Big E Thermostat Question

[AndrewChurchill]

I have attached a Honeywell 7 day programmable thermostat to my Big E. I have verified it is 750 millivolt compatible.

However, when in the Hi/Low mode the stove only feeds enough pellets to keep the fire going no matter what the feed rate setting is set at.

The other thing I notice is the On/Off button os flashing about once every couple of seconds.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[ajwoodman]

Sounds like your thermostat is not calling for heat. When it is in the lo mode, the on off light flashes (to let you know it is in Lo mode). Then when the thermostat calls for heat, it goes up to the setting that you have set for hi. You should only have it set as high as #3 for your hi setting. That way it only goes down two settings when it no longer calls for heat. When it is calling for heat, the light stays on steady. Hope this helps.

 

[hossthehermit]

Typical operation, mine calls it "pilot mode" whan it's not calling for heat. When temp in the house drops below t'stat setpoint, it will kick up to set level, until 'stat is happy, then back to pilot. Keeps your igniter from a premature death

 

[AndrewChurchill]

I've turned the t-stat up to 85 and the t-stat indicates that it's calling for heat but the stove still doesn't react.

Do the wires that are attached to the control board have to be installed in a specific order?

 

[ajwoodman]

There are only two wires to connect on the control panel. I am wondering if maybe you have a bad thermostat or maybe it isn't wired correctly on the thermostat side. What thermostat do you have?

 

[ajwoodman]

If I were you I would shut the stove down. Unplug it and plug it back in. Make sure that it is set to the hi/lo mode on the side of the stove. If you were on manual mode say, and then you changed it to hi/lo mode without shutting down the stove first, it would not take effect and you would be running in manual mode on setting 1. Just a thought.

 

[hossthehermit]

BRILLIANT! Good point

 

[AndrewChurchill]

The stove has been unplugged a couple of times and it was in the Hi/Low mode when it was plugged back in. I am aware the stove must be off before changing the mode.

I've triple checked that the wiring of the t-stat and it is wired correctly.

Does it matter how the wires are connected to the control board? It doesn't say that it matters in the manual.

 

[ajwoodman]

I don't believe the wiring is a problem. Sounds like you have that right. How about your high setting? Do you have the heat advance setting on #3?

 

[AndrewChurchill]

Yes, I've tried 3, 4, and 5 (I'm only using 5 for testing. I know they don't recommend that for the t-stat modes.)

 

[theking]

I would try disconnecting the thermostat and place a single wire between the two thermostat connectors on the stove, shorting the terminals. This is what the thermostat does when it calls for heat, closes the two connections. If the stove still doesn't react to this, there is something wrong with the control board. If the stove reacts and changes to the higher heat setting then you may have something connected wrong on the tstat or maybe have a defective tstat.

First test the stove control though and work from there. I have a Breckwell P23 but the tstat functions should be the same.

Hope that helps.

 

[ajwoodman]

I have the Big E and that is the way my thermostat works also. I would tend to think that the t stat is the problem as your stove works properly except for on t stat mode. I will be interested to hear what the problem ends up being.

 

[AndrewChurchill]

The t-stat is working now. The issue was one of two things. Either one of the wires was loose or I had the two wires that connect to the control board installed backwards. The only thing I did was to reverse the red and white wire. Once I did that everything started working as it's supposed to work.