# let get a update on the E-Classic 2300 users



## ralph worley (Feb 18, 2009)

hello Muskytooth

how have you been doing?
how many full cords of wood have you burned so far ?
are you still happy with unit ?
have you had any problems ?
could i get a picture of the place where you cleaning out the ash ?
any information you can think of will be helpful ?
i read on another forum alot of people where having alot of trouble with there unit. could be just human error maybe ? any thought ?

thank you
ralph


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## jmcguiretree (Feb 18, 2009)

So far so good. Very little smoke.Only problem was that some of the fire bricks are falling in. Dealer said to remove them as the fall.They are now coming with out fire bricks.Not sure on how much wood I have used but would guess around 10+/- face cord so far.


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## TonyG (Feb 18, 2009)

*Currently, we're having a issue...*

with water temp. Not exactly sure why, but the burner won't heat the water above 160 degrees.

Water jacket is full, good burn going inside, ash bin is empty, fan is always running to make up.

Temp. gauge inside the house confirms at around 145-150 degrees.

No farkin' clue!

Is it possible that the ash bed is too deep?


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## ihatemyeclassic (Feb 18, 2009)

*beware of the e classic and central boiler !!!!!*



hello to all, i have owned an E classic now for four months now and i have had many problems with the boiler. central boiler has been good about sending parts out so I can change them, but I don't feel it is my job to be changing parts on a brand new boiler. In four months of ownership i have changed so many parts i should go into a service business fixing the e classic dual fuel boiler. One of the main problems I have encountered is the wiring, FireStar controller, wood igniter, gasket that goes around the door, damper not closing. Well i could go on but i won't, what i will say is i thought i was buying an appliance to heat my home. LOL. what i got is a new $14000 dollar hobby fixing my brand new E classic duel fuel wood boiler. BEWARE and STAY WAY from the e classic duel fuel boiler by central boiler.


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## TonyG (Feb 26, 2009)

*Follow up...*

The reason we were having trouble with maintaining temp. was the bed. It was to deep, creosote built up along the bottom back area...no fire there, three blocked air holes were also found. 

We cleaned up the entire floor, poked air holes open and reinstalled some of the old bed material. Everything is back to normal.


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## ralph worley (Feb 26, 2009)

Hello TonyG
Thanks for the update. Keep me posted on how it's running.Could i get a picture of the place where you cleaning out the ash, back side of unit,and inside of unit? What do you use to clean out the ash and how do you do it? I am wanting to get the unit. But i have read alot of people having trouble. Like that post by ihatemyeclassic that has scared me.

Thank you
Ralph


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## Wood Billy (Feb 27, 2009)

And everybody was complaining about the Shaver...Looks like the Eclassic has far larger problems.


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## Slick (Feb 27, 2009)

But the E classic has some real engineering in it and is brand new...the Shaver is a big box with a fire in it that hasn't changed in years (and they brag about how many years)....I'll give some slack and time to figure things out to one and not the other...I'll let you decide which one.


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## dirtyedge (Feb 27, 2009)

I can't speak for the dual fuel, but the wood only e2300 that we have, has run great. As with any boiler and especially new technology there is a learning curve.

Myself and many others have had issues with not maintaining 185 but it has always been due to the ash bed covering the air holes, the reaction chamber too full of ash or the tubes not being cleaned. After we started cleaning these items on a weekly basis we have no longer had any issues. This maintenance takes about 10-15 minutes once a week, and is very easy to do.

I will try and take some pictures of these areas and what too look for when cleaning.

We are currently heating around 10,000 sq ft plus a 35,000 gallon indoor pool and it has been a cold winter so far. We didn't plan ahead for enough wood so we have been burning recently split wood with no problems. We have been averaging 1/2 to 3/4 of a cord per week. Usually fill it morning and night with an occasional few logs around noon.

We have experimented with different log size and how we fill it and have found that it works best to stack the wood parallel with the door all the way to the back. It seems to help keep the wood from bridging and keeps the air holes from becoming blocked. 

If you need any other info just let me know.


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## jmcguiretree (Feb 27, 2009)

I would tell anyone to buy an e-classic. Besides humane error, this thing is great. I would invite anyone to come and check it out. As far as the cleaning, once every 3-4 weeks clean out ashes and thats it(piece of cake).The only problem was the bricks falling and now they don't even put them in at the factory.Also this a wood only unit(not the duel fuel).


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## TonyG (Feb 27, 2009)

*Ralph,*

I'll try to get pictures of the areas you want. As to the ash cleaning box, it's a piece of cake. Were currently using a short handle square mouth shovel, not the best tool for the job, but it works.

This unit works as advertised, I like it. There is a learning curve as mentioned above, this is a new down draft type of burner, nothing to be afraid of.

As far as the door gasket goes, no problem here. That gasket isn't made to take direct flame from the fire box.

Wiring and controllers have been flawless "so far".


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## darnet (Feb 27, 2009)

I have had no problems with mine as of yet. Mine is also a wood only model. If you keep the combustion chamber clean your ash bed won't build up. I just move the coals around and fill back up with wood. When i bought mine there was a pomotional thing going on and cb gave a heavy duty 3 prong rake a shovel and a hoe. I use the hoe to scrape the ashes onto the shovel. I did have 1 fire brick come loose in the combustion chamber but it was my fault as I got under it with the shovel.


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## TonyG (Feb 28, 2009)

*I have some of the ceramic*

coming off as well. But I tend to throw the wood into the fire box as opposed to placing it in there.


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## antos_ketcham (Mar 6, 2009)

*E-Classic Update*

I have the wood only unit and have been very happy. No problems like I have read about - thankfully. My biggest challenge is that I would prefer to have just one section of chimney. But whenever we get a warm spell - like now - and a south or east wind I get smoke blowing at the house and in my face when I am trying to deal with it. I could add more chimney, but it seems like it performs better with less - less smoke when idling and less when running. I think the more chimney there is the more cooling and condensing takes place. This is also supported by the creosote that builds up at the top of taller runs of chimney. I started off with three sections. 

Anyone have any ideas on the chimney thing? Most boilers have a very short chimney - Heatmor, Aspen, etc. My wife would prefer we not have a tower in the yard, but she also is concerned about the smoke.

I am heating 1700 square feet and DHW. Have burned 5 cords since October. I am in northern Vermont. 

Pete


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## jmcguiretree (Mar 7, 2009)

With the warmer temps I found that I need to put in much less wood! I went out this morning and still had half the wood I put in yesterday morning.Looks like I could go 2+ days without adding any wood.This thing is really great.


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## Skiboat Dave (Mar 11, 2009)

I have a friend that has an E Classic. He had the same issue with the water temp to low. It was also ash blocking the holes. 

I was a 1/16 of an inch away from buying the E. I went with the CB 6048 classic. I am sooo happy I did. 

I switched so that I could burn greener wood and pine. 

Smoke so far has not been any problem with me or my neighbors.


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## LumberjkChamp (Mar 11, 2009)

Just want to say that I enjoy reading this thread and that I find the information (good and bad) helpful. I don't own an e-classic or an OWB but am looking into one. Since I could only buy an e-classic -or other EPA accepted boiler as I am located in Vermont its nice to hear some good things said about it.

It seems to have been well thought out and maybe CB needs a couple of years to work all the kinks out. My neighbor a has the 5036 and really likes it. He only burns good hardwood in it and it doesn't smoke anywhere near as bad as people say it does. Too bad they imposed all those new regulations.


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## ralph worley (Mar 24, 2009)

hello TonyG
how are you doing? How is the unit running? Any problem? Have you had a chance to take some picture?

Thank you
Ralph


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## dadam (Jan 28, 2011)

*Oversold?*

I have some input on the E classic, new here so its my first post

What a piece of garbage, I have had it now for three seasons so I have some experience with it.

Here is what I know
1) I was told if I could lift the wood I could burn it, false I need to split it up small.
2) I would only need to put wood in it every other day. Reality is 2x a day
3) Wouldnt smoke- If you burn wood you will get smoke, end of story
4) makes a paintcain of ashes every few weeks, try a 5 gallon paint can 2x a week
5) It would burn green wood ( maybe dry wood painted green)
6) Rubber door seal- garbage, plan on replacing that every few years.
7) No problems with the solenoids-----yet
8) No problems with electronics-----yet
9) When the water temp drops it takes forever to recover
10)And my favorite salesman line " its so smoke free that my neighbor asked me when I am going to hook up the furnace" maybe if your neighbor is stevie wonder

Yes I am disapointed and upset while I sit in a cold house with wife and kids while my furnace is at 140 degrees, hoping it comes up by morning. Yes I cleaned out the ash bedand air is circulating fine through it.

Please be aware the person considering purchasing an e classic, it is my belief that those that rave about the e-classic may be central boiler employees.

A friend of mine bought a heatmor at the same time I did, less smoke, less headaches. In retrospect I feel I could of saved a few grand and got a better unit.

My 2 cents


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## asemc (Sep 27, 2011)

*Going into my 4th year with my E Classic - A few problems but A-OK*

Per the title of this post, I'm going into my 4th year with the (wood only) E Classic. From the start, I needed this to perform as advertised and I did my homework before purchase. While I've had the usual problems with the bricks coming loose in the firebox, my dealer/service guy has been outstanding, came over and took them out, said it was the new policy, etc. The 2nd year the throat was badly melted and CB replaced it with the ceramic throat, 3rd year had to replace the door but CB picked up the cost of that too. This year, going into the 4th season, the low water sensor had to be replace because it was allowing the fans to go on and off rapidly.... this was an intermittent problem but my dealer/service guy was again outstanding and diagnosed the problem and had it fixed within 15 minutes. 
Apparently just in southern Vermont 16 of these E Classics have had to be sent back to CB because the air port assembly on the inside of the firebox have badly cracked and pulled away from water jacket, CB overhauls these E Classics and sends them back to the owners. Not sure on the fee for this (perhaps a few thousand) but for sure, any fee is too much after dropping all that money. However mine is still OK, there are a few cracks but it's not as bad as many of them have been. 

So here the positive side of my experience - I agree with a previous post that it takes a while to iron out the bugs on a new product. Thus far CB has come to the plate on this. I use 30" logs that I tilt up into my vertical log spliter (don't want to pick up any 30" logs!) Been using about 80% hardwood / 20% softwood that has been down for approximately 6 months, by the end of the winter it's been drying for perhaps 9-10 months. I cranked up the water temp to 190-195 as it heats this large home more quickly than the pre-set temp that is about 10 degrees lower. Every morning during loading, I pull the ashes away from the air ports, making sure they'll all open.... It's for this reason that I don't fully load the furnace, only approximately 80% on the coldest days, when I come out to check it in the morning, I can easily access, clear the ashes, away from the air ports. I clean out the ashes and brush out the tubes every 15 - 21 days depending on how cold it gets. As for smoke, sure it smokes a bit but much less when the tubes have been brushed out within a week and much much less if you're using wood that has been drying for 10 months plus. Never have a problem with bridging.... I load it in the morning and poke it sometimes at night if it's really cold adding a few more logs. The 30" logs are split so that the average diameter of the split pieces is usually 10 - 12", this allows the wood to further dry out at the top of the firebox. All in all, despite the problems that CB has addressed, this EClassic is just really well engineered and has met my expectations. It works as advertised.

One last thing here that some of you might be interested in: My dealer/service guy suggested re-plumbing the heat exchanger and taking out the pump that drove the oil furnace water to the heat exchanger. He mounted the heat exchanger directly next to the oil boiler and allowed the circulators to drive the water through the heat exchanger when there was a demand. This improved efficiency and cut out a noisy energy consuming pump.


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## waterguy (Nov 15, 2011)

*E- Classic 2300 upgrades*

I purchased my 2300 in fall/2008. As many owners of this newly engineered unit, I as well experienced a host of problems with my unit. Most issues relate back to not enough air flow in the firebox. Your wood needs to be dry, dry, dry or else you will have condensation issues. I chose to send my 2300 back to Central Boiler for the upgrades to be installed and to have warranty issues taken care of. The cost of the upgrade package was $450 w/ $400 shipping fee. At first I was apprehensive on the cost considering what I paid originally for it but I do still have faith in the 2300 and went for it. I have been burning for 3 weeks since I got it back and so far, knock on wood (no pun intended), it appears to be $850 well worth spent.The biggest change I have noticed is AIR FLOW. She blows air like a weak tornado. Granted temps have not been to bad yet but we have had mornings in the low 20s, and previously I found with the 2300 is that she shines when it gets colder. Also kudos to my CB dealer, he has allways tried to help me out to the best of his ability. We shall see what winter will be like with improved 2300 but so far so good.


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## William Balaska (Nov 15, 2011)

Seems as though Central Boiler should have replaced all the 2300's with 2400 at no cost to the owner's of them as the reaction chambers and air flow issues have plauged them since the start. I almost bought a 2400 but decided to go with the 6048. I would prefer to use two less cords per year but not at the cost of reliability. I'll upgrade within five years after it has paid for itself as we use 6k in fuel oil in our nearly 4000sq ft home. I know Central is a good company and they have been good about replacing parts but at the cost of them they should almost have roadside service! IMO the 2300 has hurt their reputation, BUY THE TURDS BACK, OR GIVE THESE GUYS NEW 2400'S.


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