E-Classic is hooked up and running

[antos_ketcham]

Finally got it hooked up and running. It has been going for 24hrs now. I have attached a couple of pics. I will get some of the firebox when I load it next. So far here are my observations -

1) When running wide open, the smoke was much less dense than my old CB. The induced draft seems to have a big part in that. When you open the bypass to the chimney the smoke quantity and density increased a lot.

2) When it shut down there was very little coming out of the chimney.

3) I put larger rounds in it rather than splits.

3) It takes awhile to fill a 400 gallon tank with a garden hose

4) I did get some black liquid leaking out of the secondary combustion chamber. Likely it was the water jacket sweating as our water here is cold. This morning it has stopped. Water jacket at 175.

5) I am cutting my wood for this winter 24" long and 6-8 inches wide. I did find this in the manual. I think this has more to do with the wood being dry. Since I don't have a lot of time until winter I am preparing the wood this way to help it dry.

Oh - I will try to take a movie if I can figure out how to.

Pete

 

[jd6030]

Glad to see you got it going and is yours dual fuel or wood only? I have mine on the pad and trenches dug and putting pipe in friday and hope to have it done in 2 weeks but don't plan on firing till cold weather. The dealer where mine come from had one out in operation in Febuary and was told the dryer the wood the better and to keep firebox full of wood which is total opposite of regular cbs.

 

[antos_ketcham]

Glad to see you got it going and is yours dual fuel or wood only? I have mine on the pad and trenches dug and putting pipe in friday and hope to have it done in 2 weeks but don't plan on firing till cold weather. The dealer where mine come from had one out in operation in Febuary and was told the dryer the wood the better and to keep firebox full of wood which is total opposite of regular cbs.

Now into 48hrs of operation. Jacket is maintaining at 185. Little visible emissions. Firebox is full of partially burnt wood. It is hard to see the coals or fire as it is under the wood load. But since it is maintaining temp. I know it is there.

Yes on both points you make. Ideally you want as dry a wood as you can get. It does say in the manual that you should fill the firebox to the top. I am only filling half-way as it is summer.

So far so good. More pictures soon.

Pete

 

[antos_ketcham]

Wood only.

 

[jebatty]

It is hard to see the coals or fire as it is under the wood load.

The E-Classic is supposed to be gasification, right? And if so, where does that take place? Where does the ash go that is generated from the gasification process? How do you clean the gasification chamber? Is it all water jacket or are there hx tubes?

Looks like you are off to a good start.

 

[jd6030]

I have been told the ashes will be in the reaction chamber shown in photo where it was dripping out of the stove.

 

[antos_ketcham]

Pete[/quote]i like #4 which seems like creosote is dripping from condensed exhaust instead of going out with smoke. how's the smoke smell ? thru time.[/quote]

Doesn't seem like creosote to me - just slightly blackened water. It was too thin and cleaned up too easily. With the 55 degree water in the tank, the water jacket sweats and the water then goes down to the reaction chamber and out. Could be wrong but this is what appears to be happening.

Pete

 

[antos_ketcham]

It is hard to see the coals or fire as it is under the wood load.

The E-Classic is supposed to be gasification, right?

Yes.

And if so, where does that take place?

There is a chamber below the firebox.

Where does the ash go that is generated from the gasification process?

In that chamber - you simply open it and scoop them out.

How do you clean the gasification chamber?

Access door on the side.

Is it all water jacket or are there hx tubes?

HX tubes run from the secondary combustion chamber up to the chimney. These can be cleaned from the back with a brush provided.

Looks like you are off to a good start.

 

[Eric Johnson]

Thanks for the pics and the update, Pete. Sounds like everything is going according to plan.

 

[kubatob7500]

Have been fo;llwing you and your e-2300 since you 1st started posting a while back, thank you for the updates.

I'm very interested in any pro/con's up to this point with the e-2300.

I'm still up in the air wheather to install one. The price was more then 13,000 to install,(quote that I recievied) that is alot of money. I still will only spend 4'000$ to heat house this year, however, with increasing prices of oil, I might bite the bullet.

Again any coments you can share would be greatly apperiated.

Thank you

 

[antos_ketcham]

Have been fo;llwing you and your e-2300 since you 1st started posting a while back, thank you for the updates.

I'm very interested in any pro/con's up to this point with the e-2300.

I'm still up in the air wheather to install one. The price was more then 13,000 to install,(quote that I recievied) that is alot of money. I still will only spend 4'000$ to heat house this year, however, with increasing prices of oil, I might bite the bullet.

Again any coments you can share would be greatly apperiated.

Thank you

Well, so far so good. I built the first fire on Tuesday night and just reloaded this morning. Filling the firebox just under half full got me 3 or so days of hot water - not a lot of wood - say 5-6 pieces - 6 to 8 inch. Has been running pretty clean. You can really see the difference when you open and close the bypass damper. When closed and gasifying there is very little smoke.

Pros and cons? Hard to give a real meaningful list at this point, but for me the pro's are:

1) Everything is outside - including water storage.

2) Cleaner burning - very important since I am running it for DHW and have neighbors not close, but also not far away.


Cons -

1) It cost more than the comparable 6048.

2) Can't burn huge rounds or wet/green wood. Not that I do this generally, but the flexibility is nice if you need it for some reason.

3) It has more bells and whistles (more solenoids, etc) so therefore can have more go wrong with it in theory.

So far I have been impressed and pleased and feel I will get my moneys worth out of it. Fuel oil around here is heading for 5-6 a gallon last I heard.

Good luck.

Pete

 

[Johnbull]

Pete, thanks for your update.
Now I'm getting excited. My E-Classic is ordered and should be delivered soon.

How did you off-load the stove? A backhoe perhaps? I presume the electrical requirement is 110 in conduit to the back of the unit. Any "unexpected" surprises about the unit? Anything you might have done differently?

C. Ormsby
Central Pennyslvania

 

[antos_ketcham]

Pete, thanks for your update.
Now I'm getting excited. My E-Classic is ordered and should be delivered soon.

How did you off-load the stove? A backhoe perhaps? I presume the electrical requirement is 110 in conduit to the back of the unit. Any "unexpected" surprises about the unit? Anything you might have done differently?

C. Ormsby
Central Pennyslvania

Glad to hear I will no longer be the only one with the E-Classic in the boiler room!

Off loading was done by the dealer who contracted a towing company - he used a small flat bed with a mini-crane. Apparently the E-Classic is that much heavier than the 6048 that his excavator he normally used couldn't handle it.

I will check on the 110, but yes in conduit to the unit. I buried the conduit in the same trench as the thermopex.

No surprises thus far.

Nothing I would have done differently - very happy.

Pete

 

[Outdoorsman]

I would like to know which of the other CB boilers you had prior to install of the E-Classic that you are comparing it with?

Have you run it enough to have even a rough idea of the difference in volume of wood used yet? Percentages if yes?

In the past week I've talked to two different CB dealers within easy drive of my home, both seemed to know a bit about the E-Classic, but sadly, neither of them had one on hand or has sold any yet.
So I'm VERY interested in your results.

I've a large wood supply cut between Aug. 07 & May 08 dry'n out back. Need to decide soon between sell'n it and install of a OWB of some type.

 

[antos_ketcham]

I would like to know which of the other CB boilers you had prior to install of the E-Classic that you are comparing it with?

Have you run it enough to have even a rough idea of the difference in volume of wood used yet? Percentages if yes?

In the past week I've talked to two different CB dealers within easy drive of my home, both seemed to know a bit about the E-Classic, but sadly, neither of them had one on hand or has sold any yet.
So I'm VERY interested in your results.

I've a large wood supply cut between Aug. 07 & May 08 dry'n out back. Need to decide soon between sell'n it and install of a OWB of some type.

Hi Outdoorsman -

I previously had a 5036. Can't really compare wood usage because I have used it for so little and it is summer time use now. I will keep the boiler posted as I get more results in.

So far I am filling it half full every Wednesday and Saturday to keep my DHW hot. So far it is working well.

FWIW - if you go with the E-Classic, the dry wood is supposed to work better in these units.

Pete

 

[Ctdeer]

If you dont mind me asking, why did you switch from the 5036?

 

[webbie]

So far I am filling it half full every Wednesday and Saturday to keep my DHW hot. So far it is working well.

FWIW - if you go with the E-Classic, the dry wood is supposed to work better in these units.

Pete

I wonder if such long burns will end up rotting out the steel prematurely. This has been an ongoing problem with many wood boilers.....

Certain chemicals tend to build up as well as a lot of condensation. It is almost impossible to do life-cycle testing on this stuff prior to putting it in the field, which means they will only know looking back.

 

[heaterman]

I would like to know which of the other CB boilers you had prior to install of the E-Classic that you are comparing it with?

Have you run it enough to have even a rough idea of the difference in volume of wood used yet? Percentages if yes?

In the past week I've talked to two different CB dealers within easy drive of my home, both seemed to know a bit about the E-Classic, but sadly, neither of them had one on hand or has sold any yet.
So I'm VERY interested in your results.

I've a large wood supply cut between Aug. 07 & May 08 dry'n out back. Need to decide soon between sell'n it and install of a OWB of some type.

Hi Outdoorsman -

I previously had a 5036. Can't really compare wood usage because I have used it for so little and it is summer time use now. I will keep the boiler posted as I get more results in.

So far I am filling it half full every Wednesday and Saturday to keep my DHW hot. So far it is working well.

FWIW - if you go with the E-Classic, the dry wood is supposed to work better in these units.

Pete

RE: the statement about dry wood. Let me just say that truer words were never spoken. Dry wood (no greater than 25% moisture content) is absolutely, positively, mandatory in any gasification unit if you want to avoid creosote problems and achieve maximum efficiency. I for one do not envy the operator of any gasifier that is being fed wet wood. It's not pretty and It doesn't matter what brand it is, none of them like it.

In fact, I'll go as far as to state that if owners of OWB's would have used properly seasoned wood in the first place, we probably wouldn't be having this discussion about gasification equipment. Emissions are far less in any burner with properly seasoned wood.

 

[whodoctor]

Its really great to see an E-classic thread!

I live in Central Mass, and have an E-Classic being delivered on 8.7.08. I have 100' of thermopex run underground with electrical in conduit, and I will heat 4000 square feet with it, using 5 zones. Three zones are hydronic air, and 2 zones will be hot water base board. I use 2000 gallon of oil per year, so I am excited to get this system installed. The dealer told me that this unit will use 40% less wood than the CB6048, while putting out the same amount of heat output. Has anyone else heard this sort of figure thrown around?

Thanks for a great thread. By the end of this heating season there should be a lot of info out there. Right now, this seems like a gamble...a safe one, but a gamble nonetheless.

 

[Willman]

The dealer told me

I take this statement from any dealer of anything with a grain of salt. True real world experience is the real test. Keep us posted on your results. The type of wood your using and what the MC is will help too.
Will

 

[whodoctor]

I will post a complete thread of the install, and data as I gather it. What is MC? I will be using 24" rounds and splits of oak and maple, which have been seasoning for a couple of months.

 

[Willman]

What is MC

Moisture content.

 

[whodoctor]

I am not quite sure how to measure the MC, but I will post a pretty complete thread, starting with the install at the end of the week. I have a cord of standing dead wood to get started with, and then I'll go to the stuff that's been seasoning in full sun since May/June. It sounds dry and is full of cracks in the ends. I know, I am a bit of a novice, but the wood is getting light, and sounds dry, if that makes sense.

I will start a brand new thread toward the end of the week. I shouldn't have cluttered this one, but its my first day of posting.

Thanks goodness the E-classic is getting hot.

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

Pete -

I'm not sure if you ever ran the GW for summer DHW production, but if you did, how would you compare wood consumption?

Jimbo

 

[whodoctor]

I am running it now. See this thread: http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,32705.20.html

It takes about 5-6 days to burn through one firebox full of wood.

This will be my first winter burning. The thread will shine some light on this.