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[johnybcold]

Thx for all the help I should have known there was a issue because it has been smoking alot this year, I figured it was the wood, but after I have it my weekend cleaning today it is not smoking at all, I cleaned both solinoids for the first time the pipe was about 1/4 full but one of the hoses on the top one was clogged up solid, I also spent extra time on what I call the WTF slots on the side, because it just a pain to clean them well, I am not sure what they were thinking. My pine is probably over 12% but it is running a million times better, they say measure twice cut once, so in my case it is clean it twice cause no smoke is nice,

Thx for all the help

[boilerman]

Johnny, gald to here you are back up and running. By no means am I discouraging your dedication to cleaning. I'm sure there is no down side to it. My hats off to you!
I just don't like to have to keep re-establishing a coal bed. As Jack said, a coal bed is essential to getting good high reaction chamber temps. Happy burning!

[Roger2561]

Johnyb - Glad to hear your making heat again.  Have your reaction chamber temps gone over the 750 degree mark?  If yes, it means it's gassifying and doing what it was built to do.  Creosote in these beasts is it's achilles heal.  I burn fire wood that's been under cover and dry for 2 years.  Because the outdoor temps are so warm and experiencing quite a bit idle time, it is susceptible to creosote.  Cleaning the air holes once a week as I do is perhaps a bit paranoid on my part but the thing runs great.  You see a difference in the amount of creosote build up once the temps get to their normal winter temp.  If you keep those holes clear of crud (another technical term) it should cut down on any future issues regarding air flow.  What I've learned, I've learned through trial and error.

Boilerman - due to the construction of the primary air holes into the fire box, especially those in the rear, those air holes will clog rather easily.  Unfortunately it's the nature of the beast.  The newer 1450's have removable corner panels in the rear that make clearing them much easier.  CB must have realized that the construction of the 1400's air holes in the rear are a problem, thus, the removable panels.  Am I sorry I purchased the 1400?  Not at all.  It's wonderful to come home from work to warm house and not hearing the oil furnace running even if it means I have to spend a half hour every Saturday morning servicing it. 

Oh, one more thing - Happy Thanksgiving guys!  Roger

[johnybcold]

Well I always keep my unit clean but never bothered with the side holes, and now I have respect for the side holes my unit went out I let it run out of wood and in no time it was up to 756

[dwneast77]

Here is a picture of my CB E2300 left side air channel last January, after only 3 1/2 seasons use (installed fall 2008).  You can see it was chock-block full of creosote and ash with no way to clean it out and it just started to fall apart.  This particular spot had been cut upen and re-welded that the year prior as well and that's how fast it deteriorated again. 

So last February, when I had a welder back in here we came up with a solution to that problem.  I did away with the original air channel and brought the air up to the top.  I may make a slight change this year but this has eliminated my problem of build-up in the primary air channel.  It is completely removable and I could have it put back to factory setup if needed.

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[Roger2561]

Here is a picture of my CB E2300 left side air channel last January, after only 3 1/2 seasons use (installed fall 2008).  You can see it was chock-block full of creosote and ash with no way to clean it out and it just started to fall apart.  This particular spot had been cut upen and re-welded that the year prior as well and that's how fast it deteriorated again. 

So last February, when I had a welder back in here we came up with a solution to that problem.  I did away with the original air channel and brought the air up to the top.  I may make a slight change this year but this has eliminated my problem of build-up in the primary air channel.  It is completely removable and I could have it put back to factory setup if needed.

Downeast - I like your setup.  My Eclassic 1400 came with the hole through the rear for the ignition ready gas nozzle but I never got it.  The hole presently has a removable plug in it.  What I'm thinking of doing is moving the primary solenoid which provides the air flow for the air holes in the fire box and do something similar to what you did only go one step further with it.  Instead of stopping at the top rear like you, "T" off to the each side, and then run pipe up each side to the front stopping a few inches from the fire box door with a series of smaller holes blowing air into the firebox.  Like johnyb said, those holes are a pain in the back side to keep clean.  It takes a bit to it.  With the set up I've described above, I believe I can remove the pipe (unthread them) run something like a rifle barrel cleaning rod through them and reassemble.  Even I don't save any time doing this, it's got to be easier than crawling (not literary) inside the firebox to clean those dang holes.  Your thoughts n my approach will be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.  Roger 

[dwneast77]

This worked great for me.  What you can't see is that the pipe comes to the top to an elbow and then a nipple forward and then the T.  So the T is actually about centered in the firebox.  I may extend out to each side myself to another T on each side.  reduce the size  and extend each side forward and back.  But honastly I don't think it's necessary.  I think I'm actually still getting too much air in the Primary box which I can restrict down with the solenoid in the back.  The only real problem I've encountered is puffing.  My Wood Doctor unit does this too when conditions are right.  I'm learning a lot about that as time goes on too.  Thinking about it, maybe doing the work described above and having smaller air holes would help that problem.

Note that the whole apparatus I put together there slides right out easily.  We only added the bracket at the back wall to help support it, but there is just a pin to pull out which frees the whole thing. 

The hole coming in through the back wall is 2 1/2".  I inserted a 2" nipple and then sized back up to 2 1/2" for my air channel.  NOT Necessary.  If  I did it again, I would just stick with 2".

[Roger2561]

This worked great for me.  What you can't see is that the pipe comes to the top to an elbow and then a nipple forward and then the T.  So the T is actually about centered in the firebox.  I may extend out to each side myself to another T on each side.  reduce the size  and extend each side forward and back.  But honastly I don't think it's necessary.  I think I'm actually still getting too much air in the Primary box which I can restrict down with the solenoid in the back.  The only real problem I've encountered is puffing.  My Wood Doctor unit does this too when conditions are right.  I'm learning a lot about that as time goes on too.  Thinking about it, maybe doing the work described above and having smaller air holes would help that problem.

Note that the whole apparatus I put together there slides right out easily.  We only added the bracket at the back wall to help support it, but there is just a pin to pull out which frees the whole thing. 

The hole coming in through the back wall is 2 1/2".  I inserted a 2" nipple and then sized back up to 2 1/2" for my air channel.  NOT Necessary.  If  I did it again, I would just stick with 2".

Downeast - Is that pipe galvanized or black iron pipe?  The next time I'm cleaning my owb, I'll get some measurements of the hole coming through the rear wall and purchase the necessary material for the solenoid to couple to it and the pipe for the firebox.  Thanks, Roger 

[dwneast77]

Roger,  It's actually some of each, black and galvanized.  Whatever I could get in the proper size.   

I suspect you will not see very much build-up.  The main precaution I took was having the pipe coming through the back wall and into a "T" oriented up and down with a nipple screwed onto the bottom which rests on the firebox floor.  This offers support and a place for creosote to drain.  If the nipple sits completely flat on the floor with no way to drain then I'd recommend cutting a notch or 2 into it.  With mine, the pipe rests 2/3 on the firebrick and the other 1/3 is behind the firebrick where the original air channel was removed. 

I've only ever had it partially plug once.  A large flake of creosote, or maybe just a lining off the interior of the pipe fell and kind of blocked things.  Just a quick poke and it fell out of the way.  That happened within a week or so of the change and never happened again the rest of the heating season.

Again, the only thing I really have to watch is puffing.  Maybe lower my solenoid a bit more.  A result of the puffing is a lot of coals being blown down into the combustion chamber.   I clean it out every few days, but keep in mind that my OWB's run almost steady all night long from March thru end of May when my greenhouses are running.  So I'm burning a lot of wood in a short amount of time, ashes are a given.  I'm looking forward to getting that boiler back up and running for this season, should happen in the next couple of weeks.  I've been running my Wood Doctor.  I got my whole air channel idea from my Wood Doctor and also the Portage and Main Optimizer 250.  You might look that up for reference.  Don't bother with Wood Doctor, the company doesn't exist anymore.

Good Luck!!

-Jeff

[Roger2561]

Jeff - Thanks for the detailed set up you have.  I have the day off from work today so I'll have time to get some measurements for the material I'll need.  The idea of making a drain for the creosote is a good one.  Also, I'll look at the portage and main oppimizer 250 for ideas too.  Again, thanks for help.  Roger 

[dwneast77]

No problem Roger.  I've soaked up a lot of useful knowledge from this site.  I only hope that somebody can get a little benefit from my experiences too.   

I've gotta try to get what years I can out of my units here.  But I'll tell ya, I would have a hard time going back to Central Boiler giving the issues this E2300 has had.  I know of 3 others in my immediate area all having similar troubles.  I just showed another local with the same unit what I did this morning.  Plus last season I had 2 water leaks in the firebox.   

I like the P&M design, but talking with someone on this site, they are not without some flaws.  The pipe from the air channel into the air box tends to drain creosote into the airbox and can even get into the blower if not kept cleaned out.    To be honast, if I can get a few more years out of these, I'm actally really interested in replacing them with the P&M chip burner.  Unfortunately, it has a $30k price tag.  I'll be saving my pennies for a while.  But I'm definitely going to keep my eye on it.  It would be a good size for my needs.