Using a Bacharach Fyrite Tech 50

[takoateli]

I just bought a Fyrite Tech 50 and am using it on an older Burnam oil fired boiler which has a newish Beckett burner installed. I get visible smoke unless I have about 18% or more excess air which yields about 84% efficiency.

My understanding is one can tune for higher flame efficiency which results in more smoke which will soot up the boiler decreasing heat transfer efficiency which greatly reduces overall efficiency. It sounds like going for zero smoke is the way to go.

Do my numbers and thinking sound about right?

Thanks!
Greg

[71CHOPS]

sounds like a tech to tech question.

I've always understood zero - 1 smoke is preferred with the burnham oil fired burners, but i don't do a lot of oil work.

[gravity]

Dont worry about the efficiency the meter tells you because it's lying. set it up with 0-1 smoke and 4-7% o2

[takoateli]

Dont worry about the efficiency the meter tells you because it's lying. set it up with 0-1 smoke and 4-7% o2

Thanks! I need to get a smoke tester. I'll go for 7% o2 to be safe.

Greg

[71CHOPS]

last one I did, manual was specking 11% CO2. probably best to get a manual for the specific equipment you're working on.

[takoateli]

last one I did, manual was specking 11% CO2. probably best to get a manual for the specific equipment you're working on.

Thanks. Would you say I should get the manual for the burner, boiler, or both? I'm guessing only for the burner.

Greg

[wicat3]

I would get a manual for both but more so the boiler should tell you what it wants the burner to run at most of the time. Sometimes the burner manuals will tell you that but not always.

[takoateli]

I would get a manual for both but more so the boiler should tell you what it wants the burner to run at most of the time. Sometimes the burner manuals will tell you that but not always.

Thanks! I'll do that.

One thing I've been doing that's sort-of-a-smoke-test is to plug the sampling hole with a piece of aluminum foil (tin foil for you old folks). There's a piece of the aluminum foil plug that sticks into the stack. After a day of running pull that plug out and look at the part that sticks into the stack. If it's clean, you've got zero smoke. I call it the "Gregorio method" in case I'm making history here.

Greg

[wicat3]

Im sure that works just fine but Personally I would Use testing equipment. By letting it run without knowing what its set up for you run a risk of hurting someone or even killing someone. They make the equipment to testing for a reason.

[takoateli]

Im sure that works just fine but Personally I would Use testing equipment. By letting it run without knowing what its set up for you run a risk of hurting someone or even killing someone. They make the equipment to testing for a reason.

I know what you mean. I just hate to spend another hundred dollars.

Thanks for your help! I really love these forums. It is so kind and helpful for all of the people who are experts to pass along their knowledge to others to come asking.

I hope you all have a very happy holiday season!

Greg

[wicat3]

No problem. Rather see things get done right then hacked in and have someone get injured an all. Good luck

[takoateli]

No problem. Rather see things get done right then hacked in and have someone get injured an all. Good luck

Thanks to everyone who posted.

Here's the follow up.

After reading what you guys wrote, and then talking with a tech at Beckett, I was convinced to get a smoke test kit. There are no shortcuts to be taken. It has proven to be invaluable. The fellow at Beckett said the smoke test kit is the most important piece of test equipment. So I found an inexpensive one and it was very revealing. You can't see the difference between a #1 and a zero smoke by looking at what's coming out of the stack. Looking for soot on the aluminum foil plug I put in the sampling hole wasn't accurate either. The smoke test kit showed me immediately when I got to zero smoke. The readings on the Bacharach Fyrite 50 show:

O2 7.6
CO2 10
Excess Air 53%
Efficiency 81.5

I can get the efficiency up to 82 and maybe a bit more only at the expense of smoke so it's not worth it.

I really think that between the two pieces of gear, the smoke tester is the most important one if you had to pick just one. You adjust the burner using the smoke test kit. The Bacharach is nice because you can see the numbers and not just wonder what you're getting.

Thanks guys. My real life experience and time on the forums has taught me to really listen to the guys in the know.

Greg

[meplumber]

Dude, if your having to run 53% excess air to get a 0 - Trace smoke, then you have something else going on. Those numbers look horrible for just about any Beckett oil burner. What was your stack temp and CO at light off and shut off? I would bet that you have flame impingement going on. Are you a pro? What specific equipment is this? What nozzle size are we talking about?