E Classic minor problems

[bobby s]

 Though my 2300 has been running well and gasifying, I haven't been getting the usual roaring flame in the reaction chamber. While cleaning today, I found one of the wires had come off the lower solenoid. The female disconnect was very loose, so I crimped new ones on and even crimped it again once it was on the solenoid post.

Earlier in the season, I had the same symptoms with more smoke and found the bolt holding the elbow cover had deteriorated and the cover was not lifting up when the fan came on. I replaced the bolt with a 1/4 20 stainless.

Both easy fixes, but learned my lesson that there's a reason if the boiler doesn't seem to be running right.
Hopefully this saves someone some aggravation.

[Roger2561]

Though my 2300 has been running well and gasifying, I haven't been getting the usual roaring flame in the reaction chamber. While cleaning today, I found one of the wires had come off the lower solenoid. The female disconnect was very loose, so I crimped new ones on and even crimped it again once it was on the solenoid post.

Earlier in the season, I had the same symptoms with more smoke and found the bolt holding the elbow cover had deteriorated and the cover was not lifting up when the fan came on. I replaced the bolt with a 1/4 20 stainless.

Both easy fixes, but learned my lesson that there's a reason if the boiler doesn't seem to be running right.
Hopefully this saves someone some aggravation.

On my E-classic 1400 I had essentially the same problem; the bolt that holds the plate to the solenoid had corroded away, thus not allowing any air into the firebox.  I also took the time to inspect the piece of steel they used as a plate that closes the air flow on the elbow and it too was corroded to the point of failure.  I purchased a piece of stainless steel plate, cut them to fit the elbow openings of all elbows and replaced them all.  I also replaced all of the nuts and bolts that hold the plate to the solenoids with stainless steel.  Roger

[doctorb]

Your message is loud and clear.  If it's not running / burning correctly, there's a reason.  Your job is to find it and then solve it.  We are often too quick to blame the fuel or a slight delay in maintenance cleaning, but, when things aren't right, you've got to look for all the problems.  Most are airflow related, in my experience.