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[Roger2561]

Hello all, I'm  new to this forum.  In early sept. 2011 my new CB E1400 Classic OWB was professionally installed.  On Saturday this past weekend I decided to fire her up for the first time.  Although I have operated wood stoves for the better part of my life, the OWB is completely foreign to me.  After getting it fired up, all was going well until I went to check on it Monday evening after work.  I can only stoke it 2 times per day due to living alone and working up to 10 hours a day.  I noticed on Monday evening that the fire had gone out.  Opening the door I was a bit surprised to see unburned wood, about 2/3's of what I placed inside before leaving for work remained.  After careful inspection I noticed that through my unfamiliarity with this type of unit, I let too much ash pile up and blocked a part of the air flow holes.  After unplugging and clear the ash from the clean out door, I restarted the fire from scratch.  It lit up with ease.  It took perhaps 40 minutes for the water temp to reach 180.  This is where I noticed a problem; the water was boiling over.  After a couple of hours of trouble shooting I as able to rectify the problem which was not related to the OWB, it's with the zone valve circuit control area.  This morning when I checked on it, I noticed the boil over again.  I know where to look for the problem and solved it.  But, what surprised me is that it looked like the fire was nearly out, but the water temp was 175.  After placing 5 moderately sized logs on the fire and making sure the air holes were not blocked, I closed the everything up and headed for work.  My question is, what should the temp be in the reaction chamber if everything is operating properly?  I should add here that the out door night time temps are in the lower to mid 20's and day time is close to mid 40's.  Am I putting in too much wood for the outdoor temp swings, perhaps not enough?  The wood is not being completely burnt.  Also, I have been reading that there should be "ash" in the clean out area, but mine looks more like coals approximately the size of a dime.  Is this considered ash and is it normal?  As I said, I'm new to this type of wood heat and I do not know what's normal or not.  Any and all advice is welcome.  Thanks, Roger               

[Ridgekid]

Welcome to to the site. 

 I'm sure one of our gasification experts will be able to help you shortly.

[muffin]

I have the CB 6048 which is not a gassifer, do you run the pump continuosly?  Seems like a lot of people have boil over issues if they do not.  Perhaps if you are not and the temp not being that cold, the unit is simply not turning on enough? 

I also read the gassifiers are much more sensitive to moisture and that the wood really needed to be dry to operate properly in these units.

Not sure if any of that helps.

[Bill G]

      When you say "boil over", that would be due to water temp above 212deg.  Could it be just expansion from heating the water??

       Also, what I found, and re-inforced from much more experienced forum members than I, is the fire will go out over a period of time when the house is not calling for any heat and the outside temps are up.  As suggested by other members, is to narrow the differential.  Say 180 deg off/ 175 deg on.  The OWB will turn on the blower much more often and ensure the fire stays lit.  Also goes a long way in helping with eliminating creosote build-up.  When temps dip and winter really sets in, you can widen the differential.

       I'm relatively new member here also, and these guys are a wealth of knowledge. 

      Ask away, a great source for OWB owners...keep us informed.

Bill

[Roger2561]

      When you say "boil over", that would be due to water temp above 212deg.  Could it be just expansion from heating the water??

       Also, what I found, and re-inforced from much more experienced forum members than I, is the fire will go out over a period of time when the house is not calling for any heat and the outside temps are up.  As suggested by other members, is to narrow the differential.  Say 180 deg off/ 175 deg on.  The OWB will turn on the blower much more often and ensure the fire stays lit.  Also goes a long way in helping with eliminating creosote build-up.  When temps dip and winter really sets in, you can widen the differential.

       I'm relatively new member here also, and these guys are a wealth of knowledge. 

      Ask away, a great source for OWB owners...keep us informed.

Bill

Bill,

Thanks for the response.  I appreciate it.

What you say makes sense to me.  I'll have a look at the settings, they are factory, I'll adjust if need be.  I will have to wait until the weekend, I need to be at work for 6:00am tomorrow morning and leave approx. 8:00pm.  Gonna be a long day. 

One more question - Some ash got into the air holes and I'd love to remove it.  Any ideas how that's done?  Thanks again for your help.   

[Bill G]

Roger,

     I don't have a CB, so can't say what's best for air holes.  Judicial use of my old shop vac was most logical choice for my P&M.  Emptied immediately after use and don't put in house or any building until a few days have passed!  I should say that my OWB was "out" for at least 24 hrs before I used said appliance.  Worked good, but fear of finding ol' shop vac ablaze, was forefront of my mind for quite some time!

     One of the CB owners will surely offer up a bit of advice shortly, I'm sure.

Bill

[Roger2561]

Roger,

     I don't have a CB, so can't say what's best for air holes.  Judicial use of my old shop vac was most logical choice for my P&M.  Emptied immediately after use and don't put in house or any building until a few days have passed!  I should say that my OWB was "out" for at least 24 hrs before I used said appliance.  Worked good, but fear of finding ol' shop vac ablaze, was forefront of my mind for quite some time!

     One of the CB owners will surely offer up a bit of advice shortly, I'm sure



Bill

Hello ill,

Thanks for the response.  I appreciate it.

I'll be servicing the OWB this Saturday.  That should be ample time for the coals and ash cool to the point where a shop vac can be safely used, I hope.  I plan to dump the ash and coal from the shop vac into a metal barrel I have selected for this chore.  Once I am satisfied that the coals and ash are cold, the barrel will then be dumped into my garden. 

I wonder how compressed air would work?  In the rear there are air damps that open and close using solenoids when the furnace "calls" for air to keep the fire going.  If I carefully open them, one at a time, and push let's say 100psi of air through them, that should push anything that's in the holes into the fire box where I can remove it.  Please, everyone, chime in with your thoughts and concerns of this idea.  Thanks again.

Roger

[Dean186]

My question is, what should the temp be in the reaction chamber if everything is operating properly? 

Am I putting in too much wood for the outdoor temp swings, perhaps not enough? 

The wood is not being completely burnt. 

Also, I have been reading that there should be "ash" in the clean out area, but mine looks more like coals approximately the size of a dime. 
         

Hi Rodger,

The reaction chamber temperatures will vary for each of my loads.  It will also vary based on the wood you are burning.  If I am getting a good burn, the temperature of the reaction chamber will be between 900 and 1300 degrees.  The highest temperature I have ever observed was 1,530 degrees.   A poor load of junk wood may not get the reaction chamber temperature up to 550 degrees, which is when the low burn solenoid opens.

It does not matter how much wood you put into the firebox.  It will function the same.  I like to put the amount of wood that gets mostly burned in the time I feel I can feed it next.  In warm weather, I put in 24 hours worth.  In cold weather it is hard to make it 24 hours, so I fill accordingly.  Maybe 2/3 full and then fill every 12 hours.

When inspecting the wood in the firebox,  it never looks burnt on the top of the pile.  So it doesn't look completely burnt.  It will all burn from the bottom if loaded properly.

Some small coals will fall through the grate and into the reaction chamber.  Don't worry about them, they will get burnt up.

Dean

[Roger2561]

My question is, what should the temp be in the reaction chamber if everything is operating properly? 

Am I putting in too much wood for the outdoor temp swings, perhaps not enough? 

The wood is not being completely burnt. 

Also, I have been reading that there should be "ash" in the clean out area, but mine looks more like coals approximately the size of a dime. 
         

Hi Rodger,

The reaction chamber temperatures will vary for each of my loads.  It will also vary based on the wood you are burning.  If I am getting a good burn, the temperature of the reaction chamber will be between 900 and 1300 degrees.  The highest temperature I have ever observed was 1,530 degrees.   A poor load of junk wood may not get the reaction chamber temperature up to 550 degrees, which is when the low burn solenoid opens.

It does not matter how much wood you put into the firebox.  It will function the same.  I like to put the amount of wood that gets mostly burned in the time I feel I can feed it next.  In warm weather, I put in 24 hours worth.  In cold weather it is hard to make it 24 hours, so I fill accordingly.  Maybe 2/3 full and then fill every 12 hours.

When inspecting the wood in the firebox,  it never looks burnt on the top of the pile.  So it doesn't look completely burnt.  It will all burn from the bottom if loaded properly.

Some small coals will fall through the grate and into the reaction chamber.  Don't worry about them, they will get burnt up.

Dean

Dean,

Thanks so much for the help.

I now feel I have a better understanding of the OWB.  As stated before this concept of heating a home with this type of unit is new and completely foreign to me.  Frankly, I feel a bit nervous but that will disappear when I get the hang of it.

Thanks again.

Roger