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Central Boiler / Re: New Classic Edge owner, looking for help with idle pulse/temperature settings
« on: March 10, 2022, 06:40:34 PM »
For reference, I have since talked to CB about the pulse time not being counted as burn time. They said that changed a couple of software versions ago, and the controller now only counts burn time in demand mode. So no issues there.
Yeah I've seen a lot of graphs that look like yours (from before they went to reaction chamber percentages instead of temperature). CB explained that now the secondary combustion occurs in the "fireball" in these newer models, and since the temp sensor is on the other side of the round fireball refractory percentages are more consistent than temperature readings.
I definitely don't have a creosote issue. I have had both air tubes out and verified they are clear, as well as the plate on the inside front of the boiler. There is little to no creosote built up in either the primary or secondary elbows as well.
Yeah there is warranty support. I have been in contact with Central Boiler, and they are fairly convinced I have a software or hardware issue. I'll know by tomorrow if they're going to send me a new controller, primary stepper, or both.
They have me checking my stepper motors in each "demand" cycle, and I caught it a couple days ago stalled out with the reaction chamber at 38% and not climbing. When I checked my steppers, both primary and secondary were basically shut and only open millimeters at best. I'll let you know what CB decides to do with it.
Thanks for the reply!
Yeah I've seen a lot of graphs that look like yours (from before they went to reaction chamber percentages instead of temperature). CB explained that now the secondary combustion occurs in the "fireball" in these newer models, and since the temp sensor is on the other side of the round fireball refractory percentages are more consistent than temperature readings.
I definitely don't have a creosote issue. I have had both air tubes out and verified they are clear, as well as the plate on the inside front of the boiler. There is little to no creosote built up in either the primary or secondary elbows as well.
Yeah there is warranty support. I have been in contact with Central Boiler, and they are fairly convinced I have a software or hardware issue. I'll know by tomorrow if they're going to send me a new controller, primary stepper, or both.
They have me checking my stepper motors in each "demand" cycle, and I caught it a couple days ago stalled out with the reaction chamber at 38% and not climbing. When I checked my steppers, both primary and secondary were basically shut and only open millimeters at best. I'll let you know what CB decides to do with it.
Thanks for the reply!
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Central Boiler / Re: New Classic Edge owner, looking for help with idle pulse/temperature settings
« on: February 10, 2022, 01:20:53 AM »
Hey thanks for the reply and the tips, much appreciated.
When I say "clean the firebox" I just meant removing excess ash and creosote, not a full shutdown and scrape clean type of thing. I do scrape the loading door almost every day.
What kind of wood are you burning? I think if I went to your settings I'd have a fire go out every few days at least. My target temp is the same but I'm pulsing over twice as often and for much longer minimums.
I do agree it's probably an airflow issue- I'm actually starting to suspect I have a problem with my firestar controller- I woke up to my alarm last night at 3:45 am that the fire was out, so I went and had a look. Pushed the ignition air button, checked my primary and secondary actuators and they didn't seem to be open at all. I powered the furnace off and back on, and did a self-test on the firestar controller, both actuators opened fully. I did a factory reset to the controller, powered it off and back on again for now. I've been keeping an eye on the actuators over the last 20 hours and they don't seem to be opening well at all.
Another issue I have is my controller isn't counting burn time when the fan is running in pulse mode, which makes no sense. Nothing I do seems to fix that issue either.... this is another reason I'm leaning towards this being a controller issue. I also did a software update about a week ago which changed nothing.
I'll attach a screenshot of what the past 24 hours have looked like for me
When I say "clean the firebox" I just meant removing excess ash and creosote, not a full shutdown and scrape clean type of thing. I do scrape the loading door almost every day.
What kind of wood are you burning? I think if I went to your settings I'd have a fire go out every few days at least. My target temp is the same but I'm pulsing over twice as often and for much longer minimums.
I do agree it's probably an airflow issue- I'm actually starting to suspect I have a problem with my firestar controller- I woke up to my alarm last night at 3:45 am that the fire was out, so I went and had a look. Pushed the ignition air button, checked my primary and secondary actuators and they didn't seem to be open at all. I powered the furnace off and back on, and did a self-test on the firestar controller, both actuators opened fully. I did a factory reset to the controller, powered it off and back on again for now. I've been keeping an eye on the actuators over the last 20 hours and they don't seem to be opening well at all.
Another issue I have is my controller isn't counting burn time when the fan is running in pulse mode, which makes no sense. Nothing I do seems to fix that issue either.... this is another reason I'm leaning towards this being a controller issue. I also did a software update about a week ago which changed nothing.
I'll attach a screenshot of what the past 24 hours have looked like for me
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Central Boiler / New Classic Edge owner, looking for help with idle pulse/temperature settings
« on: January 27, 2022, 05:59:05 PM »
Hi everyone, new to the forum and to wood boilers in general. My wife and I moved onto an acreage last summer that had nothing but electric heat in all the buildings. We installed a Central Boiler classic edge 360HDX this fall, and got it fired up in the first week of December. We're heating two buildings- our 1700 sq ft house via a forced air heat exchanger, and our small (4-500 sq ft) cabin, with the CB fan convector (part # 1971).
I'm burning mostly pine and spruce as that is what makes up most of the firewood around my area (Northern BC). Ideally I'd burn hardwood but it's hard to get around here. It's definitely dry as it all reads below 20% on my moisture meter, most of it around 12-14%.
When I first started the boiler, I left the settings as factory: 185F setpoint, 20 deg temp differential, 30 min idle pulse timeout, 225F target pulse temp. I found it almost impossible to keep a fire going, I would get one good burn, and then the fire would go out the next time there was a call for heat. I called CB and discussed settings with them, they recommended a 15 deg temp differential, 20 min pulse timeout, and 260F target temperature. Even with these settings, the fire would still go out every few days.
I've been playing with the settings ever since, and initially set it for 185 set/ 15 differential/ 10 min timeout/ 310 pulse temp. Extreme, I know, but it's the only way I could get it to run. Now I've gotten it down to a 15 min timeout and 300 pulse temp, and it mostly does ok, but still goes out once every week or two and I have to watch it like a hawk.
This was fine when the weather was colder (we had almost a month of 0F to -35F weather, but now that it's warmed up to around 30F, my pulses are so close together that the water is getting close to overheating in the afternoon when the sun is out and warming my buildings.
I've never seen a reaction chamber temperature over 1000, usually in the 800s even after it's been at 100% for 10+ minutes. My coal bed is always at least a couple inches deep, and when the boiler does go out, there's still tons of coals underneath the unburnt wood.
The previous owners did leave a bunch of dry, split birch in a firewood shed that measured at 12%, so I tried that for a while but it didn't seem to make much difference. Neither did burning some reject 2x6 that i had lying around. Obviously I'm burning more wood than I'd like with such extreme pulse settings, but I don't seem to have much choice. I've been cleaning the reaction chamber and heat exchangers every week, and the firebox once a month.
Any input or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you
I'm burning mostly pine and spruce as that is what makes up most of the firewood around my area (Northern BC). Ideally I'd burn hardwood but it's hard to get around here. It's definitely dry as it all reads below 20% on my moisture meter, most of it around 12-14%.
When I first started the boiler, I left the settings as factory: 185F setpoint, 20 deg temp differential, 30 min idle pulse timeout, 225F target pulse temp. I found it almost impossible to keep a fire going, I would get one good burn, and then the fire would go out the next time there was a call for heat. I called CB and discussed settings with them, they recommended a 15 deg temp differential, 20 min pulse timeout, and 260F target temperature. Even with these settings, the fire would still go out every few days.
I've been playing with the settings ever since, and initially set it for 185 set/ 15 differential/ 10 min timeout/ 310 pulse temp. Extreme, I know, but it's the only way I could get it to run. Now I've gotten it down to a 15 min timeout and 300 pulse temp, and it mostly does ok, but still goes out once every week or two and I have to watch it like a hawk.
This was fine when the weather was colder (we had almost a month of 0F to -35F weather, but now that it's warmed up to around 30F, my pulses are so close together that the water is getting close to overheating in the afternoon when the sun is out and warming my buildings.
I've never seen a reaction chamber temperature over 1000, usually in the 800s even after it's been at 100% for 10+ minutes. My coal bed is always at least a couple inches deep, and when the boiler does go out, there's still tons of coals underneath the unburnt wood.
The previous owners did leave a bunch of dry, split birch in a firewood shed that measured at 12%, so I tried that for a while but it didn't seem to make much difference. Neither did burning some reject 2x6 that i had lying around. Obviously I'm burning more wood than I'd like with such extreme pulse settings, but I don't seem to have much choice. I've been cleaning the reaction chamber and heat exchangers every week, and the firebox once a month.
Any input or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you
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