E-Classic 2300 is now up and running in Central Mass

[bscully]

I have the e classic as well.  It has been operating for about a week.  I started it up and  mistakenly left the bypass open.  It worked fine.  Lots of air.   I decided after a week to close the bypass.  I misunderstood and though I needed to build up a big bed of coals before closing the bypass.   The first day I ran the boiler with the bypass closed the fire was out when I got home form work.  My dealer said the wood may be "bridging" but I dont really think so.  I am trying it again this afternoon.  Ive adjusted the wood some and had a good fire going when I closed the door and the bypass.  I do have the wood only model.   Any suggestions?

Brendan in Maine

[stumper]

Do you have your air intake shim installed?  I have one that has been running forseveral weeks now and once I built up my coals and had the correct shim I have not had issues.  Use a big paper clip as a small one does not let quite enough air in.  I keep a 54 inch hardwood stick at my boiler and use it to settle the pile down evry time I load it up. 

Where are you located?

[bscully]

Alfred Maine and I know nothing about the shim.  Could you explain?   I just finished messing with the boiler again.  I cleaned some ash from the reaction chamber, first time.  As soon as I close the bypass the temperature starts dropping.  In about 45 minutes it was down to 174, from 185.  I didnt want to go through starting the fire over again so I opened the bypass and was right back up to 185.

[ecrane99]

Bescully,

I have an eclassic and had the same issue. You need to open the main panels in the back (where your water hookup is).  Then open the cover to your air solenoids.  on the wood model, there are 3 solenoilds.  You need to put a large paper clip in the primary air intake (the one on top).  Put the paper clip in so that the plunger rests on the paper clip and doesn't close completely.  This will allow a trickle of air to keep the coals alive.

[bscully]

Thanks I will give this a try.   Ill let you know how it goes and be in touch.  THANKS!!!

[bscully]

Also, are you guys splitting everything you put into the boiler?   Are you using any green wood?

[antos_ketcham]

Also, are you guys splitting everything you put into the boiler?   Are you using any green wood?

I am using rounds and green wood mixed in. I put the paper clip in several months ago and have had no issues with the fire going out since then. The unit is running great.

[stumper]

I have been mixing in junk wood as well and it does just fine.  I do not plan to burn green good wood because of the heat value lost, but the junk is junk so any value is a gain.

[bscully]

Ok so today I had the bypass open.  The fire was great all day.  I got home and am trying to close up the bypass.  I went into the back of the boiler and grabbed a large paperclip.  I opened things up and saw what looked like two little black buckets with caps on them.   I lifted the cap on the top bucket and slipped the paperclip in to keep it open a bit.    I also raised the temperature to 190 on the setting.  The fan was blowing because my water temp was at 183.  I closed the bypass and the last time I checked the temperature was 180.  About 15 minutes ago.   And the blower is still going.   The temp still seems to be dropping.   Am I missing something?  Did I put the paperclip in the right place?    Do I need something bigger?

[Tom]

Y'all need to get out the cameras and leave some pictures.

[antos_ketcham]

Make sure you are putting the paper clip in the primary air solenoid - this is the top "bucket" and make sure it keeps a gap open when the solenoid closes. You should be closing the bypass whenever you are not fueling or inspecting the fire. Have you been checking to make sure your wood is not bridging? Mine did this morning and I just had to poke it with a hoe and then it was fine. I had put in some dimensional rough cut 6x6 scraps and they got hung up on each other.

Pete

[ecrane99]

Paperclip fix and other photos of our E-Classic setup:
 
I got carried away and installed 2 paperclips.  One is probably enough.





This is what my creosote buildup looks like. I think it will clean up when winter arrives.




Fire will burn quick if you leave the door open for a few minutes




We built this shelter to keep out of the rain. It also holds a weeks worth of wood.






E-Classic notes from Ed in CT:

I have the wood only unit

1) had the problem of fire going out.  Put a paper clip on the primary air disc and now the fire stays lit.
unit blows air until watertemp reaches 185, then shuts down.  Blower turns on at 180.  this process continues.
If the water temp falls to 175, the primary and secondary blowers turn on.  With the paperclip, my fire never drops below 179 and burns nice now.

2) Noticed alot of black gooey creosote buildup on the firebox walls and ceiling.

3) Bypass door sticks .  probably due to creosote.

4) found it important to use smaller logs and splits as they seem to keep the ash bed.
Ash bed is important on this furnace.  Without a good ashbed, the unit will smoke.

5) I知 still getting the hang of it and I think when the temps cool down, the unit will perform better and maybe less creosote.

6) I知 using 3 sections of chiminey. Draft is good.

7) I have the furnace on heavy duty patio type blocks.  I was worried about the wieght but they held up well without any cracking.

The lights on the furnace are only good for the surounding area.  Inpecting or loading wood requires a flashlight if the system is in idle mode as the is no flam in the firebox.  I try to do my loading before sunset.

9) I知 building a shed / lean to next to the furnace.  It will keep me dry when loading and provide a place to hang my shovel, gloves etc.

10) Overall I am happy with it so far.

[beenthere]

A note about creosote in boiler units. The water at 180ｰ will keep the combustion chamber walls cool, so creosote will form on them as the gases cool and condenses out the creosote. When it gets just so thick, it will continually burn off in a fire. So inside, it is no problem and can't be helped (IMO).

But getting creosote into the mechanism of dampers and controls, or plugging up the smoke stack..it is then a problem to watch for.

I've never cleaned the creosote off the walls inside my boiler, and it has not built up any extra over the 25 years it has been operating. Maybe 1/2 inch thick at most.

Friend of mine uses a head lamp (miners lamp) when charging the outside boiler, to help see inside while loading it. He said he was buying cheap flashlights, but kept finding them in a molten blob just inside the door on the threshold the next time he opened it to load up. 

[antos_ketcham]

Paperclip fix and other photos of our E-Classic setup:
 
I got carried away and installed 2 paperclips.  One is probably enough.



(Image hidden from quote, click to view.)

This is what my creosote buildup looks like. I think it will clean up when winter arrives.


(Image hidden from quote, click to view.)

Fire will burn quick if you leave the door open for a few minutes


(Image hidden from quote, click to view.)

We built this shelter to keep out of the rain. It also holds a weeks worth of wood.


(Image hidden from quote, click to view.)



E-Classic notes from Ed in CT:

I have the wood only unit

1) had the problem of fire going out.  Put a paper clip on the primary air disc and now the fire stays lit.
unit blows air until watertemp reaches 185, then shuts down.  Blower turns on at 180.  this process continues.
If the water temp falls to 175, the primary and secondary blowers turn on.  With the paperclip, my fire never drops below 179 and burns nice now.

2) Noticed alot of black gooey creosote buildup on the firebox walls and ceiling.

3) Bypass door sticks .  probably due to creosote.

4) found it important to use smaller logs and splits as they seem to keep the ash bed.
Ash bed is important on this furnace.  Without a good ashbed, the unit will smoke.

5) I知 still getting the hang of it and I think when the temps cool down, the unit will perform better and maybe less creosote.

6) I知 using 3 sections of chiminey. Draft is good.

7) I have the furnace on heavy duty patio type blocks.  I was worried about the wieght but they held up well without any cracking.

The lights on the furnace are only good for the surounding area.  Inpecting or loading wood requires a flashlight if the system is in idle mode as the is no flam in the firebox.  I try to do my loading before sunset.

9) I知 building a shed / lean to next to the furnace.  It will keep me dry when loading and provide a place to hang my shovel, gloves etc.

10) Overall I am happy with it so far.

Thanks for the photos - can you improve the resolution at all? I'd really like to see the shed more clearly. How big is it?

[bscully]

I want to thank everyone for the help.  The pics were great.  I went out to the boiler and tried to make sure the wood was a flat as possible.  I may have misunderstood the meaning of bridging initially.   THe paperclip is in place and I closed the bypass.  Im going to give it an hour before bed and go check it again.  Hopefully the temp will not have dropped significantly.  If so Ill open the bypass and try again tomorrow. I may need to create just a bit of a larger opening in that upper solenoid.  That will be my next experiment.   Again thanks very much and Ill keep you posted.

[ecrane99]

 
1) Take a look and make sure your paper clip is in the top solenoid. You can put 2 in their just to be sure there is enough space for air to enter.
 
2) You shouldn't need to change the temp to 190.  185 is probably the best setting.
 
3) Make sure your air holes (located around the lower part of the firebox) are not obtructed by wood or ash.
the air needs to feed the fire and can't be blocked.
 
4) Make sure the grate on the bottom of the firebox is not obstructed with a big log. You need a good coal bed to exist over the grate. Air needs to flow from the firebox down through the coalbed and grate.
 
5) Make sure you have a good coalbed going before loading large pieces of wood.
start a fire with small sticks and small split wood.  feed it with small pieces to build the coalbed before adding large peices. 
 
6) Check you reaction chamber for obstructions (If there is alot of ash in there, shovel it out)

 
 Good luck.  Let us know how you make out.

[bscully]

I think I got it guys thanks.  I used one of those black paperclips that is more like a little clamp.  Dont know if you know what I mean but this allowed me to adjust the opening a little more and make it a touch bigger than with a paper clip.  I stoked the fire good and made sure no bridging and lots of air.   Closed the bypass about an hour ago and went for a run.   When I left the temp was 180 and now its at 185.  This is the temp I have it set at now.   Think Im out of the woods.   Thanks a ton.  I appreciate all of the help.   Just in time too.  Looks to be getting very cold here next week!!!

thank you!!

[synthetic1]

Great information on Central Boiler.  I've been looking for a forum like this.  Appreciate all of the info. 

Question: I have an E-Classic and was wondering about the Ash Troll stuff they recommend sprinkling in the fire box daily.  Are you guys doing it?  Do you know what the stuff consists of?  Have you found any cost effective alternatives? 

Thank You.

David

[Radar67]

Check this thread on the ash trol.

http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,34094.0.html

Welcome to the forum.

[hookem75]

Great thread thanks for the info on the paper clip!   I just finished my E-classic 2300 install with a forced air conversion and added baseboard as well.  If anyone needs info or has questions let me know.  I love being free of oil and my wife likes the warm house!  Thanks Erik  Plymouth MA