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A FELLOW BRAGGED, “I can tune up any oil burner by eye as good or better than anyone can using instruments!” The time was the early 1970s, the place was the local Sid Harvey branch where I was employed and where I had been placed in charge of all oil burner work. Jim and John Wilson were the branch managers and a deep well of knowledge on all things related to heating or air conditioning. I went to that well often.
As the years went by, my collection of Bacharach equipment grew to include several of those test kits and they have been an invaluable resource for fine-tuning not only oil-fired equipment, but also for gas-fired units – especially the new high-tech, high-efficiency units we see today that require precise set-up for proper combustion and performance.
The Wilson brothers had strongly recommended the kit containing the excess oxygen tester because it was possible to obtain identical carbon dioxide tests with either too much or too little combustion air. Too little air and CO forms. The electronic test equipment registers CO in parts per million and is extremely accurate. It might be helpful to understand a little more about CO. Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, toxic gas produced during incomplete combustion of fuel – natural gas, oil, coal, wood, kerosene, etc. During normal combustion, each atom of carbon in the burning fuel joins with two atoms of oxygen, forming harmless carbon dioxide. When there is a lack of oxygen to ensure complete combustion of the fuel, each atom of carbon links up with only one atom of oxygen, forming carbon monoxide.
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As soon as the blustering “expert” left their store, Jim and John explained the importance of doing the job of tuning up an oil burner correctly. I left that day with a new Bacharach kit consisting of two dumbbell-shaped plastic containers that were for testing for the presence of excess CO2 and O2; a smoke tester; draft gauge; and a probe-style stack thermometer. Jim and John took the time to train me before I left the store.
But those Arnold Schwarzenegger-type dumbbell CO2 and O2 testing devices have given way to the electronics age. In addition to testing for all of the above, except for smoke, the new electronic units also look at carbon monoxide, nitric oxide and can include a printer to provide hard copies of the test results. A printed test result from properly calibrated testing equipment is a great CYA (cover your assets) way to prove you did the job correctly.
