PB 105 Questions

[u4015]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and have been running my PB 105 for about 4 weeks. THe last few days have been cold here in Ct. so I'm finally able to see how this thing is going to work. My questions are: (1) my temp isn't going over 145 no matter where I set my min and max. is this normal. (2) I'm burning aprox. four bags a day in pellets. The boiler is keeping up with all are heat and water needs but the status light is never out. The ignitor is on auto.

Any thoughts
Thanks
Bob

 

[787MH]

Sounds like you have a large home.
Make sure you have the feed rate on 6 during cold weather. If you don't push unburned or partly burned pellets out of the burn pot you are OK doing this.
I see the feed rate as similar to a oil burner nozzle size.
To see if you are burning the right amount of energy check last years energy bills and convert to pellet equivalant.
ie 1 ton of pellets is about 118 gallons of heating oil.
Lastly some of the temp gauges from Harman have been way off. Try tapping on it to see if its stuck. If you suspect its off call your dealer.
or try this set the min and max boiler temp to 180. Turn all your thermostat's off or to their lowest setting so there is no demand. Wait 10 mins or so. The PB 105 should stop feeding pellets when it reaches this temp, based on its own sensor. See if the gauge is at least 180, it may overshoot some. If its not close to or above you have bad gauge.

 

[AndrewChurchill]

I'm heating a 2000 sq ft newly built home with my PB105 and right now I'm burning two bags a day during this cold snap. My max temp is 180 and my min is 140 and I have seen my boiler temp hit 180. The only time it drops significantly is when my hot water tank calls for water. Then it drops to about 150 and once the demand is met it goes right back up to the max temp based on the outdoor air sensor.

 

[u4015]

My home is aprox 2600 sq ft, I'm using a Buderus DHW strorage set up as it's own zone (aquastat at 130). I have the outside air sensor setup. Is this enough info for feedback?

Thanks
Bob

 

[u4015]

Andrew, I turned the feed rate up to 6 and adjusted the min /max temps. the boiler guage rose to aprox. 170.
What is a good operating temp for this boiler relative to pellet usage. I try to keep the house between 68 and 70

 

[AndrewChurchill]

The outdoor air sensor will determine the optimum maximum boiler temp automatically. Most baseboard systems are designed on 180 max operating temps and that's why I set my max temp to 180. I based my minimum temp on the lowest hot water temp I wanted which is 140. My plumber said that hotwater tanks that use temps lower than 135 risk growing the legionella bacteria which causes Legionnaires Disease.

Pellet usage is going to be determined on how warm you keep your house and how well insulated it is. I used programmable t-stats and when we're not home or the room is not going to be used the temp is reduced to 55. Since my house is well insulated so far during the 11 hours we are not in the house during the week days the temps have not dropped below 60, which means than other than keeping the boiler up to temp the house doesn't call for heat until about an hour before we come home at which time the t-stats raise the temp to 72.

During the past week of winter weather up here in Vermont I have been using two bags a day during the week. On the weekend since the house is kept at 72 pretty much all day until 8:00 PM it appears we are going to be using over two bags. I'll let you know tonight after I fill the PB up.

 

[u4015]

New PB-105 problem, my status light won't go out. I've set the min to 150 and the max 165. The temp on my OB says 150, yet the status on the PB is still calling. The only thing I can figure is to call the tech to replace the temp sensor and or the motherboard. Does anyone else have a similar problem with their PB-105. Yesterday I burned 7 bags of pellets for a 2600 sq ft home with the t-stats at 68. at that rate oil may be cheaper :long: E

Thanks again
Bob

One final thought, would the dip switches have any value at this point. Mine are still factory set (1&3;down, 2 up)