Fungus in our heating fuel?

buddscreekman

buddscreekman

New Member
Had the furnace serviced today and we were told there is fungus in the fuel tank,that the fluid tested positive for it. Does this mean we need the vents cleaned,as in the fungus was traveling throughout the house? We've noticed a worsening of our daughter's asthma and a relative who has been staying with us is currently having testing done for some shortness of breath. Everyone else in the house is fine. Furnace guy says no,it would have vented out as a byproduct of the combustion. What say you?
 
C

czygvtwkr

Guest
1) It burns up
2) The gases from the flame arent vented into the house unless the heat exchanger is broken.
 
bohman

bohman

Well-Known Member
czygvtwkr said:
1) It burns up
2) The gases from the flame arent vented into the house unless the heat exchanger is broken.
Click to expand...

:yeahthat:

Heating oil is pretty similar to diesel, and it's not uncommon for stuff to grow in the water that can condenses in the tank. It's my understanding that adding a fungicide to the fuel tank will take care of the problem. Besche always added that, along with some other fuel treatments, when I had my yearly service done on the furnace in my old house. People that run diesel boats do the same thing, since their fuel might be sitting for months at a time.

Stuff growing in the fuel tank won't be a risk to your health, I think the only risk is gumming up your fuel filter if it gets too bad.
 
Gilligan

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
bohman said:
:Stuff growing in the fuel tank won't be a risk to your health, I think the only risk is gumming up your fuel filter if it gets too bad.
Click to expand...

That exactly. Happens to marine diesel, off-highway equipment that is let sit..etc. The problem is all about the tendency for the 'growth' to clog filters.
 
itsbob

itsbob

I bowl overhand
buddscreekman said:
Had the furnace serviced today and we were told there is fungus in the fuel tank,that the fluid tested positive for it. Does this mean we need the vents cleaned,as in the fungus was traveling throughout the house? We've noticed a worsening of our daughter's asthma and a relative who has been staying with us is currently having testing done for some shortness of breath. Everyone else in the house is fine. Furnace guy says no,it would have vented out as a byproduct of the combustion. What say you?
Click to expand...

I'm not 100% confident of the answers here..

Fungus usually relies on spores, heat is one way for them to release their spores (one of the reasons there is usually a large "bloom" after a forest fire).

Which way those spores go after traveling through the combustion chamber would be a guess.

I assume combustion chambers are seperate from heating vents, through heat exchangers.. If that is working properly no spores should have a way to get into your house BUT spores can be mighty small and sneaky..

I WONDER if it would be possible to test your filters to see if any spores are floating around the inside of your house..

But these are just my ramblings..

My mom had/has respiratory issues and they ended up converting from an Oil Forced Hot Air system to a hot water system.. NO air ciculation, from her doctor's recommendation.
 
Gilligan

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
itsbob said:
I'm not 100% confident of the answers here..

.
Click to expand...

Any spores or live fungal material is combusted/killed in the fire box.

And regardless, if there is any air-to-air interchange in your furnace between combustion gases and heated air (it happens..a rotted or ruptured exchanger) ..you have other much bigger problems with CO and CO2 in your house, not to mention the soot infiltration/contamination. :howdy:
 
buddscreekman

buddscreekman

New Member
Gilligan said:
Any spores or live fungal material is combusted/killed in the fire box.

And regardless, if there is any air-to-air interchange in your furnace between combustion gases and heated air (it happens..a rotted or ruptured exchanger) ..you have other much bigger problems with CO and CO2 in your house, not to mention the soot infiltration/contamination. :howdy:
Click to expand...

No soot I'd guess,since we haven't seen any residue anywhere - but we have a bad filter,both inside and outside,the tank needs to be drained and cleaned,and we had a cracked something....can't remember off the top.
 
B

bresamil

wandering aimlessly
buddscreekman said:
No soot I'd guess,since we haven't seen any residue anywhere - but we have a bad filter,both inside and outside,the tank needs to be drained and cleaned,and we had a cracked something....can't remember off the top.
Click to expand...

That sounds expensive.

My daughter's asthma has also been kicking up but I understand the tree pollen is high right now and the doctor said the mild winter is really going to create a bad Spring for allergies.
 
C

czygvtwkr

Guest
buddscreekman said:
No soot I'd guess,since we haven't seen any residue anywhere - but we have a bad filter,both inside and outside,the tank needs to be drained and cleaned,and we had a cracked something....can't remember off the top.
Click to expand...

Having the tank cleaned and then putting the same fuel back in it just puts the fungus right back in the tank.
 
Gilligan

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
czygvtwkr said:
Having the tank cleaned and then putting the same fuel back in it just puts the fungus right back in the tank.
Click to expand...

In the marine business, we call the process of restoring a contaminated fuel system :fuel polishing" and there are off-board treatment and filtration systems that do exactly that, and hired contractors to provide them and perform that service. You do not 'drain and clean' anything...the process involves treatment with additives and continuous circulation of the oil thorugh a multi-stage filter setup with a high-volume pump.

Problem is..last time I lookd for someone to do that to a home heating oil tank, I came up empty handed. A couple of the heating oil companies had no idea what I was aksing for; others said "yeah we used to have the equipment to do that once....". I ended up throwing the old tank and contaminated fuel away and starting over with all new. To be fair..the tank was really old and had a lot of sediement in the bottom of it..perhaps 4 or 5" deep.

Good luck.
 
buddscreekman

buddscreekman

New Member
Gilligan said:
In the marine business, we call the process of restoring a contaminated fuel system :fuel polishing" and there are off-board treatment and filtration systems that do exactly that, and hired contractors to provide them and perform that service. You do not 'drain and clean' anything...the process involves treatment with additives and continuous circulation of the oil thorugh a multi-stage filter setup with a high-volume pump.

Problem is..last time I lookd for someone to do that to a home heating oil tank, I came up empty handed. A couple of the heating oil companies had no idea what I was aksing for; others said "yeah we used to have the equipment to do that once....". I ended up throwing the old tank and contaminated fuel away and starting over with all new. To be fair..the tank was really old and had a lot of sediement in the bottom of it..perhaps 4 or 5" deep.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

It's all moot at this point. Whole deal has to be replaced. New tank and all.
 
S

sm8

Active Member
Just to throw out there, My daughters asthma is acting up too. Figured it was just the weather and pollen.
 
bohman

bohman

Well-Known Member
buddscreekman said:
It's all moot at this point. Whole deal has to be replaced. New tank and all.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear that, I'm sure it won't be cheap. In my old house, the previous owner had completely neglected any sort of furnace maintenance, and we paid the price when the heat exchanger cracked the very first winter we were there. Had to replace the furnace. I swore after that I'd have the thing cleaned every year.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top