Bypass Igniter??

[Crazy Dave]

Hi all!

Still rockin' the '09 Breckwell P24FS here....... Got 3 tons of Turman to be delivered on Tuesday, and in the process of moving about 30 bags left over from last season and clean the garage to make room.

Got a question.......

My igniter still works, but I haven't really used/relied on it in years... I always use my stove in "manual" mode and I've been lighting w/ a torch for reliability and efficiency. I'm considering building a battery BU system, and although the igniter may be a minimal drain in the grand scheme of things, it still pulls a good amount of wattage for about 10 minutes (even w/ the torch start). I'm aiming to maximize the battery BU (if I get so inclined to cough up the dough and find time to create it). According to the manual/schematic, it looks like I 'should' be able to just disconnect it, and carry on w/ life, but I haven't had the time yet to verify the actual wiring inside the stove vs the schematic. Does anyone have any experience w/ this and can or cannot confirm?

My setup now:
I have a Cyberpower 1500W UPS.
Stove running = ~160W (UPS should give me about 30-40min run time according to it's calculations and a test run of about 15-20 minutes)
Stove starting w/ igniter on = ~350-400W w/ auger kicking in. Once the room fan kicked in, it was about 450ish W till the igniter shut off and the stove ran happy at ~160W again.

Idea is to build the battery BU to use in an extended power outage (not that we get that many where I am in central PA, but last year we were w/o for about 2 days, and to my surprise, mice ate through the old generator's wiring, which I just had running a few weeks prior!)........... Mainly use the inverter generator to power and charge everything during the day, and use the battery BU at night....... Sole intention and priority is heat and fridge....... hell, in the mid of winter, we could store fridge stuff outside in coolers..... We're on a well, but fresh water is close enough by.

I look forward to your answers and thoughts!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Whitenuckler]

Hi all!

Still rockin' the '09 Breckwell P24FS here....... Got 3 tons of Turman to be delivered on Tuesday, and in the process of moving about 30 bags left over from last season and clean the garage to make room.

Got a question.......

My igniter still works, but I haven't really used/relied on it in years... I always use my stove in "manual" mode and I've been lighting w/ a torch for reliability and efficiency. I'm considering building a battery BU system, and although the igniter may be a minimal drain in the grand scheme of things, it still pulls a good amount of wattage for about 10 minutes (even w/ the torch start). I'm aiming to maximize the battery BU (if I get so inclined to cough up the dough and find time to create it). According to the manual/schematic, it looks like I 'should' be able to just disconnect it, and carry on w/ life, but I haven't had the time yet to verify the actual wiring inside the stove vs the schematic. Does anyone have any experience w/ this and can or cannot confirm?

My setup now:
I have a Cyberpower 1500W UPS.
Stove running = ~160W (UPS should give me about 30-40min run time according to it's calculations and a test run of about 15-20 minutes)
Stove starting w/ igniter on = ~350-400W w/ auger kicking in. Once the room fan kicked in, it was about 450ish W till the igniter shut off and the stove ran happy at ~160W again.

Idea is to build the battery BU to use in an extended power outage (not that we get that many where I am in central PA, but last year we were w/o for about 2 days, and to my surprise, mice ate through the old generator's wiring, which I just had running a few weeks prior!)........... Mainly use the inverter generator to power and charge everything during the day, and use the battery BU at night....... Sole intention and priority is heat and fridge....... hell, in the mid of winter, we could store fridge stuff outside in coolers..... We're on a well, but fresh water is close enough by.

I look forward to your answers and thoughts!

Thanks in advance!

https://woodstoves.net/documents/breckwell/P24_Manual.pdf

It looks like you just need to disconnect the red wire see page 30. You could add a male and female insulated blade terminal so that it can be disconnected and connected. My stove has a switch to put the igniter in manual mode (light stove with torch).
You are correct about the igniter draw. You do not want to use that if you need to light on that UPS.
For a bigger system I'd look at a system like mine. True Sine Wave Inverter, 12V battery(s) and a 35A charger. On a power outage you can recharge the battery with a 120V generator or 12V from a solar panel or from your car.
I run my pellet stove on the inverter all the time. If you eventually get a system like mine you will not need the UPS. That might be useful for your computer or some other location ect.
All of your wattages look like mine. I have a plug type power meter, however my inverter has a display also.

 

[zrock]

You do realize that your ignitor is still working even tough you are manually lighting. It will run until the stove senses fire and takes it out of lighting mode. In my old breckwell i find about 1min difference between lighting with fire gel or letting it do its own thing.

 

[Dataman]

Should be switch to put in Manual Mode. I use Inverter Charger with couple 100ah Batteries (getting 300ah next year). Gets me about 24 hours I hope. Longest so far 10 hours on 1 Battery (100ah). I recommend turning down fan speed to get more hours during power outage. I have Sportsman 1k Generator if longer run time needed. (AIMS 1250 in Picture). Power up here is underground going to house. Your UPS is not worth having except to shut it down.

 

[Crazy Dave]

Hey all! Thanks for the replies!!

Whitenuckler -
Yes, Sir! That's the exact manual I have and the schematic I was looking at. Thanks for verifying! Unfortunately, there is no separate switch to bypass the igniter, and the "Manual" mode doesn't bypass the igniter either, hence the question. It just lets me choose between "Low/high", "On/Off", or "Manual", and I don't have/use a thermostat for the other options.

Zrock -
Indeed I do! That's why I want to eliminate it!

Dataman -
Our power is underground as well, and is usually pretty reliable except for brief flickers or few minute outages... The UPS serves it's purpose for those scenarios! I'm aiming to build a battery BU system for at least 24hrs to use in conjunction w/ the generator. I'm still in research mode to determine how I want to set everything up, and what V and Ah batteries I want to use for the system. Good tip for turning down the fans! Might just have to build a bigger system! LOL

Thanks again for the replies! This forum and community is great!

 

[ARC]

Watch video unplug ignitor where it shows to unplug tape ends coming from power supply/control board. If you wanted to have option of using the ignitor without having to open the back again and plugging wires back in you could add a toggle switch

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[Whitenuckler]

Hey all! Thanks for the replies!!

Whitenuckler -
hence the question.

It looks like you just need to disconnect the red wire see page 30. You could add a male and female insulated blade terminal so that it can be disconnected and connected.
Edit - I like that suggestion for adding a 120V 10amp toggle switch too so you have the option with a flick of a switch

 

[Dataman]

If you build battery backup consider one that has Charger Built in. Also one that will charge the batteries you buy. Don't go too cheap. I like AIMS. But some don't have charger. LFP batteries are pretty cheap compared to years ago. I hope to replace my two 100ah batteries iwth 280ah (2 of them). Thinking of what they will do 10 years on. Squeezing one more year out of what we have now (AGM). 2018 and 2020. They still have over 13.3 volt sitting after several months. Of course without real load who knows what they will do. That is where 1k Generator would come in. Just royal PIA to run extension cord to back of house where hole is in wall for extension cord. Previous owner had Generator Inside with vent. We sealed that up and close the door. They lived Dangerous to me. In the future will replace our 7k outside genny. Or not.

 

[Whitenuckler]

If you build battery backup consider one that has Charger Built in. Also one that will charge the batteries you buy. Don't go too cheap. I like AIMS. But some don't have charger. LFP batteries are pretty cheap compared to years ago. I hope to replace my two 100ah batteries iwth 280ah (2 of them). Thinking of what they will do 10 years on. Squeezing one more year out of what we have now (AGM). 2018 and 2020. They still have over 13.3 volt sitting after several months. Of course without real load who knows what they will do. That is where 1k Generator would come in. Just royal PIA to run extension cord to back of house where hole is in wall for extension cord. Previous owner had Generator Inside with vent. We sealed that up and close the door. They lived Dangerous to me. In the future will replace our 7k outside genny. Or not.

I have a very inexpensive battery tester which seems to work OK for measuring the CCA. The you can grab an old 60W light bulb and hook that up as a load. I also use the "Repair Mode" on my charger (I have about 8 chargers) which works good to. I bought a brand new AGM online (through Amazon) and when it got here is had 10V on it. Failed every test. Eventually by charging, discharging, repair mode ect I got it back to full CCA and discharge curve. I am using the 2012 AGM that was in my Jeep for my UPS system. Still works fine. Those AGM's are great if they were never left to freeze when dead. (the #1 battery killer) I have my Jeep hooked up to a small 1.8A charger that has "Maintain Mode". Once the volts get up it shuts off.

 

[Washed-Up]

you could wire in a fuse and pull it as well, I’ve done e this on mine not as a bypass but to save the board if the igniter shorts or surges.

 

[Crazy Dave]

Thanks ARC! I never found that video, so it did answer a few questions on wiring I had w/o having to open the stove up.......... Love the option to add a toggle! Good thinking ..... but, for now, I think I'm still just looking to eliminate it all together! I never use it, so why waste the power draw, or the effort to add a switch?! (LOL, Although both look like they'll take just about the same amount of time and effort)

Like I said, I'm still in research mode for the battery BU system. I'm looking to build my own instead of buying the pre-made units such as the Bluetti or Jackery for example. LifePo4 batts seem to be the way to go compared to normal sealed lead acid or AGM. I intend to mainly charge them w/ house or inverter genny AC, and am looking to set it up where I can add solar as an option later on.

Dataman....... Are you talking a charger built straight into the battery? I haven't seen them yet! I plan on spec'ing and buying each component for the system individually........ Charger, Batts, Monitor, Inverter, etc...

 

[Dataman]

When you all done post pics and narrative please. No Attention Pics like Fighter Pilot Briefings. Ha ha