New E-Classic owner

[ken999]

BTW...I looked at the pump while I was out there goofing around tonight...I've got a Taco 0014 on the boiler. Is that TOO much with an 80' run of T-Pex??

Might that be the reason why I'm not getting enough heat dump in the house when it get's cold?

[firechief]

Hi Ken,
Thanks for the updates.  Enjoy logging on (no pun intended) and reading your thoughts.
Would it be possible to see a picture of your custom bent 5/8" rebar hook?  The back of my 2300 is caked up quite a bit also and I'm looking for ways to get things cleaned up somewhat.  Thanks.

Jim

[ken999]

Oh....It's a beauty...

I took a 6' or so piece of rebar and put a 4" bend in one end to dig with, then a 10" or so bend in the other for a hand hold, somewhat aligned...

Nothing special really, I just did it in the vise a work.

5/8" is a little whippy, 3/4" would probably be better/stiffer.

I'll take a pic of it if your want, but it's really nothing special...just me bieng a smart azz....

[thecfarm]

Ken,if it's too big it will burn itself out in a few months.Something about the water is still moving fast when it hits the fins,pump.I went through 2 of them.Bought them both back and got them replaced for free but knew something was wrong after the 2nd one.I have 30 feet of run and had one too big on mine.I forgot the size.I went down to a Taco 7 and have plenty of heat and no problems.This worked for me.

[ken999]

Went out this AM and things had burned down pretty good.  I found a couple of firebricks uprooted and one of my bars covering the FC was dislodged...great...The bricks were partially covering the hole and likely were adding to the smoke level that I had been seeing as of late. Seems I better tone down the coal stirring sessions.

I monkeyed with it for a few minutes but had to get going to work. I put a small load in hoping to have things calmed down by this afternoon so I could shovel it out and recombobulate things. I managed to get the bricks out, one was broke...good thing I have the model that came with all the brick on the sides of the firechamber...I got 20 or so spares laying on the workbench in the garage.

Came home tonight with a respirator from work and got to digging it out. I think I'll wear the respirator more often as I'm a little leary of all that soot floating around when I'm working on the stove.

I got it shoveled out and cleaned it up good, then put some fine splits back over the FC hole to keep all the ash/coals from dumping back down into the FC when I put them back in the stove. 1/2 hour-45 minutes total and I was all done and the boiler started the climb back up to 185 from 153. Time check...4:45. I went out at 6:15 and it was at 183 and idling. I put another load in it for the night and called it another fine day in the life of a 2300......

[ken999]

Well...things have been pretty good lately. I get some smoke right after loading, but other than that it's not too bad.

I've been wondering if the boiler makes enough heat with the smaller loads though. It seemed to be burning more wood with little loads compared to the normal wheelborrow load. With the holiday weekend I was home often so I played a little and loaded it more often. No real 'data' to back up my theory, but I expected less consumption with the warmer weather we had over the weekend. Could be me though.

Tomorrow will finish up the row I've been working on since the 20th. Not too bad... 0.57 chord of hardwood in 10 days. It sounds like alot but consider that we are replacing 4-5 chord/year burned in a PE Summit insert AND 200+ gallons of oil EVERY month during winter. Our house has never been warmer either.

I've got some more insulating to do on the pex lines outside and in to trap ALL the heat I can, but realistically, things will not change a whole lot until we upgrade the insulation in the house.


Anyone else get some real gooey build-up in the back corners of their boiler? I've been pulling the coals foward all the time to keep the air holes in the back open, but I'm starting to wonder if I should leave some of them back there to burn up all that oooz sliding down the walls of the upper fire chamber.

[Highlander]

yup, i get the goo too. I use a long ice scraper and pry it off and let it burn up. I am going to get another length of pipe tommorow(that will make 3) to see if it will help with all the smoke that rolls out the door everytime i load it. If i dont load it before i shower for bed the old lady throws me out of the rack and makes me shower again..

[ken999]

That's one of my wife's complaints too...I stink after loading the stove. Before too, but she must have grown accustomed to that by now......

I'm finding that I can minimize the stank by bumping up the setpoint to start the fan and fire the stove, pulling the bypass, then going to the wood pile with the wheelborrow, giving the stove time to clear itself. By the time I get back to the stove, I should have good flame in the firebox, which helps pull the smoke up the stack while I open the door SLOWLY.

I've been thinking alot about adding another section as well. I'll be curious to hear how you fare if you do add the third stack. Keep us posted.

[Highlander]

I put the 3rd pipe on today, didnt help at all with the smoke rolling out the door. The dealer swore up and down that for every extra piece of pipe the stove should perform better, oh well, i tried.

[rondojod]

sounds like your dealer needs money!

[MudBud]

Highlander, what did they charge you for the extra section of pipe?

[Highlander]

I think retail is 225.00 but if you bought the stove from them you pay 150.00.

[dva]

Were you having trouble keeping the boiler lit? Or having problems with good gasification? Or needing to clear any smoke above a roof line of a neighbor?

Those would be the only three reasons I can think of to add more chimney.

I have the same problem (condition) of the smoke rolling out when the door is opened, especially after the unit has just shut down. I think the concept is to keep the firebox relatively sealed from oxygen/draft during the quiescent period; this will naturally keep the smoke dense and enclosed in the firebox.

The only way the chimney will draft the firebox after opening the bypass is if the air in the chimney is warm, and there is a way to let some free air into the firebox, which is unlikely much after after the unit shuts down and all the solenoids close.  I don't think your dealer understands the principles of chimney drafting when it is applied to a closed "cold" firebox, such as the 2300.

Our wives must have all gone to the same rule-school: no smelling like smoke in bed, no matter how much money you're saving!  I've learned to fling open the door and jump back away from the smoke until it clears. :-)

(Earlier this year I needed to use the paperclip trick to keep the unit lit during the low heat loads. This kept a little free air filling the firebox and venting the smoke out of the chimney. With the paperclip in place the amount of rolling smoke that came out after opening the door was much less. Problem is that during the off or quiescent period, the unit would always smoke a little as it helped to keep the coals lit.)

[firechief]

Lately I've been pulling the bypass and opening the door just a few inches.  Most of the time the air coming in those few inches helps to push it out the chimney and clear things up in the firebox.  Although there are those few times where the fire just rages out the door no matter what.  In that case I just go back in the house and pop a cold one.

Jim

[superwd6]

my third length was for smoke dissapation to keep it away from house and nieghbor. Might add a fourth length

[stumper]

CB has addressed the smoke rolling out the door on the newest model.  After opening the door the blower turns on to help clear the smoke.  Seems like a retro fit of that would be easy (but no real money in it for CB).

I have a short narrow board that I prop on the door switch to keep the blower blowing.  It helps as long as the system is calling for heat.

[ken999]

...seems like a 4-6" smoke flap would help too...

[ken999]

Another row gone, 6/10th's of a chord in 10 days.

I've been cutting myself too close on the loadings lately and burning up too much of the coal bed. I gave the firebox a good cleaning the other day when I had to coal pile real low. My stove doesn't have all the holes shown in the back like the sticker next to the door shows.  The sticker shows two small holes either side of a large center hole......I've got one little hole about two inches in from the corner. I've got the last version that had firebrick and two bars covering the Fusion Chamber.

[ken999]

I've had lot's of trouble lately with the fire going out. I've been mizing in the pine and I think the combination of quicker burning wood and warmer temps has been giving me fits.

I'll paperclip the boiler tonight and see if that helps.