Oil fired Rayburn persistent fumes after service.

[Isaac]

I've been servicing my own oil fired Rayburn for years without any problems. Immediately after my last service, a few days ago, it smelt really fumey, stank the whole house out. It also would have regular (what I call mini-explosions - it's not that dramatic, but I can't think of a better word, a bit like suddenly going from low flame to full flame for a second). I thought that oil vapour leak would be the cause of both issues (thought maybe I'd put something back too loose), so I had the burner out again, made sure the chamber lid and rings were flat on, checked for oil leaks, put everything back.

That solved the mini-explosion problem entirely. I now have a smooth, entirely blue flame without so much as a splutter. But the fume problem is still there, even possibly a bit worse.

Fume smell is the same on low or high setting (so I'm presuming oil levels can't be a problem (not that I didn't check the levels anyway). The smell is coming from the door as much as the hotplate, so It can't be seals (there's no seal on this model's door).

All the usual culprits of fumey smells I've read about seem to be to do with the rayburn needing a service, not a consequence of it getting one. Other culprits such a chimney blockages, fuel filter clogging etc., I can't see any way they could have just suddenly come about as a consequence of a service. The day before the service it was fine.

Any clues as to where to look next would be much appreciated.

 

[oz-plumber]

If you're not qualified to work on the boiler, the best advice you're going to get is switch it off and find someone who is qualified to work on it.
The fumes you smell may be a sign that there a dangerous fumes that you can't smell inside your house.....eg CO

 

[ShaunCorbs]

@Best any help ? ?

 

[Isaac]

If you're not qualified to work on the boiler, the best advice you're going to get is switch it off and find someone who is qualified to work on it.
The fumes you smell may be a sign that there a dangerous fumes that you can't smell inside your house...eg CO

Well, I've since had two qualified engineers in and neither has managed to fix the problem and I'm now nearly £200 less well of as a result, so that didn't help much I'm afraid.

I've got three CO detectors in the house, all of which I've brought down to the kitchen where the Rayburn is, none of which have gone off in the intervening days, so if CO is a problem then the various detector manufacturers have a lot to answer for.

Short of just throwing money at qualified engineers (both of whom basically just carried out exactly the same service procedure I do every six months), has anyone else got any ideas?

 

[Stigster]

Seeing the engineers you got in must surely(?) have used their gas analysers to "sniff" around the door and any other seals where combustion products are conveyed, the problem must lie elsewhere. Any leak of combustion products are very easy to detect given the sensitive nature of gas analysers so I would have expected them to find any leaks.

What their analysers will not detect is the smell of evaporating unburned oil. When removing and replacing the burner during your service, it is possible to disturb the flexible oil supply/return hoses and cause a small weep of oil and it doesn't take much to make a stink. Even if you have checked the tightness of the burner hoses, I would take some blue paper towel (it shows even tiny spots of liquid present) and wipe around every oil line joint around the burner. There are several as I'm sure you are aware so methodically go over every one with the paper and see if you can find any weeps.

If that fails to find the problem then I'm sorry, I'm stumped but it's worth a try. Best of luck!

 

[Chalked]

Here’s what you need to do.
Start with removing the burner. Then the combustion chamber top. Then the baffles, or turbulators ( which ever your boiler comes with)
Clean out the chamber.
Check for damages baffles and heat absorption pad at the back.
Replace burner nozzle.
Check electrodes.
Replace oil supply flexi pipe.
Clean oil filters.
Reinstall burner, fire up and ch check burner pressure .
Install your flue gas analyser probe and set co2 to manufactures settings. Check co content.

Now I expect you haven’t got a fga. So please call an engineer who will do the above.
You will save in the long run and the boiler will be more reliable.
Your 2 engineers are rubbish. Where abouts are you? Any oil guy would have no problem sorting your boiler.
Most problems like yours are caused by leaking oil pipework, or flue seals. All, can be detected

 

[Best]

Could you put some photos of burner on here?

 

[Brambles]

Chalked has a pretty comprehensive list to guide you to the solution. All I would (could) add is are you sure that the burner has not been cracked during your service ? (It is very easy to do, (crack it, not check it). Check and recheck that the oil supply line to the burner is not weeping oil.

If you have the equipment to undertake an oil rate combustion test, that will probably give you a few pointers as to where the problem lies.

On a final point whilst your focus on monitoring CO is admirable, don’t ignore the risks of unburnt oil fumes in a domestic environment.