E classic 2300 wood ignition with propane problem

muckamuck · January 24, 2010, 05:23:44 PM

The use of the wood ignition button is very nice in the fall and spring when the fire is more prone to go out from lack of demand, but I use it each week even in the winter after I clean the ashes out on Saturdays. I have noticed that creosote can build up on the propane jet and the burner will not ignite. You push the wood ignition button, fan goes on a minute, then you hear the propane start to hiss at the tank and it should puff, ignite within a second, but if there is creosote on the jet near the ignition wire there is no puff of ignition and the gas shuts off within 3 seconds or so. Yes, you can remove the back panel, pull the propane jet and ignition wire at end and scrub it with a wire brush and it works again, but it can get full of creosote again within a few days. So I moved my paper clip from the normal air intake to the lip of the propane upper gas burner and it seems to help. The tiny flow of air at all times seems to keep the smoke and creosote out of the burner tube. Warning, I read someone was having problems keeping a fire and wanted to but a big 1/4 inch bolt to keep the air coming but that much air may result in overheating. Another warning-- when I filled my 100 lb propane tank I think they may have slightly overfilled it because when I reconnected and fired up I saw liquid propane dripping out of my regulator and vaporizing on the tank (fire and explosion hazard). So when you fill you tank stand it upright far away from a flame and open the value as a test to make sure only gas, no liquid propane comes out, then move it to your stove and connect and watch it closely the first time. Probably a good idea to install the tank a good 30 feet from the fire. -Muckamuck

richsei · January 25, 2010, 12:00:57 PM

This is the same problem I was having with my E2300, You can read my other post. The dealer that put it in for me came back out about 6weeks ago an did a mod to the pipe that the burner is in. Made it longer it now sticks out about 2" to 3" in the fire box and this has helped a lot so far it has ignited every time not sure what was all done to make this work (I was not home when it was done) But it is and that makes life good.

richsei · January 26, 2010, 11:56:33 AM

Well looks like I posted to soon. Looks like I'll have to pull the burner and clean it. It's back too not wanting to lite. My dealer told me he has a mod from CB that will help with this so as soon as I can get him out here and get it put on I'll update everyone again.

richsei · January 26, 2010, 04:48:38 PM

well just finished up the mod for the burner guess we will see if works......

richsei · January 26, 2010, 05:02:13 PM

Would post a pic of the mod but guess I dont know how????

richsei · January 26, 2010, 07:27:57 PM

Let see if this works this time . Pic of the mod to my upper burner.IMG] https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20871/2670/IMG_6779.JPG [/IMG]

vintage_farms · February 28, 2010, 08:42:42 AM

I've been having this occasional problem myself. I've learned as of last year every 3-4 weeks maintenance cleaning solved the issue - but it was a bit of a pain dealing with it in sub-zero temps or freezing rain. I tried to keep my fire burning constant in such weather conditions so those issues didn't develop.

However, as of today, my "GAS back up" heating, as per the dual fuel option I have, will not kick in? My wood GAS ignition still functions to light the wood only - but my primary "GAS back up" system used to heat the water jacket (used when you're out of wood) does not light/burn and I keep getting an LED read-out saying "FAN" - obvioulsy telling me the GAS back up failed and the unit is airing out the unit for another attempt. However, each attempt keeps giving me the same LED read-out with the FAN read-out and consistent ""GAS back up" ignition failures. It was working last night when I went to bed but this morning our room temperature was down a few degrees and now we're heating with electric space heaters until I get back into the woods and get another cord of wood cut ready to burn. - of course this would have to happen on Sunday when Central boiler is closed & my dealer's emergency line isn't returning phone calls...

I'm heading to the woods right NOW to cut some more fallen dead timber! Hopefully, next time, I'll have the GAS feature functioning and I can enjoy my Sunday (my day off) as originally intented - if in the event, I run out of wood during a busy work week that keeps me from getting into the woods as per my regular wood cutting routine.

Anybody out there with this type of "dual fuel" option issue? Do I need to do a clean out somewhere's within another chamber area? I'm thinking a propane gas orfice is clogged or something but I'm not sure where it's located?

- Thanks, Brad

spacedog · February 28, 2010, 12:41:55 PM

I have had similar problems as everyone else. The solution that seems to work best for me its to run the upper burner for a couple of minutes every other day or so to keep everything cleaned out.

vintage_farms · February 28, 2010, 02:31:59 PM

I figured out the issue ...there's a separate ignition element for the "GAS back up" that also needs maintained - but not as often as the wood-burning ignition element. I've also learned earlier this past week from the dealer - Central Boiler has the new modified wood ignition element available as a replacement for the original element that came with my OWB. The new modified version is NOT supposed to get gunked up so much with creosote. I hope it works better and eliminates the monthly maintenance the old one required.

- Thx, Brad

muckamuck · March 04, 2010, 08:58:13 PM

One other problem I've noticed is that on rare occasions when I use the propane ignition that I hear the fan run a minute but I never hear the hiss of the propane at all and it does not light. I'm not sure what is the cause of the problem is in that case.

doctorb · March 05, 2010, 03:21:15 PM

I also own the dual fuel model of the E-2300. I have never hooked up the gas, so, at least at this tme, it's been a useless expense for me so far. Would you users of the dual fuel model suggest that I hook up the gas? Is it so convenient that you "couldn't live without it?" I do not plan to use the propane for backup heat. I have oil for that. Is the ease of re-ignition or restart of the wood fire worth the trouble of hooking up the gas? Would you recommend that I, even though I don't use gas, have my dealer perform the upgrade modification? Do you feel that the propane system is safe? I am sure that there are a bunch of E-2300 owners that are in the same boat I am. Your thoughts?

Doctorb

spacedog · March 05, 2010, 05:32:25 PM

DoctorB

I was also in your shoes last year. I had bought the dual fuel and never hooked up the gas. I had a major meltdown of my initial E-classic and the whole unit ended up being replaced under warranty. I tried to have the unit changed to one without the gas burners but was unsuccessful. This last summer I decided to hook up the gas since I had spent about $1800.00 extra for the dual fuel. It was another $500.00 and two appointments with the gas man for the hook up (Labor/ 2 regulators / and the intial tank of fuel). A $10.00 permit from the town plus one visit by the Fire Marshal for a final inspection. Almost forgot, I had pre-installed the underground gas feed line on my initial install, $150.00 for 60' of 1/2" line (materials only).

Once I fired up the unit last fall my upper burner gave me hell before it worked reliably on wood re-light. It has been working OK lately. I tested the gas backup feature which worked as advertised. One note on the back up burner, it will burn through your tank of gas in no time. I used almost 10% of my tank in about 12 hours so I rarely turn on this feature.

Now that the day temps are getting into the 40s and 50s the relight feature is nice to have. I even manually burn it for a few minutes every couple of days to try and keep down the creosote build up on the burner. The relight feature does not seem to use that much fuel at the moment and when working properly will make extended runs into warmer weather a lot more convienent. If I could do it all over again I would not get the Dual Fuel option. I don't think the overall costs are worth the added convienence.

If your not going to hook up the gas I wouldn't put any more money into it. As for safety I don't have any concerns. I am sure if there were a gas leak on the boiler end bad things would happen but better outside then in my house.

MrMojoinCO · March 31, 2010, 09:25:07 PM

I really like the dual fuel option. It was quite easy to hook into my existing 1000 gal. undergraound tank. it just took a T , regulator and a few pieces of black pipe. During the day when it's sunny the boiler shuts off the air to the fire and it wont burn most of the day saving wood (big time) I used the relight feature all winter and it worked reliably all but once. The small suction switch hole clogged up so the switch couldnt tell the was proper air flow thru the torch head. The fact that it re-lights the wood every time without worries is worth everything to me. Fires go out easy up here, there is much less oxygen at 10200 ft elevation. I also do not use the paper clip. I saved over $2000 in propane this winter, the time it took to cut 10 cords was worth it.

muckamuck · April 10, 2010, 08:25:56 AM

Thanks MrMojoinco,
can you tell us exactly where that suction air hole is located that needs to be cleaned out? How big is it and what does it look like?
-Muckamuck

icedflame · April 13, 2010, 01:10:16 PM

I have some knowledge of the plight of the gas burners from experience of the last two seasons and contacts with CB. Had a lot of problems getting to light last year. Things I have found out are below. Hope it helps someone.
1. CB sends units out only with propane regulators. If you have natural gas you need to get a kit to convert to NG. (Didn't know this for a year but was actually able to get working with the wrong regs. and orafices - works much better with right ones). Kit includes regulator changes and new orafices for each burner.
2. Upgrade-tin piece and clamp plus ground wire in kit sent actually shuts down the intake hole on the relight burner a small bit. Problem was too much air when solenoid opened not allowing to ignite. Way to test was to remove burner, jump out air sensing switch, and try to start burner while removed from stove. (point away from furnace- will burn something like a barbecue burner). If burned outside but not when put back in, try shutting down the solenoid a 1/16 inch at a time till it ignites.
3. Clean burners reqularly 2-3 times/season. Remove 4 bolts and pull out burners. Air sensing hoses have to go back on in correct locations as far as top and bottom locations. Bottom burner will also have to have gas connection disconnected to remove. If spark wire is not long enough to give enough slack, remove plugin at spark generator(left cabinet with regs) and tip will unscrew off of wire. I clean the entire burner with a small wirebrush wheel in a drill toremove all surface gunk. All holes in a circle at the front need to be clean. I have used ox/acet torch cleaners but now use a small drill slightly smaller than the clean holes with a drill as the material sometimes is very stubborn. Clean electrode and front so spark can arc with wire brush or a little emery cloth. Main orafices at back of burner do not seem to get gunked up.
4. Make sure the metal air sensing tubes on the burners are clean and open. Look thru and make sure they are not obstructed as creosote seems to sometimes clog these. A piece of coat hanger wire seems to do the job.
5. While the burners are out, clean out main outlet pipes with the wire brush used to clean turbulators. Look and make sure no creosote built up in these pipes. Piece of rebar and hammer will losen any build up that the brush will not dislodge.
6. Make sure no logs block outlet pipe inside furnace when trying to light.

spacedog · April 26, 2010, 10:14:29 PM

A tip for a quick clean of the propane upper burner. I took a gas grill brush. The triangular wire brush type. Looks like a big piece of pipe cleaner. I cut and bent it so I have a long straight wire brush about 1" in diameter. The brush will fit in the gas burner from the fire box. I push the brush in as far as it will go and work it around the perimiter of the burner pipe. It has worked great so far and eliminated the need to pull the burner out to clean. I would recommend that this method be used for short term fixes and still pull and thoroughly clean the burner every two or three months.

Linus · November 17, 2019, 04:52:19 PM

Quote from: muckamuck on March 04, 2010, 08:58:13 PM
One other problem I've noticed is that on rare occasions when I use the propane ignition that I hear the fan run a minute but I never hear the hiss of the propane at all and it does not light. I'm not sure what is the cause of the problem is in that case.

I have the same issue on my 2300. I've removed and wire brushed the burners, electrodes and air intakes. I've checked connectors and purged the propane regulators. It'll run with LP back-up but won't pull any for wood ignition. I'd rather not shell out a few hundred to get our dealer out here. If you're still around (9 years later) did you find a fix for this?