Soot

[Tony Shelton]

Is there any real benefit to cleaning the soot off the outside of the coil?

 

[Big Mike]

Yes. It allows for better heat transfer and results in less fuel consumption.

 

[EcoClean]

I pulled the coil on mine back in January and soaked it in a tub of s. hydroxide overnight and cleaned it the following day. It runs so much better now. The burner was smoking some, but after cleaning the coil there's no smoke at all.

I'd imagine it's a fire hazard when it was dirty as mine was.

 

[Tony Shelton]

One of ours smokes slightly every now and then, but not very often. We were descaling them today and inspecting the insulation. The coils are black, but there isn't any clumps of stuff between them. I was just wondering if taking them out at this point would be worth the effort.

 

[Russ Johnson]

Black coloring won't hurt anything. It's when they start to get that "fuzzy" look that heat transfer suffers.

 

[mattspws]

Are there any good products that can be added to the fuel to help slow down the build up or help keep them clean ?

 

[tomtucson]

There must be some point where the soot that burns off equalls the soot thats deposited because I have never cleaned the outside of a coil and they don't continue to build up. I bet if my coil was cleaned spotless it would quickly have the same amount of soot on it again. I've only ever seen the same fuel additive that red devil stuff, most places have it. No idea if it does anything.

 

[Russ Johnson]

Yes, the Red Devil basically turns the soot to ash so it flakes off and blows away. For mild soot build ups it works well, for heavy deposits, cleaning is required.

 

[Ron Musgraves]

Pressure wash it, thats what I do.

 

[Larry Hinckley]

Red Devil Liquid Soot Remover

A special blend of chemical compounds carefully formulated to attack existing soot formations and help prevent further soot buildup.

Cleans burner tips, improves burner efficiency, delivers more heat from fuel tank, line and filter.

 

[Ron Musgraves]

Red Devil Liquid Soot Remover

A special blend of chemical compounds carefully formulated to attack existing soot formations and help prevent further soot buildup.

Cleans burner tips, improves burner efficiency, delivers more heat from fuel tank, line and filter.

It sure does, how have you been Larry

 

[Tony Shelton]

Thanks guys, I'll try the red devil stuff.

 

[Ron Musgraves]

De-Scale the Coil

 

[Sirocco Jerry]

Soot Remover treated tank-full every month as PM

I agree, SootRemover is great for the soot..
And..
We recommend running a treated-tank-full every month as prev. maint.
But DO NOT "pollute a parking lot" trying to rinse a coil off ! ..
If you can't adjust the burner to run clean with a little Soot-Fuzz
(as Russ describes it), go down a couple nozzle-sizes temporarily,
giving a "double-dose" of SootRemover a chance to burn the soot away..
It should only take 8 or 12 hour running.
Then, you can put the original burner nozzle back in,
(..preferrably a new one,) adjust it correctly for air mixture,
and celebrate the fact you didn't have to take the coil apart,
nor deal with spreading the biggest mess you've ever made,
across the parking lot. Eh?

 

[Sirocco Jerry]

..and about De-Scaling..
DON'T, unless you have a back-pressure problem..
With NO hose attached to the outlet of your heater,
there should be less than 200psi back-pressure against the pump.
IF you have checked it properly, and "HAVE TO"
use Citric Acid.. it is safer, and wqorks great !
Why avoid descaling ???... :meeting:
Because if you rinse the hard-water-scale off the inside of the coil
unessessarily, you are re-exposing un-protected steel to the water..
it will rust away faster !!
Follow this rule, and your coil can last 12 to 15 years, like ours do.