shut down during the summer. We just flush the water and service the boilers before we fire them up in the fall. I would investigate a boiler expert to service the boiler. The oil supplier may do this as a side line, but from your response, they do not appear to be experts. Thanks J
