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Author Topic: Portage and Main Opt. 250 smoking not gassifying correctly  (Read 5535 times)

jrider

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Portage and Main Opt. 250 smoking not gassifying correctly
« on: January 14, 2012, 07:30:07 AM »

I am a new owner of this unit as of late October.  Its been running great all along.  I clean it regularly and have had no issues until recently.  Yesterday I noticed it smoking a fair amount and it was taking a while for the water temp to climb back up to 180.  It was smoking worse so this morning I cleaned out all of the heat exchange tubes and the ashes in the compartment at the bottom.  Its working better but still not the way it should be or has been. 

I haven't changed the wood I'm burning and its nice and dry, probably all at or below 15% mc. 

The primary and secondary air adjustments have been right where the manual says they should be all along.  Is there something else I should be cleaning/looking at?
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martyinmi

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Re: Portage and Main Opt. 250 smoking not gassifying correctly
« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2012, 07:47:32 AM »

jrider,
   I pm'd you.
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tinner

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Re: Portage and Main Opt. 250 smoking not gassifying correctly
« Reply #2 on: January 15, 2012, 05:14:47 PM »

Did you find a fix?
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skyking

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Re: Portage and Main Opt. 250 smoking not gassifying correctly
« Reply #3 on: January 15, 2012, 05:49:52 PM »

Check  the air holes in the top of the firebox on both the sides and bottom of the square tube and make sure they are not plugged, use the hook on the end of the poker that came with the unit to clean holes out.  Also check the electric damper control on the fan box  and make sure it is not stuck shut or open.  I've had mine stick open a couple of times, applied high temp grease, seems to be okay now.
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Portage & Main 250 - Gasser

mattNH

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Re: Portage and Main Opt. 250 smoking not gassifying correctly
« Reply #4 on: January 31, 2012, 09:50:57 AM »

I'm new here too...install just completed in December.

I am having similar issues.  You revered to the tool with the hook on it that came with the unit.  I dont recall getting one of those.  Can you attache a picture so I can get or make one?  Thanks,
Matt
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jrider

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Re: Portage and Main Opt. 250 smoking not gassifying correctly
« Reply #5 on: January 31, 2012, 10:39:46 AM »

Sorry about the delay in follow up.  Its been taken care of.  Just part of the learning curve.  Its amazing at how little creosote build up in the heat exchange tubes interferes with this.  I now use the wire brush to clean out the tubes every 7 days no matter what the outside temp is and how much wood I burn.  Once the refractory got cold, it took it a while to gassify again but has since been running great.

I would like to see someone take pictures of whats behind that little box in the back.  I did wonder if I took that apart what I would find that day.  I am even more curious now, and want to know if I should take mine off and clean whatever I can back there?? 

I am not the handiest guy in the world though.  I would rather run my saw or dig a hole than work on something I don't know much about LOL.   Any pics and tips would be appreciated. 
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Bill G

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Re: Portage and Main Opt. 250 smoking not gassifying correctly
« Reply #6 on: January 31, 2012, 12:06:33 PM »

Jrider,

     Get your drill and a 1/4 in hex driver.  Gently remove all the self-tapping screws around panel. 

     Do with blower off, of course, and very low fire.

     Surprise!  Creosote out the yingy!  Clean all.  scrape out square tube leading to blower channel and secondary pipe below.  Get you some Liquid Wrench lithium grease and coat anything that moves, to include the self-tapping screws, or whats left of them!  Get some red, hi temp permatex and reseal plate.  After all crap and old gasket scraped and discarded.

     I used shop-vac and paint scrapers, screw driver and anything else you can find to make the clean up job easier.  Quite the mess, but it didn't even burn this clean when brand new!  I mean after the thorough cleaning.

     I did this, along with regular cleaning of entire furnace and it works as advertised now. 

     Again, wish to thank Martyinmi for his guidance.  His cleaning recipe, as listed above.  I'm sure you read my other posts here about the bit of fun I had cleaning 'er up.  Should have been a complete, blow by blow, listing of all items to look after in the manual.  These things require thorough cleaning very 7-10-14 days MAX!  Maybe not the airbox that often, but the other items for sure.

     Interested on your findings...let us know how goes....
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jrider

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Re: Portage and Main Opt. 250 smoking not gassifying correctly
« Reply #7 on: January 31, 2012, 01:55:34 PM »

Thanks Bill.  I will have to tackle this later, off to Vermont to do some skiing this weekend, plus its been working great since I just did a regular cleaning.  Not sure if I should go ahead and do it anyway or just wait until I have a problem??
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coolidge

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Re: Portage and Main Opt. 250 smoking not gassifying correctly
« Reply #8 on: January 31, 2012, 04:49:46 PM »

Jrider,

    Do it anyway, as mentioned these boilers need there servicing on a weekly basis. get yourself a propane torch and burn of(or dry out) any creosote with be easier to remove.
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Bill G

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Re: Portage and Main Opt. 250 smoking not gassifying correctly
« Reply #9 on: January 31, 2012, 05:53:49 PM »

Jrider,

     Now don't break any limbs this weekend, and I don't mean trees!  Vermont ought to be far enough north to find white stuff on the ground.  We use to get lots of that stuff here in PA, when I was a kid and had to walk to school, up hill, both ways....

    Mr. Coolidge is right on, get 'er done! 
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BobVT

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Re: Portage and Main Opt. 250 smoking not gassifying correctly
« Reply #10 on: April 18, 2012, 06:36:03 PM »

Guys, I had this problem big time. I fought my gassifier half the winter with poor burn quality and low BTU's. Brian in Canada had me call Richard Emmons in Maine who is a dealer. Richard worked with me by phone during January to attempt to solve the issue. But the furnace wouldn't gassify correctly and it barely ran. Well, Richard finally decided to make a trip to my place with his buddy Dave. What we found was the blower motor wasn't properly installed and was allowing a massive air leakage which in turn gummed up the linkage and valves in the air box in the back of the furnace. Richard fixed all that, cleaned the creosote and drilled a hole in the bottom of the box. Then he built a gasket on the firebox door to insure it was airtight. Dave gave me instructions based on his experience running his furnace a good list of how to run it. Well, my furnace has been working like a Swiss clock ever since. So I finally feel like I got what I paid for and I am very thankful for Richard who hung with me until it got working. So, my smokeless 250 is running like a champ and I'm happy.

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