Why we drill 1/4-inch test ports

Ever wonder why we drill 1/4-inch holes for flue sampling? I’m a furnace tech and still carry high-temp 1/4-inch silicone plugs and a 6 mm probe to keep leakage down for clean CO and O2 numbers and safer homes — was that size set by early analyzers or just shop habit?

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But pretty sure 1/4-inch came from old analyzer kits/plugs; no code mandate. Your 6 mm probe’s fine — see Testo: https://www.testo.com/en-US/applications/combustion-analysis.

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