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16

Central Boiler / She's tucked in for the summer

« on: May 06, 2020, 02:39:24 PM »

Well, I spent about 5 hours this morning shutdown and cleaning my CB Edge 550 HD Titanium for the summer.  She wasn't too bad with regards to creosote build up, I expected worse.  I had a run of bad wood that I needed to get through before having access to the quality stuff.  I spent more time cleaning the air channels that I cared to do but it still was faster cleaning them on the 550 than it was on my E-Classic 1400.  I'll need to replace a couple items before next heating season though, a rope gasket that goes around the fusion chamber and one of the air channels panels, it's the one below the fire door.  For some she was all warped and the holes won't line up.  I'll save my pennies through the summer to the new one.  It'll take me a couple of days to get used to not going outside twice a day to put in her.  But I have a feeling by the time Friday gets here I will be used to not going outdoors.  This is by far the longest I've gone into the spring with it heating my house and DHW.  I think I shut her down last year in early April.  I think I put fire in it in early to mid Oct.  If calculations are right I think I went through almost 6 cord of wood.  There are 2 factors for not burning to much wood; 1st - mild winter. I think we had 1 or 2 nights of sub zero temps.  2nd - I've put a lot of insulation in the walls and ceiling over the years.  That makes a difference in comfort. 

Have a great summer everyone!  Stay safe!

Roger 

17

General Discussion / Re: Hope everyone stays safe during the great cluster f&^% of 2020

« on: March 19, 2020, 11:30:49 AM »

I work at an Ivy League institution of higher learning.  All of the undergraduate students as well as the graduate students have been told to go home for the semester.  All courses will be taught via remote learning.  Ninety nine percent of the faculty are not here, and their secretaries are working from home.  Our boss called a team meeting yesterday morning and assured us that we , my 3 co-workers and I are essentially personnel, we service the buildings systems.  It's a building of incredible activity by now but with essentially no one here, it's one spooky place to work.   The one thing my co-workers and I are getting a kick out of is the panic buying of all the toilet paper.  Man, this thing is a respiratory disease.  Imagine if the next pandemic strikes and it causes the diarrhea.  What will they do, buy nasal spray?  One positive thing is, it's much easier getting to and from work without all of the traffic to contend with.  Roger

18

General DIY remodeling without Hydronics / Re: Interesting find in old farmhouse

« on: February 05, 2020, 08:03:37 AM »

When my younger bro and I began the destruction phase of construction in our family home (circa 1830's) sometime in the 50's electricity was added.  When we removed the old electric, no junction boxes, no outlet boxes, etc,... found.  What we found was where the wire was connected to the switch, the insulation was so brittle that it broke off in our hands.  You could see that the wire got hot at one point because we found burn marks on the wood lathe, the 2x4's and the wood surrounding the general area of the connections.  It was only by the grace of God that the house didn't get fire.

19

Central Boiler / Re: Did your CB lose Firestar communication last night?

« on: January 31, 2020, 10:58:20 AM »

Just checking here to get an idea if it is my side, or theirs.  My boiler lost communication with Firestar around 6:15PM EST yesterday.  It briefly came back at 8:55PM, and has been down since then.  The website was also down on and off during the night, and I received some extra "your furnace has lost communication for an hour" alerts, but the website is back up now and my boiler still isn't reporting.

Anyone else?

EDIT: And it is back.  Offline from 11:42PM until 11:17AM.  Nevermind, I guess.

Mines back online too.  Been out since 11:40pm until about the same time yours came back.  I wish they would send out an alert a day or 2 ahead of the their system upgrades. 

Roger

20

Central Boiler / Re: Replacing Sequoyah E3400 with CB Classic Edge 750 HD

« on: January 23, 2020, 03:02:58 AM »

I had the same problem with mine regarding snapped carriage bolts.  My local orange box store had stainless steel carriage bolts, the acorn nuts and fender washers.  I think I spent all of $15.00 for everything, now if they break I have plenty on hand to replace them.  With regards to the removal of the air channels; what I do now is every time I put wood in it, I take the poker and run it along the groove at the bottom of of where channel meets the low part of the firebox.  It helps to keep any creosote buildup from hardening, I then take a large screwdriver and pry the channel out from the bottom instead of using the holes.  They come out much easier for me that way.   

21

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: What happened

« on: January 22, 2020, 05:32:17 PM »

So what happened to shut this place down last week?

Someone forgot to fill the stove and the fire went out.

 

22

General Discussion / Re: Home Electrical Question

« on: January 14, 2020, 03:01:07 AM »

RSI - That's similar to what artbaldoni suggested and it appears to be the simplest solution to the problem.  Only, instead of attaching it to the side of the beams (I'm trying to keep them as authentic as possible) I think I'll stick them to the trim pieces that run parallel to the beams. 

Marty - I had thought of using a router but I didn't want to do anything to deface the surface of the beams.

Hondaracer2004 - I've been trying to steer away from using BX or Romex due to the difficulty of trying to drill the holes through the beams without destroying the dry wall.  I may have to but I hope I don't.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.  I'll give this project a bit more thought and see what I can come up with.

Roger   

23

General Discussion / Re: Home Electrical Question

« on: January 13, 2020, 08:29:58 AM »

What are those trim pieces on each side of the beams? Ontop of the ceiling drywall.

Handaracer2004 - Those piece are only for show and to cover the seams that are present between the drywall and beams.  I got lazy and didn't want to take the time fill the seam with compound. 

24

General Discussion / Re: Home Electrical Question

« on: January 11, 2020, 05:15:24 PM »

Do you have access to the beams from above and drill down through them?

Slimjim - Unfortunately I do not.  There's an apartment up there and I doubt if my tenant would like it if drilled through their floor.    But, man, that would be so easy to do if I did have access.

25

General Discussion / Re: Home Electrical Question

« on: January 11, 2020, 11:36:36 AM »

I hope the pic comes through to give you an idea what my ceiling looks like.  Keep in mind those beams are as old as the house and hard as granite.   

26

Central Boiler / Re: Replacing Sequoyah E3400 with CB Classic Edge 750 HD

« on: January 10, 2020, 03:33:52 AM »

Glad to hear you're back in business and that your dealer is the real deal.  Lets hope the failure is just a one time occurrence.  Roger

27

General Discussion / Home Electrical Question

« on: January 08, 2020, 02:16:30 PM »

Hi all - My home is a 1930'sish post and beam style home.  In the living room and dining room the ceiling beams are exposed.  There's approx. 4 inches of foam insulation between the beams leaving about 4 inches of the beam surface exposed.  Presently the only way to have light in the living room is with 2 small tables lamps.  When I am hosting a gathering I like to have more light in the living room but I'm unable to do so due to only having 2 small tables lamps.  Anyone know how I can attach lights to the ceiling/beams without it looking too gaudy and out of place?  I'd like to have any surface mounted raceway blend in with the color of the beams.  Your suggestions are most welcome.  Thanks.  Roger 

28

Central Boiler / Re: Replacing Sequoyah E3400 with CB Classic Edge 750 HD

« on: January 06, 2020, 05:06:53 PM »

Well, time for my first attempt to see how good my dealer is.  My combustion air fan died overnight.  It was running when I loaded it at 1:00AM, wake up at 7:00AM and I see the boiler says it has been running for 5 hours, and is sitting at 160F.  I figure all my wood burned faster than I expected, but then I walk out there and it is quiet.  Opened up the airbox and no obvious issues there, the fan looks clean, hasn't melted, no wires are loose, airbox not full of soot.

So I have it sitting there, bypass open, for now, while I've got a message in to my dealer via the Central Boiler support site.  Unfortunately no spare fan onhand and I guess this could be the firestar controller itself, rather than the fan.

EDIT: They'll be here Thursday morning.  A few more days than I'd hoped for for service, and Wed night will be pretty cold.  But I've got heating oil for backup.  Looks like ordering a spare fan would be $190 or so after shipping based on my first few checks so I think I'll let warranty play out here and see if they can hook me up.

Oh man, that sucks.  I hope it's only the fan not the controller.  If it is the controller, it's an easy unit to change.  Don't ask me how I know.  Is the digital display lit up on the controller?  Does your manual offer any troubleshooting options to try while you're waiting for the dealer to show up?  Also, I know with my Edge 550 I can go to the CB site where they have an online troubleshooting guide.  It helped me a bunch when the power supply on my controller fried due to 3 power surges from a fallen tree.  All you have to do is input the serial number of your 750 in the box and they have many options from which you can pick the one that closest resembles the trouble you're having.  It will walk you through how to narrow down the problem and how to rectify it/them.  Good luck.  I hope you are heating your home sooner rather than later.  Roger     

29

General Discussion / Happy New Year!

« on: December 31, 2019, 04:33:16 PM »

I want to take moment to wish everyone prosperous, healthy and happy New Year!  There's no way I can stay up to watch the ball drop so I needed to wish everyone the good wishes early.  Roger

30

Central Boiler / Re: Edge

« on: December 31, 2019, 09:42:24 AM »

Now that I've inspected everything I'm not shutting down again until the end of the heating season when tuck it in for the summer. 

Take care of that thing and have a Happy New Year!

Roger