Central Boiler Classic 5036 need tips/info

[AngelaK]

I just set up my memberships to the group here as we speak so I'm sorry if anyone has already brought up points that I am asking about right nw. I have a central boiler 5036. It was installed into my house around 08/09 by my ex husband and he has since left. I have been managing on my own with it for about 5 winters now but I feel like I'm not able to get the optimum performance from it. Or maybe I am and just want confirmation. Also, please don't be harsh as some issues or questions are just not things I've thought about or were deemed necessary before this <insert women jokes here>.
1. I was not in a hurry to start it up this season as I will be traveling for a week in the beginning of December and didn't want to bother my neighbors with it. In the past I was lectured about leaving it off for a period of time in the winter due to the uncirculating water inside freezing and causing a pipe to rupture. How real is that scenario and if the night temp is below freezing but the day temp is above freezing for the entire time I will be gone, should I worry? Is there a magic number of days at a certain temp that could help guide me.
2. It seems like every year I get more wood and every year I blow through it faster than the last. I try to keep a balance so that I'm not putting too much in there so that it is just wasting but enough that it gets me about 12 hours or so. I have also learned to keep the wood pulled towards the door since if it is at the back it is essentially wasted heat. I also feel like round pieces last longer than split. I burn primarily hardwood and except for the beginning of the season, keep a decent ash bed. Thoughts on split vs unsplit.
3. I was blissfully unaware of the need for adding PH controller to the water. I have to periodically add water tot he stove and never gave it a thought that I need to put additives in as well until a friend mentioned it at the end of last season. Looking for guidance on this.
4. How necessary is the powder to control the buildup. I am not in a great habit of adding this and do it about once a week, more often if I happen to be adding more pine than usual. At the end of the season I clean out the ash and try to scrape away the buildup on the inside. Tips on this process are appreciated as well as I just basically scrape the inside with a shovel.
5. Has anyone had issues with the circulator fan. I called the supplier once about it and they said to just give it a couple good thumps with a mallet and tat should get it going again. It does, just seems like a bigger issue to me and if they've had to answer this question before, it must be common and therefore no cause for alarm?

Thanks for your input!!
Angela

 

[Iaff113]

I am fairly new to the central boiler world. I just got my classic edge up and running this year. I spent a lot of time reading on these and reading peoples information. On all different types of CB OWB.

I use both the corrosion inhibitor, moly boost and the ashtoll from Central boiler. You would have to buy a water sample kit from them to figure out what you need to add. It really depends on the wood species. I split smaller oak but I leave ash un split at the same size.

https://www.woodfurnaceworld.com/pr...MIitK8tZv83gIVVVuGCh0kogl9EAQYASABEgJ2p_D_BwE


I think it would be hard to figure out where you are losing your heat. Not knowing how it is installed or what was used. Do you know of a central boiler dealer near you? Maybe they would offer some sort of maintenance service.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[NSMaple1]

With a 10 year old install, it is quite likely your undergound pipe is causing issues. Losing you a lot of heat to the ground. That could be a semi-expensive fix, needing it all dug up & replaced with proper stuff (Thermopex or similar). Which is in the area of $10-15/foot. If you could post a decent picture of the pipe where it goes in & out of the ground we should be able to tell.

Usually people will leave their circulator running 24/7 when away for a few days if they are worried about freezing. If your underground is iffy, that will also send some house heat into the ground. But unless real cold, should still prevent a freeze up. No magic numbers, lots of local & situational variables.

Don't know about the fan, but required periodic thumping isn't a good sign. Either some kind of loose connection, or a creosote issue maybe?

 

[STLfirewood]

Yours has a fan? My CB just has a draft door. I would check into just having a draft door. I asked CB about the fan. They said it’s really only needed if you have long down times in between burn cycles or you want to burn more wood. Depending on your situation just having a draft door might allow you to burn less wood. Like was stated above just leave the pump running while your gone.

Don’t fret about asking questions lots of helpful people here. Most aren’t condescending at all.

Scott

 

[CentaurG2]

As mentioned, if your circulator pump runs constantly, the boiler and lines “theoretically” should not freeze. Moving water is hard to freeze and it will pull heat out of your house and the ground to keep the boiler above freezing. I would err on the safe side and see if you can get a neighbor/friend to put wood in the boiler once a day while you are away depending on the length of your vacation.

Wood consumption would really depend on the seasons outdoor and indoor tempuratures, amount of wind and how well your house is insulated. If you are using a forced hot air exchanger, they do get less efficient every year as they age, corrode and plug up. Spit wood has more surface area and will burn faster than rounds. I burn the largest pieces of wood I can lift into the boiler. I find mine runs better on pine. If I burn a lot of hardwood, I get way too many coals especially during spring/fall when the boiler does not run too often.

You need to order a test kit from a CB dealer/amazon/ebay. The kit will measure both pH and nitrite? levels in your boiler water. It is very straight forward and easy to do. If you need it, simply add corrosion inhibitor (available at CB dealer/amazon/ebay by the gallon) till levels are right. You should not need to add much water to the boiler over the season. If you are adding a lot, you might have a slow leak somewhere in the system.

I don’t think the ash- trol does doodly squat but I use it anyway. As I understand it, its purpose is to make the ash in the firebox less corrosive. When loading the boiler, try to scrape all the ash out of the corners and pile it into the middle. Scrape down the firebox when you are done with burning in the spring and give it a nice liberal coat of diesel.

The circulator fan ( I assume you mean the fan draft fan) is little more than a squirrel cage and a motor. If your boiler sits all summer, paper wasps and crud can build up in the fan requiring a little bit of cleaning or a couple of thumps with a mallet to get it spinning again. It is a good idea to keep a spare draft fan around cuz they usually break right in the middle of a NorthEaster.

Good luck with your boiler. Post if you have further questions.

 

[Marley5]

I'm unfamiliar with circulation fans on these units as they come factory with damper doors.

Rust prohitor must be added and water tested.

As for wood consumption.....only load to front of stove. Anything you throw in back is wasted, all heat produced goes up chimney.

Raking the the coals and scraping the creosote off sides aids in efficiency.

I've had many trouble free years of service out of the 5036.

 

[AngelaK]

With a 10 year old install, it is quite likely your undergound pipe is causing issues. Losing you a lot of heat to the ground. That could be a semi-expensive fix, needing it all dug up & replaced with proper stuff (Thermopex or similar). Which is in the area of $10-15/foot. If you could post a decent picture of the pipe where it goes in & out of the ground we should be able to tell.

Usually people will leave their circulator running 24/7 when away for a few days if they are worried about freezing. If your underground is iffy, that will also send some house heat into the ground. But unless real cold, should still prevent a freeze up. No magic numbers, lots of local & situational variables.

Don't know about the fan, but required periodic thumping isn't a good sign. Either some kind of loose connection, or a creosote issue maybe?

Thanks! I will open up the shut off valve and let the water circulate through. Also the fan that I'm needing to tap on isn't the one in the door that vents to the outside, it's the one in the box on the side of the unit that branches off the water pipes. My ex installed the unit and is extremely thorough and mindful of these things but maybe the Thermoplex wasn't available or maybe he didn't know about it then. I will try to get some pictures in the next week or so. Night shift for a few days then leaving for a few more.

 

[AngelaK]

Yours has a fan? My CB just has a draft door. I would check into just having a draft door. I asked CB about the fan. They said it’s really only needed if you have long down times in between burn cycles or you want to burn more wood. Depending on your situation just having a draft door might allow you to burn less wood. Like was stated above just leave the pump running while your gone.

Don’t fret about asking questions lots of helpful people here. Most aren’t condescending at all.

Scott

I appreciate that, thanks! I really didn't explain the fan thing well. Maybe it's more of a motor. I am not talking about the one in the door with the damper and vent. This is a little box inside the control panel door that connects to the water lines. I'll try to get some pictures in a few days.
Thanks again!

 

[AngelaK]

As mentioned, if your circulator pump runs constantly, the boiler and lines “theoretically” should not freeze. Moving water is hard to freeze and it will pull heat out of your house and the ground to keep the boiler above freezing. I would err on the safe side and see if you can get a neighbor/friend to put wood in the boiler once a day while you are away depending on the length of your vacation.

Wood consumption would really depend on the seasons outdoor and indoor tempuratures, amount of wind and how well your house is insulated. If you are using a forced hot air exchanger, they do get less efficient every year as they age, corrode and plug up. Spit wood has more surface area and will burn faster than rounds. I burn the largest pieces of wood I can lift into the boiler. I find mine runs better on pine. If I burn a lot of hardwood, I get way too many coals especially during spring/fall when the boiler does not run too often.

You need to order a test kit from a CB dealer/amazon/ebay. The kit will measure both pH and nitrite? levels in your boiler water. It is very straight forward and easy to do. If you need it, simply add corrosion inhibitor (available at CB dealer/amazon/ebay by the gallon) till levels are right. You should not need to add much water to the boiler over the season. If you are adding a lot, you might have a slow leak somewhere in the system.

I don’t think the ash- trol does doodly squat but I use it anyway. As I understand it, its purpose is to make the ash in the firebox less corrosive. When loading the boiler, try to scrape all the ash out of the corners and pile it into the middle. Scrape down the firebox when you are done with burning in the spring and give it a nice liberal coat of diesel.

The circulator fan ( I assume you mean the fan draft fan) is little more than a squirrel cage and a motor. If your boiler sits all summer, paper wasps and crud can build up in the fan requiring a little bit of cleaning or a couple of thumps with a mallet to get it spinning again. It is a good idea to keep a spare draft fan around cuz they usually break right in the middle of a NorthEaster.

Good luck with your boiler. Post if you have further questions.

Ok thanks for the info. I do mix in pine with hard wood but I end up having to restart the fire if I let it go for my normal length of my work shift if it's primarily pine. When using a lot of pine, how often are you adding. People excitedly give me pine to burn because they just need to get rid of it and they don't know many people that can burn it. I do, in fact have a forced air exchanger so that's a strike against me. I will check for the water test kit but as far as adding water, I have to do it maybe twice a season. Basically, certain days I just overproduce heat and the water boils and the little cover on the tope vent for the steam pops to the side and I lose quite a bit of steam. I'm not writing off the possibility of a leak, I'm just being hopefiul that that's where I'm losing it from. Question about the diesel, do you just soak a cloth and wipe the inside down? I realize it coats and prevents rust and is similar to seasoning a cast iron pan but does it not cause a bad effect when you start the burner up again for the season? Would I have to do anything special to not risk combustion? And the fan I meant is the one with the pipes in the side of the unit that I think circulates the water. I am not having problems with the draft fan in the door. Of course, now that I say that, it will not work properly this season. Thanks for your help/suggestions!

 

[AngelaK]

I'm unfamiliar with circulation fans on these units as they come factory with damper doors.

Rust prohitor must be added and water tested.

As for wood consumption.....only load to front of stove. Anything you throw in back is wasted, all heat produced goes up chimney.

Raking the the coals and scraping the creosote off sides aids in efficiency.

I've had many trouble free years of service out of the 5036.

Awesome, thank you! no, I'm talking about the circulator in the side of the unit that circulates the water. The little motor fan (as the customer service guy called it). I don't mean the one in the door that opens to let air in. I tend to keep it to the front since I was told about it the other year but I have some well meaning neighbors that like to pack it full. I'm working on trying to discourage that. Thanks!

 

[AngelaK]

I am fairly new to the central boiler world. I just got my classic edge up and running this year. I spent a lot of time reading on these and reading peoples information. On all different types of CB OWB.

I use both the corrosion inhibitor, moly boost and the ashtoll from Central boiler. You would have to buy a water sample kit from them to figure out what you need to add. It really depends on the wood species. I split smaller oak but I leave ash un split at the same size.

https://www.woodfurnaceworld.com/pr...MIitK8tZv83gIVVVuGCh0kogl9EAQYASABEgJ2p_D_BwE


I think it would be hard to figure out where you are losing your heat. Not knowing how it is installed or what was used. Do you know of a central boiler dealer near you? Maybe they would offer some sort of maintenance service.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks! I do have a dealer but it's a little out of the way for me.

 

[NSMaple1]

Awesome, thank you! no, I'm talking about the circulator in the side of the unit that circulates the water. The little motor fan (as the customer service guy called it). I don't mean the one in the door that opens to let air in. I tend to keep it to the front since I was told about it the other year but I have some well meaning neighbors that like to pack it full. I'm working on trying to discourage that. Thanks!

Holy confusing service guy Batman, that's not a fan then. It's a circulator. Or pump as some would call it. Sometimes they can stick from sitting unused for a long time. Like months. But if it's a more frequent thing I'd replace it. You dont want that to quit working mid winter.