Eclassic 2300 air holes blocked

[firechief]

Took apart both solenoids yesterday and after 4 full heating seasons they are clean as a whistle !

[doctorb]

Great pics guys.  I am with Roger...mine looked worse than yours. I clean once per year.

[Roger2561]

Took apart both solenoids yesterday and after 4 full heating seasons they are clean as a whistle !

firechief - What are you burning for firewood?  Mine is a mix of hardwoods; maple, rock maple, beech, birch, smidgen of elm (worse dang stuff to split) oak and some ash.  Mine is well seasoned being dried for 3 seasons before burning and I still end up with the primary elbow and nipple stuffed with creosote.  But, good on you that they are clean.  They can be a pain in the keaster to clean.thoroughly.  Roger 

[firechief]

Roger,

I am about 90-95%red and white oak with a bit of cherry and maple.  A plentiful supply of oak in my area that I have access to, dried for 2 years.

[DAP]

I also have an Eclassic 2300 that I am having problems with.  I start a fire and when I shut the firebox door the fire will go down to only red coals in less than a minute.  The primary solenoid is open,  the primary solenoid tube area was blocked about 25% with creosote build up which I cleaned out.  The air holes in the firebox have been cleared.  The exhaust side of the system has been cleaned from the reaction chamber thru the tubes to the chimney.  Is it possible there is something else blocking the air flow from the primary solenoid to the air holes in the fire box or is there anything else that should be checked?  This is my 1st year running this 2300.

[doctorb]

Is your fan running?  CB upgraded the fans on early 2300's  What year was yours manufactured?  (See panel on back of OWB).

[DAP]

Eclassic 2300 was manufactured September 2009

[DAP]

I neglected to mention that the fan is running.  It seems to be blowing a good amount of air out the fan. 

[stratford 50]

Make sure the hole in the bottom of  the firebox leading into the reaction chamber is open.

[doctorb]

Here's how I would test your airflow.  Unload the unburnt wood/logs, leaving the coals.  Open the door and use something (Stick, 2x4) to depress the small pop-up switch on the face of the stove just below the left door hinge, turning the fans back on while the door is open.  Watch as the coals heat up.  If the coals are not completely out, and adequate airflow is entering the firebox, you should start to see glowing coals adjacent to each air hole on the side and back of the stove.  If you don't see that, but the fire slowly increases (usually the center of the coals), then you are not getting adequate airflow through the air chambers and into the firebox when the door is closed, and the only reason you're getting a fire at all is to have it increase with the airflow coming through the open door.

You fire sounds air starved.  It's not a matter of getting a raging blaze with the door open, it's a matter of getting enough airflow through the coal bed to keep the fire going and permit gasification when the door is closed.

Mine was manufactured in March of 200i9, so you should also have the upgraded fan.

[DAP]

The hole to the reaction chamber is open.  Before I shut the firebox door I have flames climbing the walls and flowing across the ceiling.  I get smoke out the chimney.  After I shut the door to the firebox I watch the chimney and at 1st there is a lot of smoke coming out then the amount of smoke goes down considerably in less than a minute.  I open the door again and the fire is almost out and only red coals burning. 

[DAP]

doctorb and strateford50 thanks for your comments.

I will check the air flow as suggested.  I am also curious what the passages look like after the fresh air flows around the corner from the primary solenoid tube as it splits to flow around the firebox to the air holes.  I'll take a mirror and flash light and see if I can look around the corner.

[thecfarm]

There's a guy,I have no idea his name,on the other side of town that I wish would find all these threads. He has an Eclassic and just about everytime I drive by that thing is smoking. I know it's not right from what you guys are posting.

[JJ]

Hi DAP,
If you are just starting the woodstove, I would suggest burning for 1-2h with bypass door open, to build up a coal bed, and to warm up the water.
It sounds like stove is too cold, and not enough coals to keep it going.

         JJ

[JJ]

about the post from thecfarm,
If your neighbor is burning rotten or wet wood in the e-classic, it will make lots of smoke.

        JJ

[Roger2561]

doctorb and strateford50 thanks for your comments.

I will check the air flow as suggested.  I am also curious what the passages look like after the fresh air flows around the corner from the primary solenoid tube as it splits to flow around the firebox to the air holes.  I'll take a mirror and flash light and see if I can look around the corner.

That's not a bad idea if you can get a mirror in there.  One thing I do is remove all of the coals, get head inside the firebox so I can reach those holes in far corners with a screwdriver that I bent.  I wouldn't be surprised if creosote has clogged and is restricting the air flow into the firebox.  As doctorb suggested, press the micro switch that would be between the door and shell to activate the blower.  See if air gets to those coals; they should begin to glow after a couple of seconds.  Roger

[doctorb]

I would like to echo JJ's comment.  Are you just starting up the stove for the year?  If so then you have no real coal bed and there's not enough inherent heat in your fire to keep it going.  So before I type out all the tips I have for getting a 2300 up to temperature, tell us whether you have been running it for awhile this year or whether you are just in start up mode.

[DAP]

I'm in startup mode.   I went thru various conditions of door open, door shut, bypass vent open, closed to get water up to temp.  I also noticed that when the reaction chamber temperature reached 750 degrees that the high temp valve would open along with having the low temp valve open.  Is this valve setup to control the temp in the reaction chamber so it doesn't get to hot?  The main problem I have had is keeping the fire going and as a result have been cleaning and inspecting all air passages.
1. cleared air holes in fire box
2. Used a coat hanger to get into the air passages and make sure nothing was blocked between air holes.
3. Found air hole in back corners below the round air hole.  It looks like this slot helps direct air down into the coals or is possibly a clean out slot to get stuff out of the air passage.
4. Used shop vac to help clear out air passages.
5. Started a fire in the firebox however it would not keep going without opening fill door.
6. The air flow thru the holes did not seem enough to keep the fire going.
7. Remove valve that controls air flow to the air holes and inserted shop vac line into pipe to blow air into air holes with shop vac instead of fan on boiler.  This provided enough air that the boiler would heat up with the fill door shut.  I have checked out the box that the fan is mounted to and don't see any leak paths,  the door seal looks good.  Is it possible the valve does not open enough and restricts the air flow to the air holes?
8. After water was up to temp both the low and high temp valves shut and about a minute later the fan shut off.
9.  Now that the water temp is down it appears that there is not enough heat in the firebox to get the fire going again.


Any comments would be appreciated.

[JJ]

It seems like you have check all of the air intakes, so maybe no problem there.
Is there a cap on the chimney? 
How much smoke do you see coming out of chimney, with all the doors closed, and cover on the air box?
with the bypass door open, even with wet wood, you should have lots of smoke, and enough fire to heat up the water.

I would be cautious about using the shop vac to blow air on the fire.  To do this, the air box must be open, and I think fire can come back out the airbox, through the lower air intake.

Also, with the air box cover open, the blower will not be able to force any air into the stove.
Just a thought.

           JJ

[DAP]

I have also cleaned all the passages for the exhaust and the chimney did have a cap over it during the summer but I removed it before trying to start the boiler.  I only tried the shop vac to see if it was possible to get enough air into the firebox to keep the fire going with the fill door shut and the bypass closed.  It seems to me that with all air passages clear for fresh air and exhaust that I either need to do something different with the 1st fire I build in the boiler so there are more hot coals or I need to look more closely at the "fresh air fan box" for problems.  after trying the shop vac for fresh air I also tried running the boiler without the low temp valve installed.  This also worked well except it can not stay this way because when the fill door is open there is no way to close the passageway to the air holes in the firebox.  Without the valve the system came up to heat as it should.  Water at 190 degrees and the reaction chamber was at 750 degrees.

Smoke:  Lots of smoke while filling firebox with a fire already started.  Some smoke out the chimney however as the reaction chamber reached 750 degrees it appeared that the smoke was less.  When water was up to temp the smoke went down to almost none out the chimney when the valves closed and the fan shut off.

[JJ]

That sounds about right.  I think you are on your way.
I set my e-2300 at 190F.  Runs better and cleaner.
When loading, scrape along air holes daily and load new wood bark side down.
Don't over think it, and let it cycle.  I only open mine 2x daily to load new wood.

Every other week, clean out ash from reaction chamber, and once monthly, brush ream the heat exchange tubes, (where the turburlators are) and clean this area as well.

             JJ

[JJ]

One note, if very cold (<10F) increase freq of clean-outs.

            JJ

[DAP]

Filled firebox yesterday afternoon.  Checked this morning around 10 a.m. and the boiler had just cycled with water temp at 190 degrees and reaction chamber temp at 900 degrees.  Opened firebox and found 2 pieces of wood left in bottom.   Cleared area in center for air flow into reaction chamber.  Air holes looked clear.  Filled with wood and had a blazing fire before I could close the door.

Checked boiler 4 hours after filling and found water temp at 170 degrees and reaction chamber temp at 270 degrees.  Firebox full of wood, fan running and no fire?????  I thought I had it going after running for 16 hours however it seems that there is still something to be done.  I don't have the manual however it makes me wonder if I need to change the timer to keep the firebox warm or load wood differently.

[Roger2561]

Filled firebox yesterday afternoon.  Checked this morning around 10 a.m. and the boiler had just cycled with water temp at 190 degrees and reaction chamber temp at 900 degrees.  Opened firebox and found 2 pieces of wood left in bottom.   Cleared area in center for air flow into reaction chamber.  Air holes looked clear.  Filled with wood and had a blazing fire before I could close the door.

Checked boiler 4 hours after filling and found water temp at 170 degrees and reaction chamber temp at 270 degrees.  Firebox full of wood, fan running and no fire?????  I thought I had it going after running for 16 hours however it seems that there is still something to be done.  I don't have the manual however it makes me wonder if I need to change the timer to keep the firebox warm or load wood differently.

I have never filled mine.  I always put in just enough wood to last 12 hours.  Roger

[doctorb]

I wish I could be of more help.

BTW - don't clear the area in the center part of the floor of the firebox of coals.  That's the area that the smoke from those hot coals gets blown down into the reaction chamber and burns the smoke for better efficiency and more heat.  So if you are "clearing the area" over the center of the firebox, you are inhibiting the desired process of downdraft gasification.  Leave the red hot coals on top of those transverse bars.  It will burn very poorly without those coals there.  The air will get through them, don't worry about that.   It's only when you have dense ash (almost like a heavy powder or sand) that you have to remove it.