can anyone help, a friend of mine has a firebird riello boiler installed 3 years ago and it has not been serviced since, it is now blowing out jet black smoke when turned on. what may the problem be. I service my own firebird since i bought it 8 years ago with no problems, but never came across jet black smoke from any boiler ive seen

richie, October 2009

Iran out of oil then put some in but it won't kick in it comes on for about five seconds then it goes off I bled it a bit about a quarter cup ful any ideas

mags, January 2015

Firebird boilers should be serviced/cleaned annually, if they dont and run rich they soot up and burn incorrectly causing a smokey discharge, so they need to be cleaned, new nozzle, clean filters and clean out baffles and condensing unit annually

NZ Heating Engineer, August 2013

Hot radio when heat off

barry, January 2013

Our Firebird boiler wont heat our hot water unless the heating is on this has only just happened after I switched it off for a few days while we were away and back on when we returned, any ideas what it could be

Kaz, July 2012

The boiler flue path is blocked.

Remove the lower baffel plates in the heat condencing chamber and clean out right at the back as the flow of gas is being prevented from escaping Mine did the same The boiler is crap as no access chamber is available to clear all the airways the more you run it the less likely you will be able to clean it out . good luck

Andy, December 2011

when you were putting in the new nozzle, you should use PTFE tape to stop oil leaking , which caused the black smoke

shammer, January 2011

Having fitted lots of Firebirds, on a balanced low level flue you need to fit a short plume kit. This stops any problems

ap, January 2011

Hi there
My 1996 firebird boiler has been billowing black smoke and soot. I had it serviced last March. Called Engineer out in November when the black smoke/soot started and he 'fixed' it. three weeks later (last week) the motor packed in and it wouldn't fire. Had the motor replaced and yesterday it started billowing black smoke again.
1)Above it says that it may have the wrong nozzle? Is this expensive to replace?
2)Could it be the pump that is packing up and causing this?
So far this year, I have spent over 400 euro on this boiler. It has been serviced regularly since first installed. I am reluctant to spend any more reparing it as was hoping to have it replaced with a condenser boiler in the Spring. Would really appreciate any help/advice and pointers.
Thanks

Louisa, December 2010

Hi can any 1 help. ive got a firebird combi 90 and ive just had the heating pump done and i think they have put it upside down ive lost most of my heating. would any 1 know which way the arrow goes is it pointing up or down.

stuart, October 2010

I would suggest that you check for correct replacement nozzle and also that the pump pressure has not altered , also combustion setting are to the manufactures requirments.

Adrian Thompson FireBird uk, June 2010

you wouldnt have this problem if it was serviced annually or brought a mistral

oi u, May 2010

Biggest problem with firebirds is the burner being high up on the boiler shell so they very often need a de- aeration device which some installers either overlook or don't know about.

peter Surman Heating Engineers., March 2010

from working on oil boilers for years and going back today to a firebird boiler with a sooty photocell again after setting the combustion and smoke last week outdoor boilers with low level flues can produce more problems as opposed to balanced flue models but i do find with condensing boilers because of the resriction of flue gasses they tend to need more air

imac, February 2010

I had a new Firebird boiler fitted 18/11/09 and the 'magic eye' keeps sooting up and stopping the boiler from firing up. I have to take the 'eye' out every 4-6 hours to clean it! Can anyone rell me why this happens?

So Martin & Keith maybe this is your problem too?

Ffritha, January 2010

i have firebird popular 90 modle 104097 year 1993 its got very hard 2 start i have check oil tank over half full is there anything i can check

martin, January 2010

firebird oylympic 5070 burner firesfirst time thenmotor runs but does not fire

keith, November 2009

de-soot the combustion chamber and condensing chamber if a condensing boiler. change the nozzle and put an analyzer on it to check combustion levels. After 8 years you are lucky the nozzle in yours is still ok as it should be replaced anually.

mark, November 2009

Black smoke = unburnt kerosene which means a blocked up boiler flue or very low oil pump pressure. If the boiler and burner hasn't been cleaned out and serviced for 3 years, you have to expect this.

John (OFTEC), October 2009