25 pdvc questions

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
  • Hope everyone has a wonderful and warm Thanksgiving!
  • Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
Jason Knapp

Jason Knapp

Burning Hunk
Dec 11, 2012
237
Poughkeepsie, NY
Good evening all, and Merry Christmas!
I scored a 25 pdvc on craigslist for $100 on Christmas eve. The seller told me it needed a lower auger motor. I got it home and fired it up. It has a few issues I'm hoping others can help me with.
1) The room air blower comes on really early in the burn cycle.
2) The lower auger motor turns continuously, I own a 25 EP, this seems strange to me.
3) Only 2 of the 3 settings on the bottom of the control board display a reading
4) when I press the off button, the stove goes through a shutdown, but never turns off. I waited 45 minutes and the thing was still running. no flame, but the combustion and room air blower were still running.

I searched the past forums to avoid Un necessary re-posts, but I found nothing that describes my issue.

Any help would be wonderful. I'm sure this stove will be great, even if it needs a little TLC.
 
Sounds like you should do a board reset,what year is the stove? Give it a real good cleaning and then do a search for hard reset pdvc and hang in there a lot of folks on here will be sure to get you fixed up.the pdvc lower auger does run constant when the stove is on top auger is timed.even if it's your board that is bad and needs a new one,hope not but if so for a couple hundred bucks you got a great little stove.
 
Reset the stove, follow the instructions in the link below, read it twice so that you understand how to reset the stove and set it to mode 'd'.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/englander-25-pvdc-tuning.121069/page-2#post-1840776

The lower auger runs all the time in this stove, the auger that's in the hopper turns every so many seconds to drop pellets into the lower chute where the lower auger pushes the pellets into the burn pot.

The room air comes on at a preset temp, most of the time with this stove it's within the first 5 minutes depending on the type of pellets, some burn hotter than others.

It can take the stove some time to shut down, sometimes it can take as long as 60 - 80 minutes, if it takes longer than this it's time to look at the temp wire and temp sender that's in the stove, you will find this behind the firebox low down, it has a nut or bolt that holds the wire in place, make sure the nut or bolt is tight.

Not sure why your not getting all of the readings for the lower 3 buttons, would you please post details on the one's that you do get readings for ? LFF / LBA / AOT ?
The AOT should be set to 1, the LBA should be on 4 and LFF should be 6.

If you have any more questions, let us know.
 
Thanks a lot! I'll do this first thing in the morning and report back as soon as I give it a really good cleaning. The stove is sweet! It'll make a great unit for my man cave which is located in the basement of my home.
 
I cleaned the stove this morning and did a factory reset. Settings are 6,4,1 and in mode "D"
The upper auger motor will not turn. I checked the vacuum switches and both have continuity across them with the stove running. I swapped lower and upper auger motor wires. The auger motor works fine, in fact, its brand new. The wires are all good and I have continuity across them too. The circuit board fuse is good as well. I'm beginning to suspect the control board is no good. Am I thinking correctly?
 
Does this stove have a switch on the hopper ?

If so, hold it down to see if the motor / auger will turn when in run mode / startup mode. (This is best done with the hopper empty so that you can see if the auger turns)

If it does not turn (it turns for so many seconds and stops for so many seconds, so this is normal), check the vac switch and it's tubing from the back of the firebox on the right side as you look at the front of the stove.

If the tubing is connected and has no cracks or broken do the following

Disconnect the mains from the stove -- No power to the stove --

Disconnect the two wires from the switch and connect them together, don't let them touch the stove casing. (You can use a paperclip for this)

Connect the stove back to the mains.

Fire up the stove and hold down the hopper switch to see if the auger turns. (This is best done with the hopper empty so that you can see if the auger turns)

Let us know how it goes and what is or is not working after doing the above.
 
CladMaster said:
Does this stove have a switch on the hopper ?

If so, hold it down to see if the motor / auger will turn when in run mode / startup mode. (This is best done with the hopper empty so that you can see if the auger turns)

If it does not turn (it turns for so many seconds and stops for so many seconds, so this is normal), check the vac switch and it's tubing from the back of the firebox on the right side as you look at the front of the stove.

If the tubing is connected and has no cracks or broken do the following

Disconnect the mains from the stove -- No power to the stove --

Disconnect the two wires from the switch and connect them together, don't let them touch the stove casing. (You can use a paperclip for this)

Connect the stove back to the mains.

Fire up the stove and hold down the hopper switch to see if the auger turns. (This is best done with the hopper empty so that you can see if the auger turns)

Let us know how it goes and what is or is not working after doing the above.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response, the stove does not have a hopper switch, I had the hopper empty and watched to see if the auger moved. At no time did it turn. I tested the vacuum hose integrity by placing a DVOM on each lead on the vacuum switches. As soon as the stove turned on, the vacuum switch closed and completed the circuits. I also jumpered the switches to make sure. Again, no movement from the upper auger. Knowing the lower motor turns constantly, I swapped the wires to the upper auger. It then turned, proving that the upper auger is good.
 
Sounds like you need a new control board, but before you order that, check all the connections for all the components in the stove, if you are sure all the connections are fine if might be a good idea to ask a few Q's with Mike @ ESW to confirm the findings, he visits this forum on a daily basis.
 
I'm hoping he responds. Mike has been great. I had a few issues with my 25EP and he helped me getting it straightened out. Its been running great for 3 years now.
I'll go through all of the checks you suggested. I'd rather not buy a board, but if it needs it, I'll have to bite the bullet.
 
There is one more test you can try, the leads to the auger motor, one of them will have 110 volts give or take (black wire) that comes from the vac switch, if you have a volt meter, test for this with the stove on.

If there is no reading, do the same test on the vac switch to see if there is 110 volts.

If this comes back as no voltage from this test, your most likely looking at a new control board.

To test for the voltage, set the test meter to AC volts (200), use the red wire from the test meter to the black wire that should have voltage, the black wire from the meter goes to earth / stove body.
 
There is a diagnostic mode that will allow you to turn on the motors from the control panel. Even if the motor doesn't turn when commanded, it will allow you to troubleshoot with a Voltmeter knowing that the motor should be on at the time. Troubleshooting with the control system cycling the motor power is often a source of confusion. The diagnostic mode is documented on the (broken link removed to http://www.heatredefined.com/faq/troubleshooting-guide/pellet-stove/troubleshooting-for-pellet-stoves-manufactured-2004-to-present/troubleshooting-help/diagnostic-test-mode).
 
Ah, I forgot about this feature ! ;em

Thanks for that Harvey :p
 
Here is the latest news. I put the stove into diagnostic mode as per Englanders website. The display didn't light up exactly as they described, but everything functioned as it was written. Both augers, exhaust blower and room air blower. The igniter did too.
I unplugged the stove and double checked all connections and jumpered both vacuum switches again, just in case I missed something. I then ran the stove normally, and the upper auger wont feed at all. It doesnt turn on or pulse as it should. This further leads me to suspect the board. Am I missing something or am I on the right track?
 
So you got the upper auger to turn in diagnostic mode but it won't turn during start-up or run? Is there any voltage at all to the upper auger when it's in start-up?
 
If it runs in diagnostic mode all the switches are working and are wired correctly. All diagnostic does is turn on the triac on the control board. The safety's are all wired in series with the auger motor to kill power to it if something is wrong.
So my guess is that there is something mucked up with the software on the control board.
I can't remember if you did a board reset and then set the operating mode. That would be my next step.
 
Thank you guys so much. This stove doesn't have a hopper switch. I did perform a reset, and did make sure it's in mode "D".
I'll perform another reset and see what happens.
Have any of you had success with having the existing board fixed? There is a company on ebay that offers a control board repair service. They said the average cost is $100 to repair the board.
 
slvrblkk said:
So you got the upper auger to turn in diagnostic mode but it won't turn during start-up or run? Is there any voltage at all to the upper auger when it's in start-up?
Click to expand...
I checked for voltage. I have very little on both terminals, approximately 2 volts.
 
Jason Knapp said:
I checked for voltage. I have very little on both terminals, approximately 2 volts.
Click to expand...
That's leakage from the triac on the control board. The software hasn't turned the triac on.
 
So a control board is needed, I may try to have it repaired, unless its not worth the chance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
Loud pellet stove
Replies
1
Views
109
The Pellet Mill - Pellet and Multifuel Stoves
Washed-Up
Washed-Up
L
2013 Englander 25-pdv auger motor noise
Replies
3
Views
225
The Pellet Mill - Pellet and Multifuel Stoves
looddd
L
F
Englander 25-pdvc control issues
Replies
3
Views
1K
The Pellet Mill - Pellet and Multifuel Stoves
ericofmaine
ericofmaine
D
More Enviro Milan Issues
Replies
25
Views
587
The Pellet Mill - Pellet and Multifuel Stoves
Danman1116
D
CRR-VINNY
Englander 25-PDVC another low heat issue
Replies
6
Views
870
The Pellet Mill - Pellet and Multifuel Stoves
ericofmaine
ericofmaine
Top Bottom