Englander 25-EP controls

[Dragonfly]

I bought my Englander EP-25 new back in May and finally got all my room renovations done to the point where I could put the stove in place and fire it up last night. Since I am in the process of learning the stove (this is my first pellet stove), I am curious about the details of "how it works". I have already learned a lot by reading these forums, but I still have a lot of questions. Perhaps this info is already out there, in which case just point me in the right direction.

The "HEAT" control has 9 settings. "HEAT" is a result, not a mechanical operation. What actually changes as you go from 1 to 9? The frequency of the auger turning? The amount of revolution of the auger? Combustion air blower speed? A combination of things?

"BLOWER" seems more straight forward - is it simply the speed of the room air blower? Is this linear in terms of the volume of air moved as you go from 1-9?

Then there are the 3 buttons that confuse everyone, and yes, I know, we ignore the "Air on Temp". First of all, why are these "LOW"? Do the only work at the lower heat settings? Or is it because they are at the bottom of the control panel? I gather that the "Low Burn Air" adjusts the speed of the combustion blower - anything else I should know about that? And "Low fuel feed" - what is that doing that "HEAT" is not?

I appreciate any clarity you can give me to read while I bask in the stove's warmth.

 

[Lake Girl]

Welcome to the forum ... pics or it didn't happen! Can't help you with the "magic" numbers on the stove or best settings (hopefully others chime in). Read, reread your manual. There is also additional information on the Englander website ...
http://www.englanderstoves.com/help/index.html

 

[Dhosh]

Hi, Dragonfly ... I just posted pretty much the same question early today ... no reply yet, though.
I do know they can make a significant difference ... and likely can/should be changed when you switch brand pellets.

These are my BELIEFS and ASSUMPTIONS (we all know what that means!), that I'm waiting for confirmation/clarification on:

1) LFF (Low Fuel Feed) is the rate the pellets are fed via the auger(s), when in a 'low' setting.
2) LAF (Low Air Feed) is the rate the air is fed, when in a 'low' setting.
3) The rate of Air Flow (Combustion air .. not to be confused with Room Air) is usually supplied by draft of the exhaust/vent fan, sucking air from the fresh air intake (through your OAK, preferably!), through the holes in the burn pot, into the fire, through the combustion chamber, then finally out the vent.
4) 'Low' MAY be settings for the HEAT/Feed rate upper left buttons, when set to less than '5'.
5) Blower air (the upper right buttons) is the blower speed that pushes air through the heat exchanger, out the vents or pipes on the front of the stove.
6) .. a biggie here .... the LFF and LAF are referenced and used 'proportionately" when the Heat/Feed rate is increased.

Other posts reference doing searches for "magic buttons', and referencing the englanderstove.com web site, but there is pretty much zip at the latter about the whole picture, and the 'magic buttons' search hits are largely from well informed users on their take of things. I think Mike (tech support at Englander) has posted some as well ... and others have reference what he stated. I find such bits and pieces once in a while, then loose track of the thread, to get back to them!

I think leaving the 3 buttons at the bottom 'alone' and as set from the factory, is probably silly. You SHOULD know, however, what those settings were, when it came from the factory, so you can put things back the way you got it, and start over from a known point! ;-)

Good luck in your (our) quest for knowledge and understanding! ;-)

 

[Chrisnow86]

I have a englander and after doing so reserch the three "magic" buttons are exactly what you say.. Low air, low fuel and on air temp.. Now what the "low" means is these buttons only change anything then the stoves heat range and blower speed are on 1 and 2.. After that thoes three "magic" buttons don't do anything.. Are you happy with how your stove is running? I will say when I got mine the fire was very small and the Heat wasent what I thought it should be.. After letting the hopper run out I checked the feed plate and found it loose and shut all the way! I opened it up and tightened it and it's a whole new machine.. Englanders get a bad wrap but they put out heat and get the job done

 

[Dhosh]

Might the 'low' settings be used on start-up, also ... before the exchanger reaches temp and the room air blower kicks in?
I'm not all that happy with how it's running, but I think more of the problem is me and initial expectations. ;-)

It's in an 1800 sq ft mostly unfinished base ment (the two 1/3rd's are somewhat boxed in, but the middle is open .. which is where the stove is). Concrete floor and walls, so a lot of thermal mass to heat up. By the time the heat gets across the basement, to go up the stairs, it's really not all that warm. Warm-ER than the basement was, perhaps. Now that it's been running mostly 'on' for a couple weeks, the basement is a whole lot more comfy, and our livingroom stays at a pretty consistent 63 degrees, except for when I take it down for cleaning. The other bit is, me experimenting with settings and different pellets. Probably too many changes and not enough time to get a good feel of any one change. The unit is new to me, and my first pellet stove. It's old enough, I don't know what (if any) parts are original and/or to spec.

I think my 'mode' is 'b' per MIke at ESW, and started out (after he gave me the settings) with 6-4-1. That was OK for a while, but I think at one of the pellet brand changes, it wasn't good at all, so I started re-experimenting with the buttons. It shut down on me twice tonight, after a thorough cleaning ... pellet starve, I think. I had the 3 lower buttons set to 3-5-1. So, it's back to 6-4-1, as I'm also back to the same pellets I was using when it was 6-4-1 before.

Admittedly, it will likely be a hobby .. something to learn from and putz with ... (like I need something else to spend time on! LOL) ... more than a deep heat source. Nonetheless, if it keeps the basement (where the shop is), comfy .. it will still be worth it. If it was upstairs in the livingroom, where the 1st level (that's 1800sqt also ...) is heavily insulated, I think we could probably heat with it close to 100%

Mine doesn't have the hopper gate above the upper auger.

Another thing I've come to realize .... the lower auger appears to run steady, and it's only the upper auger that cycles for the feed rate.

Does your upper auger cycle on and off, with shorter 'off' cycles when the feed rate is turned up? ... If so .. your hopper gate gives you another point of control, that mine doesn't have.

Fun stuff, eh??

 

[Chrisnow86]

i have mine in the living room, my house is 2000 sq ft and all open.. loft style master bedroom open to the living room down below.. this makes for a perfect set up with a pellet stove or wood stove.. but with a pellet stove you have to listen to it while its chugging away down stairs.. ya the bottom auger never stops, this is so the pellets don't burn back into the hopper, its always just pushing any pellets in the lower tube out .. and when changing the feed rate it changes the cycle times on the upper auger.. my stove is it out of the box new I've had it in the house for about a month now, i will say it was a adjustment from the wood stove, its a slower heat than the wood stove but very even heat.. just leave it running on high for 6 hours and see what it does.. ya concrete is a giant magnet for cold.. its tough to heat up all that mass.. worst case you move the stove up stairs if your just wasting pellets heating up concrete 24-7

 

[Dhosh]

Yes ... I've already 'heard' about the noises coming from the stove ... but once the temp upstairs seems to stabalize at about 61 degrees, and even when she did light the upstairs propane stove .. it only took it a few minutes to get the room to the temp she wanted .... I haven't heard any more. ;-)

I might just have to eat the fact it won't effect upstairs as much as I had hoped. Raising the temp in the basement is a big plus though. It'll be interesting to see how it keeps up with those 0 (+- 20 degrees) days! ;-)

I've had it run on '9' for over night, and a couple days when my wife was home... it does get a tad warmer upstairs, but the basement heat sink absorbs too much to make a significant change upstairs. Maybe after a few days of high, the basement might warm up and be easier to keep there. It's a walk-out basement, so one wall is fully exposed, and the two 'wing' walls are about 1/4 so.

 

[Dragonfly]

Thanks for the info given above. At least it is some progress in understanding the details. Knowing that "low" refers to levels 1 and 2 is useful. Yesterday I received a Skytech 3301P2 wireless thermostat and got that installed. Had I not known what "low" is, and had I not known that when it switches to "low", it affects only the pellet feed and not the blower, I would have been convinced it was not working. But thanks to these fora, I was able to figure things out. My stove is running well, I think. I'm waiting for some colder weather to find out what it is capable of. We have 1600 feet on two floors. I bought some grates to put in a register to allow more heat to get upstairs, but I have not put those in yet. Lake girl said we should have pictures, so here is what my room looks like - there used to be a door to the outside where the stove is now.

 

[Lake Girl]

Before cutting holes in ceiling/floor, you should check with your local building inspector. Building code problems...

Edit: Nice looking set-up. Color of your walls is the same as my son's bedroom Hope you have surge protection on your stove...

 

[Dhosh]

I've heard from a couple on line here, that such grates would likely be against building code, and give a stove fire an immediate chimney or path to get to the next floor. I understand that .. but then again ... so does my stairway .. which IS code.

I can't attest to the grates being code in your area or not.

Pellet stoves don't give of as much heat as a wood stove, that would likely really help the 2nd floor with grates!

Looks like your stove is a great 'anchor' / center of attention for your room! Looks good!

 

[Dragonfly]

Thanks! Other than the stove, a new ceiling, new lighting, new walls, and a refinished floor, it's just like it use to be!
It would be ironic if the heat register is against code. When I tore out the old ceiling, there is evidence that there used to be two of them in this room (house was built around 1850), so I would be restoring what used to be there. I will have to check on that. I read about protecting the electronics a couple of months ago and happened to see an outlet with sensitive surge protection built in on clearance at Home Depot, so when I put the new wall in behind the stove, I wired in that outlet.
Yes, it is now a great room for reading and working on my laptop. Hopefully it will make winter in Vermont more tolerable for my wife. And I agree with Dhosh - definitely a new hobby for me.