Oil Burner Puff Back

Last Friday my house filled with black smoke and dust. Fire Dept and Police responded and we were told to stay out of the house until it had been professionally cleaned because of a puff back from our oil burner. The burner had been serviced about three weeks before. We are now at the point where my insurance company tells me they will pay for a boiler gun but the burner company says we need to replace the entire burner. Any suggestions? The burner company was also at the house and cut a piece of wire about 5 inches long, why would they do that? Thanks for any help.

An oil burner assembly is sometimes referred to as a gun. I suspect that what your insurance company is saying is that they will pay for a replacement oil burner assembly but not for a complete boiler.

Not having the slightest idea of what wire was cut or where the wire was I cannot give a definite answer. It may have been the power cable to the existing oil burner and they cut it to prevent someone from just closing the switch and re-energizing the burner.

Since you had this unit serviced three weeks prior to the furnace explosion (the correct term for a "puff back") the service company should be liable for the damages.

I had my "sears 10" oil furnace do that once and I don't see why the burner would have to be replaced.

Unless the fire damaged either the fire chamber or the heat exchanger... Most of the time it's something simple like the nozzle, electrodes, or ignition transformer.

Get estimates as most places want you to replace things instead of fixing them.

PS: Get a CO(Carbon Monoxide) alarm...