e-classic pics

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It seems to me they are still in the R&D;phase. Hopefully they will solve a lot of these problems and help their customers out. That is a lot of money to spend and have so many problems. The same cost would have gone a long way toward a Garn or a Froling with storage. I do hope that these OWB companies come up with a working solution for gasification, so that people set on getting one will burn efficiently, consume less wood, and pollute less. Good luck to all the E-classic users out there. I think it is a promising technology and hope the kinks get worked out in the next few seasons for you all.
 
Are you folks with problems receiving good support from Classic?
 
Thanks to the folks on this forum to alerting us to the e-classic fusion chamber rupture problem. Here are some pics of what happened to mine this winter:

From the bottom (reaction chamber side)
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From the top: notice the wavy sheet metal down in the chamber on the left side.
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Reaction chamber: different angle of the rupture. it is in the center all the way back.
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Reaction chamber door: No heat damage to the door as some other have posted.
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All E-Classic owners should check their stoves for this problem. As folks clean their stoves and find this, it will be a major issue for CB. Do any of you NOT have this problem??? Thanks.

Ed in CT
 
Hey Guys,

Looking at these pics I was wondering if there is some refractory removed or is that the way the entrance into the secondary chamber from the primary is.

If that is the case, CB's engineers aren't very smart. You cannot have bare steel within the flame path of a secondary burn it will never last.

Wouldn't you think if you were a big company like CB that you would purchase and test fine European DD's and build off their experiences. I know a company that I use to work for would buy the competitor's, tear them down, design,. and build off their good ideas.
 
Garnification said:
Hey Guys,

Looking at these pics I was wondering if there is some refractory removed or is that the way the entrance into the secondary chamber from the primary is.

If that is the case, CB's engineers aren't very smart. You cannot have bare steel within the flame path of a secondary burn it will never last.

Wouldn't you think if you were a big company like CB that you would purchase and test fine European DD's and build off their experiences. I know a company that I use to work for would buy the competitor's, tear them down, design,. and build off their good ideas.


Yes, there is a layer of refractory that covers the steel. On the other hand, there is nothing protecting the fusion chamber sheet metal and it is very thin sheet metal.
 
Just shutting down my system for the summer although I would like to keep burning it for our domestic. I need to cut more wood and don't want to use my winter supply for coming year. Once I removed the firebrick on the sides my life became less complicated with the E-Classic but now have an issue with the combustion chamber.

Discovered last evening what appears to be an identical deformation as the above photo taken from the combustion chamber clean-out looking into the furnace from the side. If this proves to be as many others have found what is the corrective action to be taken? What as CB or its' dealers said about this apparent engineering problem? I cleaned the ashes more often than instructed.

My lower combustion chamber clean out door does have a warp at the top- unlike the above photos.

Craig Ormsby,
Martinsburg PA
 
Many folks have been experiencing a rupture of the E-Classic fusion chamber. See links below.
Everyone with an E-Classic needs to check there stoves for this.


http://www.forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=2231&pos=0

I have contacted my dealer in CT who claims to sold 50 e-classics. The dealer claims no owers except I have brought this up.
The dealer cantacted John Burns at CB for resolution. Here is the verbal responce given by John Burns to my dealer:

The fusion chamber is a wear item and not covered under waranty but since this stove is fairly new, they will supply the part.
The rupture could be caused by user, although some issues have been noted and a possible redesign could occur using a Porcelain material.
It is the owner responsibility to replace the fusion chamber in this case. CB will not cover dealer labor.

This response is disturbing to me because they are not taking resposibility and shifting blame to the stove users. I think the E-Classic owners need to group together on this one so we don’t get stepped on by CB.

If you send me your email address and stove serial number along with your state, I will compile a list and use it to convince CB that they need to act soon. I will also send you feedback and keep you informed of what info I get.
my email is [email protected]
 
Do the failures cause efficiency and emissions problems? If so, I would think that the EPA and other states that have given their blessing to this product would be interested in knowing that the units may have problems. Your list of affected owners by serial number etc should serve well to demonstrate a design issue and remove the "operator error" blame game from the equation.

Hope CB owns up to this.
 
did you know that epa has a regulation that anything that is approved by epa, can not change any fire chamber demensions with in a 1/4 " of design copies sent too epa, so that any fire brick taken out ect. any thing that changes is not no longer approved stove. in approved states.
 
Not good news from upstate NY. My EC2300 also has warped door and split in the reaction chamber metal. I also have crack on back side near the gas inlet pipe. Anyone get feedback from CB on this?
 
Here is my experience with a company evaluation from CB:

Three Central Boiler reps visited my eClassic 2300 (e-Classic, E Classic) last week and were there almost 2 hours. The experience was quite informative and I thought I would share.

1) They ground the surface down and examined it for corrosion - mine was apprarently good - sounds like they might have been finding some issues.
2) They removed all the brick in the burning chamber and replaced the 4 unique horizontal pieces. I do not believe they were damaged - I think they replaced them because they had to remove them to get to the "burner box".
3) They replaced the "burner box" - this box is about 5 by 14 by 18 inches? and is exposed to the hottest burning gases. It is what you see a portion of through the hole in the bottom of the burn chamber. After 5 months of use, my box had some warping and some fractures at welds and another minor fracture. The fractures were not yet "serious", but I do NOT think it would have held up for a second season. Examining this box is quite difficult - removing the bottom bricks is very difficult because they are embedded in creosote.
4) They replaced the "burner box" with an identical unit. This did not give me too much confidence. They said they are evaluating a box with ceramic parts...not available yet.
5) They performed a pressure test on the fan by drilling a hole in the box and applying a pressure meter. Mine was 0.8 which was apparently "good" - they said some were as low as 0.4 which they said would result in poor burning. They commented the low pressure was primarily due to leaky boxes, but I am unsure if that would be logical. They sealed the hole with silicone and duct-tape (a bit kludgy).
6) I has already removed the brick on the walls - they also removed the 6 bricks near the bottom which are adjacent to the horizontal bricks.
7) They took a sample of the creosote for analysis and asked me about the type of wood I burned.
8> They said they were happy I had insulated my 70W pump. Infact, I had not due to my dealer saying the pump will overheat if insulated. This seems to be an inconsistancy in their information. The rep said the pump is water cooled. Do I insulate the pump or not?
9) They didn't have much of a solution to some interface problems I have had with my boiler. They suggested I might add a 075 (70W) pump to constantly circulate hot water through the furnace to prevent it from firing for the first minute...not too desirable - and why not done initially?
10) My heat exchanger pipes had quite a bit of tough buildup even after cleaning - for which they had no ideas on how to clean and expressed their opinion that it was not too bad.
11) They left a gallon of water conditioner.

I was very happy that they evaluated the system and replaced the burn box and bricks. I was discouraged by the condition of the burn box and lack of a permanent solution. I was also concerned by the apparent interest in looking for internal corrosion. They were apparently visiting many locations doing similar evaluations.
 
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