Sooty smoke coming out of oil boiler flue and in boiler house.

anotherquestion

Hi there folks,

I have a problem with an old cast iron oil boiler, It fires up fine,  heats the rad ok but terrible sooty smoke coming out the flue and also coating walls in boiler house.

Although the burner part at front was replaced over 20 years ago, the cast iron boiler is in boiler house since 1988 and is passed its sell by date I have got a grant towards getting a new oil boiler

I had boiler serviced last November but it has been on quite a bit since then, almost on continually during the the day, during the cold snap last week.

Just want it to tie me over until new oil boiler is installed but that maybe might take a little while, so probably get service guy to give it one last service, Is it possible that the soot could have build up in such a short time in the boiler chamber or maybe some other possible problem?
the service guy did put on a new oil valve and did hook up his vacuum cleaner last time, so just wondering why the soot has build up again so soon.

Obviously once I was made aware of the sooty smoke coming out of the flue and a light soot covering on boiler house walls and door, I switched off everything.

Any ideas anyone as to what may be causing this, taking into consideration it was only serviced last November?

Many thanks.

FreeBear

Black soot is a sign of poor & incomplete combustion. Either too much oil going in to the burner, or not enough air.

To be on the safe side, you need to get a suitably qualified engineer to take a look at it - It might be as simple as changing the jet or reducing the oil pressure.

ThisIsWeird

Was it running cleanly after the November service? Have you used this service fellow before? Are you otherwise happy with them? If so, call them back in the first instance.

The sooty issue could, of course, be completely unrelated.

anotherquestion

Thanks for all replies.

Yep seemed to be running fine after the November service, last week I did detect a slight haze in in the air in the boiler house, but yesterday  my partner noticed the black smoke coming out of the vertical roof flue which has a sooty colour at top, and on looking in the boiler house, no visible smoke but door and walls had slight soot over them, especially noticeable when you run your finger over them.

Will ask the service guy to come again, and if a minimal service charge will pay it, but hopefully getting the new boiler installed sooner rather than later.

ThisIsWeird

It'll most likely be something obvious. It could be minor - I guess a blown seal - or major - such as a kaput fan.
Good second-hand Riellos can be had for £100, and such an old boiler prob doesn't warrant a new one at ~£400+.
Bottom line, tho', is, if the boiler's fabric is otherwise ok, then a replacement burner ain't a big issue should you want to nurse it along for another good few years. They are dead easy to have replaced.