I'm not sure where this post turns to a question but I wish to offer some response and input to some of your observations.

I wouldn't call a 14 year old boiler new. Besides that the Weil Mclain 68V boiler, at best was a mediocre boiler to begin with due to its outdated design and construction with its sections and combustion chamber. At that time scotch-marine designs were out with 3-pass heat exchangers and swing out burner doors for ease of cleaning and service. That would have been your best choice and still is today.

True a boiler can last 30 years if maintained but expecting an oil burner to go more than 10-15 without major parts or replacement is expecting too much.

Hard starts, unclean shutoffs, excessive servicing is a sign of a failing burner which usually involves any or all the components; motor, fuel pump, transformer, cad cell relay, electrodes, and of course nozzle.

If you kept your auto or television for 14 years, would that still be considered "new"?

I don't think I called our furnace new. I was only comparing the efficiency rating the HVAC guy has been giving us which has been 82-83% and comparing it to a new furnace which is typically around 85%. I was questioning the accuracy of his rating.

I know there are varying opinions with regards to oil burner maunfacturers, but can you recommend 2-3 manufacturers? The same with natural gas since we do have the option of switching over to NG.

I have read about Energy Kinetics 2000, Hallmark, Reillo for oil burners....any directions is helpful. I usually do a ton of research thereafter.

I guess for now we can call someone in tomorrow and get it cleaned since if we do decide to switch to NG, it will need to be in the warmer months.

Thanks for your help.

"HVAC guy comes he tells us we are running at 82% efficiency, which now after researching a bit might find that incorrect since most NEW boilers only operate at 85%."

Took that as you thinking your new boiler should be there too.

81% to maybe 85% but usually lower because you don't want too efficient of an oil boiler because to do this means higher flow rates, lower water temps and under firing which usually means condensing which results in a sticky mess because combustion and flue products of oil contain elevated levels of sulfur, carbon and soots.

Yes Riello, on any boiler is a fine setup and usually used on higher pressure burner requirement boilers such as the 2000, works well with many 3-pass design boilers

When looking at efficiencies three things must be known to compare apples to apples on fuels;
1. Fuel cost
2. BTU content
3. Equipment efficiency

I remind you that increased oil service $$ should be factored in for annual oil heating costs.

You could change your oil burner with a gas gun, but it wouldnÂt be a wise choice with the much better selections of gas boiler and higher efficiencies available.

comkow, the sounds you are talking about that the burner is making might just be some gasketing coming apart possibly around the burner door or between the sections. When the burner shuts down a rush of air into the chamber causes a shuttering sound for a second or so. It's a simple fix usually but the burner compartment door and the boiler jacket have to be removed to properly inspect the boiler. Many times all it takes is some new gasketing or some refractory cement. Hopefully you are one of the lucky ones and this is all you need for a repair. But you have to get a tech there who knows more then just the basics of boilers.

Thanks mr.havac. Yes, shuttering is a good description, shuttering with a slight vibration and the fact that the heat is coming on for only about 2-3 minutes and then shuts down and restarts again in another 2 minutes...very short cycles.

We are going to call a new boiler company tomorrow morning and see what they say. Although we like the guy we have used for the past few years, very honest and reliable, I think you hit the nail right on the head. He knows how to service and change a nozzle and gasket and clean it up, but it is obvious we need a little more than that right now.

Thanks everyone! Keeping my fingers crossed. I will let you know what happens.

The tech came yesterday and it seems all has been fixed. We did once again have some sludge build-up on the nozzle so he changed out the nozzle and another (oil) strainer that he said looked like it had not been changed in awhile.

As mentioned, he changed the nozzle and put in a "W" nozzle. He said the "W" will work better if we continue to encounter the sludge issue. He changed two electrodes whose points seemed to have flattened a bit, changed the furnace fan setting and the filters/strainers. I have to say that even before the shuttering of the boiler last week, we still heard the boiler kick on, but not as loud...now we cannot even hear it kick on. The boiler seems to shut off sooner, but the forced air seems to stay on with warm air longer. Seems efficiency has been tended to here.

Looking for feedback on the following suggestions though....

1) he said the furnace fan was set at 200, so he turned it down to 180. He said anything higher than 180 just creates steam and at 180 it will be more efficient. When we first moved in 6 years ago, we had complained that the forced air seemed to be "cold" after the boiler shut off, so that is why it was set to 200...I think.

Opinions on what is the most efficient furnace fan temp setting?

2) he suggest we upgrade our filter to something slightly larger since we continue to have the sludge problem even after getting about 35 gallons sucked out in late July.

The last time we we had the furnace serviced with changing nozzle and filters was 7/30/08, so we did not even get 6months our of it this time.

3) he suggests we put a diesel conditioner or STR-2 in the tank next time we get oil delivered to try to break down some of the sludge. He did say that we should not add it too often since it can errode the tank. I have read the same thing. I did find a company FuelRight, although I do not think they sell direct to consumers, that had a "study" that they performed on the different oil additives (See Link). This is the one thing I am unsure of here, so ANY suggestions on an oil additive would be helpful.

The tech said we should get a minimum of 20 years out of our boiler as long as it is maintained properly. Seems we made the right move by bringing in a new company/tech and will stick with him in the future. We are extremely happy with the work he performed.

Thanks again for all of your help.

Here is a link that might be useful: Additive

I'm confused here a little,, no I'm confused a lot!! Do you have a furnace or a boiler? You're talking fan settings and there are no fans on a system thats attached to a Weil McLain because it heats water and not air. And tell me more about this magical nozzle that will work better with sludge in the tank? Thats a first for me. Oh and by the way the effects of worn electrodes and a partially plugged nozzle will will be noticed on burner start up and will not create the shuttering on shut down you described previously. Scuse me, but now I have to go do some research on these magical nozzles!!!:-)

Type W "ALL PURPOSE"

Type W nozzles are neither truly hollow nor solid. These nozzles frequently can be used in place of either solid or hollow cone nozzles between 0.40 and 8.00 GPH, regardless of the burner's air pattern. The lower flow rates tend to be more hollow. Higher flow rates tend to be more solid.

The way the nozzle was described to me was Type "A" allows the flame to shoot directly straight out, Type "B" allows the flame to "flower" or spread out like a blossom. Type "W" combines both.

I am sorry I am confusing you on the boiler vs furnace. I should have said circulating fan (not furnace fan), my mistake.

The link below (pg 2/3) shows what I should have called the circulating fan and it does say that you should lower the temp setting so the fan comes on quicker and circulates the air longer after the boiler shuts down.

I hope this makes more sense with the correct lingo..sorry.

Any comments on the additive?

Here is a link that might be useful: Circulating fan

I give up! :-)

Im with you too now Mr. HVAC

A is hollow, B is solid and of course there is semisolid which some marketing guy must have come up with W to sell more.

The Weil McLain 68V is clearly a water boiler however some tech along the way has convinced comkow or perhaps madcow that he has a circulating fan like an oil furnace???

I'm guessing you have a fan-forced convector or air handler with hot water coil connected to your boiler

As far as additives, Marvel Mystery oil avaialble in the auto section at walmart and other auto stores works well.

Its havac zl, not HVAC. I don't want to come across as the all knowing A/C guru of the universe. In actuality it was supposed to be havoc, a play of words as in creating havoc, but a slight misspell and now I'm condemned to a wrongful handle in a forum with the fear that some people might think I think of myself as the almight second coming of Thomas Carrier himself. :-) I'm a good service tech but not almighty.