I'm I the only one to get a new Garn controller

[Kemer]

I don't see anybody else talking about it.I will say it was worth the wait and I really like it

 

[heaterman]

One of my customers just got his last week. He has it hooked up and running and it seems to work very well.

 

[bpirger]

Mine has shipped and hopefully I will see it tomorrow, Wednesday at the latest. I'm really sick of having to go out and turn off the blower! Never could get a cheap timer that would just work reliably!

 

[pybyr]

Mine has shipped and hopefully I will see it tomorrow, Wednesday at the latest. I'm really sick of having to go out and turn off the blower! Never could get a cheap timer that would just work reliably!

For those for whom the main interest in the new controller is to do a post-burn shut-down, if you are electrically and mechanically inclined, you can use a thermocouple and a process controller, along with a relay to handle the Garn's large motor load. I recently installed a set up like that on my Econoburn, and it is working very well for this purpose-

This is the control I used:

http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=1

This is the thermocouple I used:

http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=145

 

[heaterman]

Mine has shipped and hopefully I will see it tomorrow, Wednesday at the latest. I'm really sick of having to go out and turn off the blower! Never could get a cheap timer that would just work reliably!

RE the cheap timer working reliably, that was one of the reasons Martin developed the new control. They were failing with frustrating regularity. The last Intermatic brand timers I got in for stock said assembled in Mexico with parts made in Tunisia inked right on the timer. So much for another old American company.

The new control has a programmable chip on it which can be modified easily (reprogrammed) for future updates and improvements.

 

[bpirger]

Steve:

I've heard mention of the remote display for the new controller. Do you know if this is a Ethernet type of unit or similar?

I knew eventually the final control would ship....I just tried a couple of hardware store cheapy countdown timers. Not the end of the world....but not as nice as fire, load, walk away until tomorrow.

This morning I was getting 105 degree water from the Garn inside, and the front thermowell said 140. I fired the 1500 up and burned for a good hour...final temp was 133! The stratification "problem", combinded with the load of making DHW (which was running on the 110 boiler supply), and dumping some heat into the floor. Though the house was a toasty 73....right on temp...though the mixing target was 110. But the boiler supply was 130 (compared to the 105). One of these days I'll have to look inside the tank to see the convection during a burn. Perhaps I should move some insulation around and tape some temp sensors up the side of the Garn. I wonder what the bottom temp was if the supply was down arount 105 and the front thermowell at 140. I burned I'm sure 60 pounds of wood at least in this one load, or some 300,000 BTUs. To get the fully mixed tank say up to 133, 800 gallons by 30 degrees is in the ballpark. That sounds about right, with a little load for DHW and heat and 8x% efficiency. Just funny to see those numbers. I was a good 18 hours since the end of the last burn....

 

[heaterman]

Steve:

I've heard mention of the remote display for the new controller. Do you know if this is a Ethernet type of unit or similar?

I knew eventually the final control would ship....I just tried a couple of hardware store cheapy countdown timers. Not the end of the world....but not as nice as fire, load, walk away until tomorrow.

This morning I was getting 105 degree water from the Garn inside, and the front thermowell said 140. I fired the 1500 up and burned for a good hour...final temp was 133! The stratification "problem", combinded with the load of making DHW (which was running on the 110 boiler supply), and dumping some heat into the floor. Though the house was a toasty 73....right on temp...though the mixing target was 110. But the boiler supply was 130 (compared to the 105). One of these days I'll have to look inside the tank to see the convection during a burn. Perhaps I should move some insulation around and tape some temp sensors up the side of the Garn. I wonder what the bottom temp was if the supply was down arount 105 and the front thermowell at 140. I burned I'm sure 60 pounds of wood at least in this one load, or some 300,000 BTUs. To get the fully mixed tank say up to 133, 800 gallons by 30 degrees is in the ballpark. That sounds about right, with a little load for DHW and heat and 8x% efficiency. Just funny to see those numbers. I was a good 18 hours since the end of the last burn....

I don't know anything about the remote display I'm afraid. What I have been told is that it has a lot of capability which is as yet, unused.

The only two contollers I have seen were the prototype last spring and the one Jim Smith from White Cloud Mich., just fired up on his new 2000H. Didn't get a chance to actually see that one in operation. He has reported the same variation in the front sensor vs the supply sensor also. He did tell me though that as of the day we spoke he did not have the supply pipe sensor insulated. I'll probably give him a jingle tomorrow or Wednesday to see what's going on.

From what I have observed it is the nature of the beast to show some variation in temp front to back. You will definitely see some due to the fact that the front sensor is in a well and the supply pipe is externally mounted. Make sure the rear sensor is very snug to the pipe and wrap it good with insulation to make it as accurate as possible.

Temp at the bottom of your tank was probably 95-100* I would guess.

 

[Jim K in PA]

Trevor - could you give a few details on your setup? All I want is an override to shut the fan down at end of burn. My kids still occasionally forget to properly set the timer at startup . . .

For those for whom the main interest in the new controller is to do a post-burn shut-down, if you are electrically and mechanically inclined, you can use a thermocouple and a process controller, along with a relay to handle the Garn's large motor load. I recently installed a set up like that on my Econoburn, and it is working very well for this purpose-

This is the control I used:

http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=1

This is the thermocouple I used:

http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=145

 

[Blevesque]

Trevor, I am also interested!

 

[pybyr]

FYI, up front, I don't have a Garn (mine is an Econoburn stand-along gasification boiler) so you may need to tailor details to your situation, and this almost certainly does not have all the functionality of Garn's new controller.... but... subject to that:

1) I drilled and tapped an opening on the boiler's flue collar outlet, right where the stovepipe connects, to accept the 1/8 inch pipe thread of the compression fitting that comes with the thermocouple (in the link earlier in this thread)

2) The digital temp. controller (also in the link earlier in this thread) is powered directly by AC line voltage. It has relay contacts for the output. I used those relay contacts to control power to my boiler, which draws well less than the 10 amp rating of the controller's built in relay. I should probably add an outboard relay at some point to add to the longevity of the controller's built-in relay, but that'll happen later. Given the large motor on a Garn, you should definitely use a "contactor" or solid state relay so that you don't use the digital controller to swith the large motor's full electrical load. The Auber Instruments site has the manuals for the digital controller models available for download.

3) Read the directions for the controller and set it so that it does direct on/off switching based on temperature, not any of the "intelligent" modes that are aimed for use with heating elements (which start various forms of on-off cycling when getting near setpoint).

4) When starting my boiler, I use the "down arrow" on the digital control to temporarily run the set point down below the boiler's temperature. Shortly after starting a fire, the temperature has climbed into the several hundred degree range, and I then use the "up arrow" to set the control to something like 200*F. Since the boiler is now above that 200 degree point, the power remains on. The boiler then runs its cycle, with the digital control providing power at all times since the flue gases are always above 200 until the fire is out and the wood is gone. When the flue drops below 200, the controller cuts power to the boiler.

It's also interesting to be able to watch the controller's digital readout of flue temperatures- much more accurate than my old analog flue temp thermometer.

With a Garn, I suspect you may want to use the controller's readout of actual flue temperatures throughout various stages of several burns to evaluate what is a safe setting at which to cut power; I suspect that a Garn has a lower and more constant flue temp than the standalone units (which is probably why the new Garn control apparently works using a differential between the water and the flue temp).

Hope that explanation is helpful.

 

[bpirger]

FWIW, my new controller is sitting at my feet! Hopefully this weekend.....

 

[Kemer]

simple to install.All you need to make it work is power,water temp and flue temp.The rest you can hook up later

 

[Sawyer]

Thanks Trevor, I always read your information more than once. I am sure this is the direction I will go when I have my high priority tasks completed. You have a good suggestion on the separate connector to handle the high amperage draw of the 3/4hp motor.

 

[Jim K in PA]

Appreciate the input Trevor. That is what I expected. In addition to the seperate relay, for a GARN you could also put the PID in parallel with the OEM timer for startup rather than ramp down the cut in temp on the PID. That is probably what I would do.

 

[Sawyer]

In addition to the separate relay, for a GARN you could also put the PID in parallel with the OEM timer for startup rather than ramp down the cut in temp on the PID. That is probably what I would do.

Glad you are thinking this morning!

I will like this modification, it will be much easier than checking at the end of the burn.