pf100 user manual

[archie79]

Ok for those of us that have the pf100 you know that its manual on the everyday running of the furnace is less than helpful. Well I finally got a few days off work and had the chance to figure this out. So here it goes, feel free to add comments or corrections.
The thermostat tells the furnace to turn on once the temp drops 3 degrees under the desired setting. The furnace then goes into a minimum burn that is determined by the feed rate. If the desired temp can not be constantly held then the feed rate needs to be increased. If the feed rate is to high then you will use more wood pellets then needed. This will vary greatly due to the size of the area that is being heated and the climate of the zip code you live in. The furnace will stay in the minnimum burn stage (determined by the feed rate setting) until the room temp becomes 1 degree over the desired temp then the furnace will let itself burn out.
If anyone is interested I will try to calculate the amount of increase in lbs of pellets per setting in the feed rate. In using my furnace as the control I'll have to wait for it to get colder in my area to get accurate information.

Having correct information is only 20% of solving a problem, the rest is deducing the information correctly, and executing the solution correctly.

 

[Ejectr]

That is good information and I thank you for taking the time to post it. Any other information will be gladly accepted.

 

[AndrewChurchill]

It continues to amaze me how many people don't understand the purpose of the reed rate setting. It's sole purpose is to limit the amount of pellets that can be fed during a 1 minute time frame. A setting of 1 means pellets will only feed for 10 seconds out of 60, 2 will allow pellets to feed for 20 seconds per minute, etc, etc.

The way to properly set the feed rate is to set it at 6 and then place a max load on the furnace and then watch to see if unburned pellets fall into the ash pan. If that happens then turn the setting back to 5 and 1/2 and watch. Keep watching and adjusting the feed rate until the ash from the burned pellets stops about 1 inch from the edge of the burn pot.

Typically, the only time you need to adjust the feed rate is if you switch pellets.

The ESP is what actually determines how hot the fire needs to be and it will adjust the feed rate accordingly from as low as 0 up to the maximum feed rate set on the board.

If you set the feed rate too low then your furnace may not be able to heat your house properly because it can't get enough fuel.

Ok for those of us that have the pf100 you know that its manual on the everyday running of the furnace is less than helpful. Well I finally got a few days off work and had the chance to figure this out. So here it goes, feel free to add comments or corrections.
The thermostat tells the furnace to turn on once the temp drops 3 degrees under the desired setting. The furnace then goes into a minimum burn that is determined by the feed rate. If the desired temp can not be constantly held then the feed rate needs to be increased. If the feed rate is to high then you will use more wood pellets then needed. This will vary greatly due to the size of the area that is being heated and the climate of the zip code you live in. The furnace will stay in the minnimum burn stage (determined by the feed rate setting) until the room temp becomes 1 degree over the desired temp then the furnace will let itself burn out.
If anyone is interested I will try to calculate the amount of increase in lbs of pellets per setting in the feed rate. In using my furnace as the control I'll have to wait for it to get colder in my area to get accurate information.

Having correct information is only 20% of solving a problem, the rest is deducing the information correctly, and executing the solution correctly.

 

[Ejectr]

It continues to amaze me how many people don't understand the purpose of the reed rate setting. It's sole purpose is to limit the amount of pellets that can be fed during a 1 minute time frame. A setting of 1 means pellets will only feed for 10 seconds out of 60, 2 will allow pellets to feed for 20 seconds per minute, etc, etc.

The way to properly set the feed rate is to set it at 6 and then place a max load on the furnace and then watch to see if unburned pellets fall into the ash pan. If that happens then turn the setting back to 5 and 1/2 and watch. Keep watching and adjusting the feed rate until the ash from the burned pellets stops about 1 inch from the edge of the burn pot.

Typically, the only time you need to adjust the feed rate is if you switch pellets.

The ESP is what actually determines how hot the fire needs to be and it will adjust the feed rate accordingly from as low as 0 up to the maximum feed rate set on the board.

If you set the feed rate too low then your furnace may not be able to heat your house properly because it can't get enough fuel.

Ok for those of us that have the pf100 you know that its manual on the everyday running of the furnace is less than helpful. Well I finally got a few days off work and had the chance to figure this out. So here it goes, feel free to add comments or corrections.
The thermostat tells the furnace to turn on once the temp drops 3 degrees under the desired setting. The furnace then goes into a minimum burn that is determined by the feed rate. If the desired temp can not be constantly held then the feed rate needs to be increased. If the feed rate is to high then you will use more wood pellets then needed. This will vary greatly due to the size of the area that is being heated and the climate of the zip code you live in. The furnace will stay in the minnimum burn stage (determined by the feed rate setting) until the room temp becomes 1 degree over the desired temp then the furnace will let itself burn out.
If anyone is interested I will try to calculate the amount of increase in lbs of pellets per setting in the feed rate. In using my furnace as the control I'll have to wait for it to get colder in my area to get accurate information.

Having correct information is only 20% of solving a problem, the rest is deducing the information correctly, and executing the solution correctly.

I read another post about the feed adjust being 10 seconds for 1 and 20 seconds for 2 etc so I timed my furnace when it was on slow burn, It is set to 4 and the auger light was on for 24 seconds. Seems like that is 40 percent of a minute set on 4 not 40 seconds run time out of a minute. Sat there and timed it several times and it was a solid 24 seconds each time. Didn't set it to 5 to see if that would have increased it to 30 seconds or 50% of a minute.

 

[AndrewChurchill]

FYI, just because the feed limit is set to 4 doesn't mean it will feed 40 seconds every time. The determining factor will be the demand for heat and that is determined by the ESP. Setting the feed rate to 4 will allow the auger to feed up to 40 seconds every minute. If the feed rate was set up to do percentages it would go up to 10 and not 6.

 

[Ejectr]

Andy, you obviously have a great understanding of how this PF100 performs. Is there somewhere that this info is available to read or is it something you were able to ascertain from using it? I've only had mine since October and I'll be the first to admit I am far from an expert at this point. I'd like to become as knowledgeable as possible to be able to get the most out of my furnace.

Thanks for your input and if you see me post a question....please jump in with all fours.

 

[archie79]

whether the burn pot is full or not doesn't matter in the least. I run my furnace on 1, the burn pot is about half full or so, and the temp in my house stays 70 degrees. Fact is, for me, running my burn pot half full conserves on pellets and keeps my house warm. If you would rather go through more pellets and have a full burn pot then be my guest, either way works. Just 1 way is just more efficient than the other. Going back to the old wood stove senario. The more wood you put in the fire, the hotter the fire gets, if you put more wood then needed, your house gets to hot. There really isn't any difference with pellet stoves other then you now have a way to distribute the heat as needed rather then just sweating. If you burn more wood then is needed the heat is forced out of the chimney rather then through the vents. Ergo if you set your feed rate for the burn pot to be full (unless the size of your house and the temp outside dictate it needs to be full) then your wasting heat. The feed rate's sole purpose is to control the minumum burn. The pellet stove has a forced exhaust system on it for many reasons. 1 reason is to make the flame hotter so a smaller flame can heat more efficient. Another reason is to keep the igniter clean, and the last reason is to help keep burnt ash out of the burn pot as to not clog up the system. The ash removal is not dependent upon gravity. (If it were dependent upon gravity to keep itself clean then setting the feed rate would have to be set the way it was described in the post above this on) That is also why it is critical to try to get the low draft set correctly. Not enough airflow through the system could result in the burn pot clogging up at low feed rates and the fire going out.

There are many ways to do 1 thing, and some work just as well as others. It really comes down to personal preference. If you set the burn rate as I do, you do run a small risk of your house not heating to the desired temp if you have a sudden rapid temp drop, (depending on the amount of temp drop, and the size and insulation of the house) It will still heat, you may have to turn the feed rate up alittle in this case. If you set the burn rate to the burn pot being full, then you probably wont have that problem, but you may be burning more pellets then you need to. Food for thought

 

[AndrewChurchill]

OK, good luck. So much for understanding how your furnace actually works.....

quote author="archie79" date="1325016907"]whether the burn pot is full or not doesn't matter in the least. I run my furnace on 1, the burn pot is about half full or so, and the temp in my house stays 70 degrees. Fact is, for me, running my burn pot half full conserves on pellets and keeps my house warm. If you would rather go through more pellets and have a full burn pot then be my guest, either way works. Just 1 way is just more efficient than the other. Going back to the old wood stove senario. The more wood you put in the fire, the hotter the fire gets, if you put more wood then needed, your house gets to hot. There really isn't any difference with pellet stoves other then you now have a way to distribute the heat as needed rather then just sweating. If you burn more wood then is needed the heat is forced out of the chimney rather then through the vents. Ergo if you set your feed rate for the burn pot to be full (unless the size of your house and the temp outside dictate it needs to be full) then your wasting heat. The feed rate's sole purpose is to control the minumum burn. The pellet stove has a forced exhaust system on it for many reasons. 1 reason is to make the flame hotter so a smaller flame can heat more efficient. Another reason is to keep the igniter clean, and the last reason is to help keep burnt ash out of the burn pot as to not clog up the system. The ash removal is not dependent upon gravity. (If it were dependent upon gravity to keep itself clean then setting the feed rate would have to be set the way it was described in the post above this on) That is also why it is critical to try to get the low draft set correctly. Not enough airflow through the system could result in the burn pot clogging up at low feed rates and the fire going out.

There are many ways to do 1 thing, and some work just as well as others. It really comes down to personal preference. If you set the burn rate as I do, you do run a small risk of your house not heating to the desired temp if you have a sudden rapid temp drop, (depending on the amount of temp drop, and the size and insulation of the house) It will still heat, you may have to turn the feed rate up alittle in this case. If you set the burn rate to the burn pot being full, then you probably wont have that problem, but you may be burning more pellets then you need to. Food for thought[/quote]

 

[archie79]

I'm sorry Andy but lets face the facts here. I gave my thoughts on the matter just as you have. The only difference was that I backed my thoughts up with reference's about how my ideas would work with the design of the rest of the system and a working knowledge of how a wood fire burns.. You only put your initial thoughts about it in with no reasons of how or why it does what it does. You know, things don't work the way they do because you think they should. Back up your thought with some theory of evidence and maybe we can figure it out together? Don't just try to discerdit someone because they don't agree with you. Throw your ideas out back them up and let the debates begin.