Eric wrote:
Here's a good HVAC question I haven't seen here before...

In my house I've got two oil burners (hot air furnace and separate water heater) vented by a Field SWG power venter. At the
ripe old age of 8 years, the blower wheel (squirrel cage) in the power vent rusted out and actually lost a blade.

So I ordered a new wheel and installed it. The new wheel is stainless and is designed very slightly differently from the old
one, but is definitely the correct part and is intended to replace the one that was in there. I did *not* touch any
adjustments, just disassembled the venter enough to replace the wheel, replaced said wheel, and reassembled it.

So my question, finally: it seems like we're getting a lot more "burning oil" odor in the house than we were before. I can
easily believe this could just be the wind direction, but I wonder if changing that wheel might have changed the draft on the
oil burners enough that they're now not burning cleanly.

Anyone ever dealt with this before? Should I get a tech out to readjust the burners?

Eric Law
Wilmington, MA


If the wheel is designed differently as you described it certainly is
reasonable to think its performance has changed requiring a readjustment.