Working on our 133 year old house i found the furnace exhaust pipe rusted out.
Oil burner exhaust on metal roofs rusting.
You don t want this to occur to your furnace especially along the heat exchangers.
Remove the flakes of the rust and paint using a wire brush.
Talking about how i fixed it.
My furnace guys say the stains are very dark for sulphur but they concede that they can t suggest anything else that it could be.
In sum corrosion and stains on and around metal chimneys include rust flue gas deposits and corrosive condensates though not primarily from oil dye as you suggest rust stains from contact between dissimilar metals occasionally sulfates the main component and even bacteria in oil fired systems.
Light rust does not get removed by simple wiping since it is firmly bonded to the metal surface.
Furnace exhaust repair rusted pipe don.
My chimney company say it s sulphur deposits.
First and foremost remove any oil grease and dirt present on the rusted metal.
It was serviced previously by his oil co.
The great danger of rust to metal is that it eats away at the metal and eventually causes it to crumble and flake away.
After multi visits with riello and other consultants we changed the burner to a beckett af2 and my combustion parammeters were perfect.
Rust is the result of oxidation that occurs when metal oxygen and water mix.
To remove powder and soluble rinse it with water properly.