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1
Central Boiler / Crazy - magic heat?
« on: February 20, 2021, 09:34:50 AM »
Okay. So everything's running fine, except every now and then, we get a water temperature rise. This morning, we went from 190 to 193, an hour after the last warmup (see attached chart). I'd attribute it to a stuck primary valve, but it's not stuck, and the rise doesn't happen right after a pulse (which is what happens when the valve does stick, as I've seen it happen). Instead, this time it was 6 minutes after the pulse, AND happened in about 2 minutes. It's like we've suddenly put heat back into the loop from the house. Patently impossible, but there it is.
Anyone seen this, and figured it out? Is my pump failing (and how would that cause this?) Is there something else going on with the primary or secondary solenoids? I can't think of anything else that would cause this.
Anyone seen this, and figured it out? Is my pump failing (and how would that cause this?) Is there something else going on with the primary or secondary solenoids? I can't think of anything else that would cause this.
2
Central Boiler / Server failure?
« on: January 11, 2021, 06:17:01 AM »
Hey Everyone,
We've rebooted furnace, router, et. al., with no solution. Data from our Firestar has been erratic for the last couple of days, lots of evidently corrupted data points, long gaps, etc. This morning, I get only a 5-second burst of data around 5:10 AM when I call for a 4-hour history. Is there a problem at their end? Saw some suggestions of that on Facebook, but hey, that's Facebook...
smithbr
We've rebooted furnace, router, et. al., with no solution. Data from our Firestar has been erratic for the last couple of days, lots of evidently corrupted data points, long gaps, etc. This morning, I get only a 5-second burst of data around 5:10 AM when I call for a 4-hour history. Is there a problem at their end? Saw some suggestions of that on Facebook, but hey, that's Facebook...
smithbr
3
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Furnace failure - how to keep the loop from freezing
« on: November 10, 2018, 05:59:55 PM »
Hi
My furnace is out of commission until next week. We'll be around 15 F tonight. I want to keep the loop from freezing. My OWF feeds house; thermostatic valve is first element at entry. Loop then feeds HX in propane furnace, and sidearm heater for HW. I had hoped keeping the loop running would backheat the outdoor end enough to keep it from freezing by sucking heat from my propane furnace, but as I read the description of the thermostatic valve, it won't open the loop to the furnace unless the water is hot enough. So I'm left with the only heat input to the outdoor furnace part of the loop being from the circulation pump. Is that correct?, and if so, is there a way to override the thermostatic valve to keep the loop open?
Blair
My furnace is out of commission until next week. We'll be around 15 F tonight. I want to keep the loop from freezing. My OWF feeds house; thermostatic valve is first element at entry. Loop then feeds HX in propane furnace, and sidearm heater for HW. I had hoped keeping the loop running would backheat the outdoor end enough to keep it from freezing by sucking heat from my propane furnace, but as I read the description of the thermostatic valve, it won't open the loop to the furnace unless the water is hot enough. So I'm left with the only heat input to the outdoor furnace part of the loop being from the circulation pump. Is that correct?, and if so, is there a way to override the thermostatic valve to keep the loop open?
Blair
4
Central Boiler / E-Classic 1450 Reaction Chamber TC failure - HELP!
« on: November 09, 2018, 03:14:00 PM »
Grr
No problems at shutdown last spring. Fired up the furnace today, and A-1 error. Changed out TC, as I had been warned this was a common problem. Same issue. Cleaned connector in airbox, no luck. WTH? This thing is 3 years old, the TC I took out looks new, and isn't the problem anyway it seems. The TC cable runs uninterrupted from there to the back of the control panel, where it snakes up into the panel. No water apparent in the airbox. Power cycled the unit many times, no effect. I'm stumped.
CAN THE UNIT RUN SAFELY without the reaction chamber TC reading? I'm getting last spring's last reading from my wifi module (190) (but the circulating water is cool to the touch) so its confused.
Blair
No problems at shutdown last spring. Fired up the furnace today, and A-1 error. Changed out TC, as I had been warned this was a common problem. Same issue. Cleaned connector in airbox, no luck. WTH? This thing is 3 years old, the TC I took out looks new, and isn't the problem anyway it seems. The TC cable runs uninterrupted from there to the back of the control panel, where it snakes up into the panel. No water apparent in the airbox. Power cycled the unit many times, no effect. I'm stumped.
CAN THE UNIT RUN SAFELY without the reaction chamber TC reading? I'm getting last spring's last reading from my wifi module (190) (but the circulating water is cool to the touch) so its confused.
Blair
5
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Near miss
« on: January 06, 2018, 04:42:55 PM »
Hi
Had a power outage last night. Finances this year were such that we've not purchased our propane gennie with autostart yet, so we're reliant on a gas gennie. Of course, at -25C, wind chill at -42, guess what! The house is well insulated, so my only worry was the outdoor portion of the furnace.
After an hour of horsing around, I said wait a minute, I can run the furnace circuit for a short while from my computer UPS(not our air circulator, just the OWF and pump). Patched in a line cord to the furnace circuit, and five minutes later, fired up the E1450 to see how it was doing. Ran the circulator for a minute, felt a cold slug of water come through, then hot as usual. Although the unit had been off for an hour, the water in the OWF was still at 192F. The short burst of cold water must have been just the leg of pipe running from the back of the furnace into the ground. With the furnace powered, we checked the readouts and all was well. Power returned at the 2 hour mark, but I'm sure we'd have been good for six hours, as long as I pumped the slug around every hour or so using the UPS.
Note to self, need to decide how best to keep my gennie warm enough to wake up these days!
Had a power outage last night. Finances this year were such that we've not purchased our propane gennie with autostart yet, so we're reliant on a gas gennie. Of course, at -25C, wind chill at -42, guess what! The house is well insulated, so my only worry was the outdoor portion of the furnace.
After an hour of horsing around, I said wait a minute, I can run the furnace circuit for a short while from my computer UPS(not our air circulator, just the OWF and pump). Patched in a line cord to the furnace circuit, and five minutes later, fired up the E1450 to see how it was doing. Ran the circulator for a minute, felt a cold slug of water come through, then hot as usual. Although the unit had been off for an hour, the water in the OWF was still at 192F. The short burst of cold water must have been just the leg of pipe running from the back of the furnace into the ground. With the furnace powered, we checked the readouts and all was well. Power returned at the 2 hour mark, but I'm sure we'd have been good for six hours, as long as I pumped the slug around every hour or so using the UPS.
Note to self, need to decide how best to keep my gennie warm enough to wake up these days!
6
Central Boiler / E1450 performance question
« on: January 02, 2018, 07:21:27 AM »
Hi Gang
Attached is a chart of my furnace's performance for the last 24 hours. Things to note:
- House has forced air HX for upstairs, basement is radiant floor loop heated, DHW has a sidearm heater and the electric is shut off to it when the OWF is running. Upstairs setpoints are 18C during the day, 16 at night; floor loop is 18 C constant.
- We fed the furnace once last night, at 6 PM, and won't need to feed it again until late afternoon.
- Outdoor temperature hit -24 C last night.
- when you see close cycles, like those between midnight and 3 AM, my basement floor loop is running.
- the long quiet cooldown before and after that is typical when the house is not calling for heat.
- the steeper cooldown after 7AM indicates the forced air system is doing the morning warmup.
I believe my furnace reaction chamber TC is misplaced; if it was really running that cool, I'd expect to be clogged with creosote, but it's doing quite well unless I load with lousy wood. I have a replacement, but can I just push the existing one further in?
Thanks
Attached is a chart of my furnace's performance for the last 24 hours. Things to note:
- House has forced air HX for upstairs, basement is radiant floor loop heated, DHW has a sidearm heater and the electric is shut off to it when the OWF is running. Upstairs setpoints are 18C during the day, 16 at night; floor loop is 18 C constant.
- We fed the furnace once last night, at 6 PM, and won't need to feed it again until late afternoon.
- Outdoor temperature hit -24 C last night.
- when you see close cycles, like those between midnight and 3 AM, my basement floor loop is running.
- the long quiet cooldown before and after that is typical when the house is not calling for heat.
- the steeper cooldown after 7AM indicates the forced air system is doing the morning warmup.
I believe my furnace reaction chamber TC is misplaced; if it was really running that cool, I'd expect to be clogged with creosote, but it's doing quite well unless I load with lousy wood. I have a replacement, but can I just push the existing one further in?
Thanks
7
Central Boiler / Wifi Module erratic?
« on: November 11, 2017, 05:50:15 AM »
Anyone else having problems with their wifi connection these days? Most nights now, our connection fails during the night. Sometimes it comes back after an hour or two, sometimes I have to shut off power to the furnace, then turn it back on to get the unit to reconnect, and a couple of times now it's needed multiple power cycles. When it fails, the blue light flashes for a while and the display says WEB, but then the blue light goes out completely. At that point, we need a power cycle. I'd like to know a bit more before I contact CB and ask WTH?
8
Central Boiler / E1450 clogged heat exchanger tubes - creosote
« on: February 28, 2017, 11:29:00 PM »
Hi
reaction chamber temps have been dropping for the last couple of weeks. Figured it out today. We're limping through tonight, fortunately it's +2 C out there now.
5 of 7 tubes are blocked. DOH. Now, how to get them cleaned out. Ideas, anyone? I was thinking a chunk of 1/4" copper tubing might make a flexible enough but stiff enough poker to allow me to chip away at the accumulated creosote. Once I can get it somewhat clear, it'll get easier. Right now, they're solid. To be fair, I realized I haven't touched them since fall startup, despite weekly cleanouts. Once I get them cleared, that won't happen again!
Just sign me,
Blockhead.
reaction chamber temps have been dropping for the last couple of weeks. Figured it out today. We're limping through tonight, fortunately it's +2 C out there now.5 of 7 tubes are blocked. DOH. Now, how to get them cleaned out. Ideas, anyone? I was thinking a chunk of 1/4" copper tubing might make a flexible enough but stiff enough poker to allow me to chip away at the accumulated creosote. Once I can get it somewhat clear, it'll get easier. Right now, they're solid. To be fair, I realized I haven't touched them since fall startup, despite weekly cleanouts. Once I get them cleared, that won't happen again!
Just sign me,
Blockhead.
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