Blower sequence

[Maj92az]

So per my recent posts I finalized my new stove pipe on my charmaster aka creosote king. Combined with poor maintenance, user error, and the nature of the beast she was gummed up!

So I couldn't help myself but to give it my first maiden voyage. She lit great and warmed up nicely but I have a few questions on what I should expect from this charmaster or possibly any furnace. After an hour of closely monitoring it, I turned the thermostat to 75. It was 70. The unit opened the draft door. It held it open for as long as I had the thermostat set. Although the blower never came on. I read in the manual there is a low limit and high limit switch. Should be 120 and 170. I assume the blower did not come on because the temperature was not achieved in the exchanger?? I did manually turn the blower on- works good. Felt minor heat at vents.

I guess I am troubleshooting or experimenting with it to understand it more, especially as it gets colder soon. Also if any tips, please share. I've taken notes of many of the things covered in my other thread. I must be careful reading from the manual- as they suggest many controversial things.

 

[laynes69]

You should have a limit control somewhere above the furnace. If everything is operating correctly when the on temperature set in the fan control is met the blower should run. The high setting of the control will still keep the blower activated however should close the draft door. Either the plenum didnt get hot enough with your fire, or there's a faulty fan/limit control.

Personally I would get that chimney in order before going too far with the furnace. You said there were a few cracked tiles towards the top and there was alot of glazing down below. Not to scare you, but if that glaze ignites it will create a horrible chimney fire. If you've ever seen those little firework snakes that grow when their lit, that's what would happen to your chimney. At least get the glazed remove before going too far.

 

[RockyMtnGriz]

I don't know anything about a Charmaster, but furnaces are similar, so I'll throw out some ideas:
If you follow the wires from the blower motor, they should take you either to a relay, or a fan switch. If it's the former, it gets a little more complicated, as you'll have to figure out what is controlling the relay. I'm going to guess, from what you've said so far, that you'll probably find a fan/limit switch, probably something like a Honeywell L4064B2228. This will control the fan (the 150-170 you refer to), and also cut power to close the draft door if the furnace overheats). OR, you might find the wires go to a snap switch (coin type thing with a couple of wire terminals on it). There may be a separate one for the overheat function attached to the draft door wiring. This is the cheap alternative to a fan/limit switch, and they are notoriously unreliable. If the plenum is getting hot enough that you can't put your hand on it, the fan should turn on. BTW, one of those cheap digital meat thermometers is worth having, or a step up would be the infrared thermometers that don't cost much these days.

See what you can find. Knowing what is controlling your fan will get you good advice on where to go next from the folks here. If you find a faulty snap switch, you might consider converting to the fan/limit style control as they are much more reliable.

You didn't ask, but I'll throw this out too, after reading some of your other posts:
I think you should seriously consider how far you're going to go with this old furnace. You've talked about needing to redo the chimney, and this is a unit that requires an 8" flue, which is obsolete for stoves and furnaces. Spending a lot of money to revive an inefficient, creosote generator furnace probably doesn't make sense. A modern furnace is going to want a 6" flue, which would maybe also give you more options in repairing your masonry flue, or, if you can, replace it with a Metalbestos style flue (SO much better). I know the excitement of a new place, and can identify with the urge to use what you have, but I've done that when I should have been planning for the next 20-30 years instead. You might be better off spending the fall you have left putting up wood for next year, and planning on installing a modern setup in the spring. Just a thought!

 

[Maj92az]

I don't know anything about a Charmaster, but furnaces are similar, so I'll throw out some ideas:
If you follow the wires from the blower motor, they should take you either to a relay, or a fan switch. If it's the former, it gets a little more complicated, as you'll have to figure out what is controlling the relay. I'm going to guess, from what you've said so far, that you'll probably find a fan/limit switch, probably something like a Honeywell L4064B2228. This will control the fan (the 150-170 you refer to), and also cut power to close the draft door if the furnace overheats). OR, you might find the wires go to a snap switch (coin type thing with a couple of wire terminals on it). There may be a separate one for the overheat function attached to the draft door wiring. This is the cheap alternative to a fan/limit switch, and they are notoriously unreliable. If the plenum is getting hot enough that you can't put your hand on it, the fan should turn on. BTW, one of those cheap digital meat thermometers is worth having, or a step up would be the infrared thermometers that don't cost much these days.

See what you can find. Knowing what is controlling your fan will get you good advice on where to go next from the folks here. If you find a faulty snap switch, you might consider converting to the fan/limit style control as they are much more reliable.

You didn't ask, but I'll throw this out too, after reading some of your other posts:
I think you should seriously consider how far you're going to go with this old furnace. You've talked about needing to redo the chimney, and this is a unit that requires an 8" flue, which is obsolete for stoves and furnaces. Spending a lot of money to revive an inefficient, creosote generator furnace probably doesn't make sense. A modern furnace is going to want a 6" flue, which would maybe also give you more options in repairing your masonry flue, or, if you can, replace it with a Metalbestos style flue (SO much better). I know the excitement of a new place, and can identify with the urge to use what you have, but I've done that when I should have been planning for the next 20-30 years instead. You might be better off spending the fall you have left putting up wood for next year, and planning on installing a modern setup in the spring. Just a thought!

Wow you read my mind. Yes that's me. We moved from the city and now have multiple acres and to top it off nothing is better than heating your home with wood- wood you split.

Yeah I have ran that through my mind multiple times. Including today. 6" flue is the way to go. My exterior chimney has some issues too. It makes me want to tear it down and build a 6" class A. That has it's own design questions. Plus 6" seems a tad cheaper than 8".

Next is the furnace. I cant cough up the 6K+ for the Kuma. From my reads- Heat commander seems to be my best bet. I am slowly catching up to the way things work.. EPA only units are sold today. Still a good amount of cash.. but it's an investment plus living 30 miles from Canada in Idaho- can get cold in these parts.

 

[RockyMtnGriz]

I'm sure you saw the new-in-box Kuuma listed on this forum, If I hadn't already coughed up, you'd see my taillights heading east on 90 to Ohio to get that! I'm not familiar with the Heat Commander, but it might be great as well.

I used a Clayton furnace for 7 years because it was in my house when I bought it (still in my garage, in fact, need to sell it and reclaim the space). It worked out because I was too busy to research and do the upgrade, and I had 10 acres of dead lodgepole that had to go for safety reasons. It wasn't too hard to just process the trees from the yard into the stove. But - if I hadn't been in that situation, it would have been a ton more work to feed that thing.

I should have upgraded sooner though, just for the comfort that the Kuuma has provided. Having the heat still on when I wake up is not overrated! Loading the stove 2-3 times in 24 hours beats the hell out of the 2-3 hour tendings of the Clayton, too! My heating season is usually 10+ months over here to keep the house around 58-63, so yeah, it's worth investing in a good heater.

Did you figure out anything on your fan problem?

 

[Maj92az]

For a few years I've volunteered at a wood cutting service for low income (usually veteran families) I've collected cord after cord of trees. I never processed them just cut and loaded them up on the National Forest. Fast forward a year and my property butts up against the same forest road I know very well. In an hour I can get 10+ 6ft logs into my truck. And the permits are handed out like nothing here. This year was 24 cords free. Otherwise $5 each.

So wood is no problem. Close by. But yeah I have some serious thinking come spring. After all it is for HEATING a home in a decently cold season- pretty high up on the priority list. So spending the cash shouldn't be a problem (yeah right- new ATV? New furnace?? ) lol.

I have not messed with the furnace since that night. I had some additional things to tidy up on it and have a sweep to finalize any build up that was at the bottom. Hes confident he can get it to clay color again. After that I'll fire her back up..