circulator pump for wood/gas boiler inline system

[Urban Hillbilly]

Hi,
I am brand new to this forum, and it is exactly what I have been looking for. Being new, please let me know if my form is off in any way (wrong section, stupid question, etc.)

I have a Franco Belge solid fuel boiler. I got it used, for free, so I don't have all the manuals, some of which are in French.

I have all the plumbing mapped out, but there are still a few grey areas. The way this system should work is when the fire goes out, the gas boiler kicks on- pretty common system I've gathered from reading other posts. My question is how the circulator pump works in this system. I think that as it is wired now, the thermostat signals the pump to turn on. The problem is that if the fire is burning and no signal is sent from the thermostat, then the water will not circulate. My first idea was to install a manual switch that would leave the pump on for the cold season. My concern with this idea is the gas boiler wasn't designed for this (I assume). My other concern is overworking and burning out the pump. My second idea is to install a manual switch that when fliped to the "on" position runs the pump contiuously, and when in the "off" position defalts to the regular system linked to the thermostat.

What is the standard way(s) of approaching this? Am I at least close to having clue?

Thanks in advance

 

[sgschwend]

At the beginning of this section there is a post that will explain how a simplified plumbing scheme would work, give that a read it will help.

There are lot of options that we can talk about but it would be better for you to start with that thread.

Also tried an locate the manufacture and get a manual. Here is a link to a pay site that has over 20 Franco Belge manuals:

http://www.gotoplumbing.co.uk/findamanual_results.asp?catid=3146&accid=6176

 

[DaveBP]

Done lots of different ways but one of the simplest is to have a thermostat (aquastat) on the wood boiler, either in the water or exhaust flue, that powers the circulator on when the boiler gets hot and shuts the circulator off when the fire goes out. There is a big safety advantage to this sort of contol and less power use than just leaving the circulator on all the time.