Englander PDV25 Question

charger1966 said:

My PDV25 has developed a new issue. It burns really nice on all settings except #1. It builds alot of ash in the burn tray so much so that it damn near shut down. I was thinking of hooking it up to a t-stat but there is no way it will restart with the amount of ash in the tray. Any ideas? Thanks guys.

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What year is the stove? I ask as mine on a T-stat only does Hi/Lo, not on off (vintage 2008). That said, I have the same problem on 1, just a quirk of the stove. I'm finishing up 10 or so bags of Maine's Choice, and they are VERY ashy.

Eric

the PDV model cannot be set up to run "on-off" with a stat. regardless of year. its high-low only. the reason for this is as the OP stated excessive buildup of ash in the pot can cause balk restarts we found this in testing years ago and this is why we did not put the on-off function into the control set for that model stove

My experience is that it's tough to keep my stove burning clean on 1 unless i'm using really good pellets. My bottom 3 numbers are different on my PVDC, but try putting the air up a bit.

How's your set up working with the T-Stat Eric? I'm really considering hooking one up in my house this year. I know that it will bump up the flame to my heat setting when it needs more heat, and then it will drop down to 1 when no more heat is needed, which is cool and should save me some pellets. I've asked around and haven't gotten a ton of response about using a thermostat, so I figured not many people are using them with Englander stoves.

actually I ran a PDVC on a stat in my house for about 4 years, first winter I did not use one and I did find that it reduced my fuel usage somewhat , but what I liked more was the stove tended to keep a more even temp in the house on the stat versus just running off the board

DrewBoogie said:

How's your set up working with the T-Stat Eric? I'm really considering hooking one up in my house this year. I know that it will bump up the flame to my heat setting when it needs more heat, and then it will drop down to 1 when no more heat is needed, which is cool and should save me some pellets. I've asked around and haven't gotten a ton of response about using a thermostat, so I figured not many people are using them with Englander stoves.

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I've had it on a Stat for about 5 years now. I find, as Mike noted, it keeps the temp a little more even and decreases fuel usage. I did play with the first two of the bottom 3 numbers, but I'm not at home so I couldn't tell you what they are. Its still a dirty burn, but better than it was.

Eric

Thanks Mike and Eric for the input. I should have said that i'm really after the consistent temp as my primary concern, knowing that i'd use a few less pellets. I think it's time I get a tstat all hooked up.

What pellets were you using and what are you gonna try?

I burnt those last year, quite ashy but super hot. I like softwoods. Those weren't the greatest, the high heat made up for the ton of ash.

The only thing I wish I had was a ash pan on my stove. Would make life a bit easier, but the price was right for me with this stove.

A far as I understand it, the first of the lower 3 buttons or numbers is fuel in the burnpot so a click down would be less fuel. The second one is combustion air, so a click or two up is going to get more air in the burn pot. Don't touch the third one, it has to do with when the room air fan kicks on. My stove came factory 6-4-1, I will go 6-6-1 sometimes to get more air or 4-6-1 for more air and less fuel. That was a good combo for those big heats.

Those numbers only affect the burn on heat level 1 and 2.

The low fuel feed and the low burn air. Hit them one at a time and a number will appear on the blower speed side.

I lined my hopper with metal HVAC tape from Lowes. The pellets slide right down now. I relined it this year since the lining from last year was pretty beat and not slick anymore.

All last season. The first bag I put through this season got hung up. I guess i could have sprayed it with cooking spray or something like that, but it was pretty well pitted from pellets hitting it when loading up the hopper. A few others here had done it, which is where i got the idea. Worked great last year, stopped me from waking up cold with 15 lbs of pellets stuck to the sides of the hopper!