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Exactly number 6 kick when over heating.... actually i'm sometimes able to make it shift to number 2 when around 83 celcious... but it not regular......
I will call back PSG on monday
!!Exactly number 6 kick when over heating.... actually i'm sometimes able to make it shift to number 2 when around 83 celcious... but it not regular......
I will call back PSG on monday
I find they are all over the place with temperature settings. I wouldn't be surprised if they programmed the circuit board temperatures that high from the batch of caddys your purchased.
On the tundras they have been doing the same. Always messing and playing around with plenum on/off temps
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I called yesterday and was supposed to be called back today but it never happened.
So I called during the after noon and talked to Eric! (Everytime I talked to him he gives a very good service )
After somes verifications.... he made me update the furnace.
He explained me that
173 F /78.3 C is the key temperature for the furnace to operate... (best efficiency)
After 3 minutes at 173 F the furnace should chance the blower speed. After another 3 minutes he rechecks the temperature
I tried with a lighter but didn't work..
I tried with wood and it actually worked...
The furnace even shifted on speed 4....
Well everything seems to be working fine... I will do more tests on my next loading...
In conclusion... when the caddy furnace works well... its an awsome machine !
So I called during the after noon and talked to Eric! (Everytime I talked to him he gives a very good service )
After somes verifications.... he made me update the furnace.
He explained me that
173 F /78.3 C is the key temperature for the furnace to operate... (best efficiency)
After 3 minutes at 173 F the furnace should chance the blower speed. After another 3 minutes he rechecks the temperature
I tried with a lighter but didn't work..
I tried with wood and it actually worked...
The furnace even shifted on speed 4....
Well everything seems to be working fine... I will do more tests on my next loading...
In conclusion... when the caddy furnace works well... its an awsome machine !
Your plenum need to get reach 173f before blower speed changes? I get it things run more efficiently when hot but look at the kummas they are running lower than 120f plenum temps clean as a whistle.
I know its an old thread but if anybody is looking for a solution....
After a lot of tests with the furnace, I come with the conclusion that the most important thing with the furnace is the STATIC PRESSURE in the plenum.
After increasing the static pressure, the fire burn hotter, the plenum keep itself at a higher temps so the blower fan speed increases faster. I was told by caddy to bring the static pressure to 0.4 ....
After a lot of tests with the furnace, I come with the conclusion that the most important thing with the furnace is the STATIC PRESSURE in the plenum.
After increasing the static pressure, the fire burn hotter, the plenum keep itself at a higher temps so the blower fan speed increases faster. I was told by caddy to bring the static pressure to 0.4 ....
How did you increase the static pressure? My Max Caddy will only get to 135 degrees. Burning good seasoned wood.
You should have dampers on the mains ducts beside the plenum, close them more !
JRHAWK9
Minister of Fire
Not all houses heat the same though. What you have done by increasing your SP is essentially slowed down the supply air passing through the air jacket. I also found this to be very beneficial in my setup as well, however, I accomplished this by slowing down my blower speed by speed controlling it and having a remote variable resistor which will let me skew the speed of the blower to any speed I want.
I have the same problem with my regular Caddy furnace. Blower speed seems to never change, and it doesn't heat our house. 2000 sq. ft refurbished old farm house. Fan Kick-In Point is 130 deg. F, and never gets much above that, even when outside temp is above freezing. I've got 6 fan speeds that all work when tested, but it seems to sit at speed #1 during operation. How does one measure static pressure?
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laynes69
Minister of Fire
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
Does your intake damper ever close? I would guess no since the tstat is probably never satisfied...my experience is that these things heat poorly with the intake open all the time...if you can get it to close for a while the supply temps should shoot up and the flue temps drop...now that will put some heat into the house!
Also, when did you last clean the HX? I used to do it every week...it makes a difference! How easy it is to clean the HX, and the door with a window are the two things I miss about the PSG/Drolet furnace design.
I you click on my sig line at the bottom of this post, you'll find a link to the huge Drolet Tundra thread...in there you'll find how many of us made HUGE improvements to the Drolet Tundra/Heatmax...which is basically the same furnace. That furnace should just play with heating a 2k ft house, even if its kinda poorly air sealed/insulated. (as long as you are burning dry wood)
laynes69
Minister of Fire
I agree! Any Caddy I've had, when the damper closes the heat goes up and the house climbs. But I've also slightly modified my new furnace to relocate the temp probe and adjust the blower tap. Heat does pour out of them with dry wood and a semi closed damper.
usernametaken
Burning Hunk
I've never understood those who have the temp go up when the intake closes. The intake on a Caddy is meant to be controlled by a thermostat. When the thermostat calls for heat, it opens the intake. It would be rather counterintuitive for the plenum temp to go down when there is a call for heat and mine certainly doesn't work that way.
Static pressure is definitely the key to quickly raising the plenum temp and jumping speeds on the blower. Wood selection also plays a part. My system is zoned so I have a relatively simple way to increase static pressure. On really cold mornings, I turn down the 1st floor thermostat so it's not calling which closes the zone dampers. Then I just have the second floor and bonus room over the garage calling for heat. This creates a bit more static pressure and gets me higher blower speeds in short order. The same can be done with manual dampers in your ductwork. On these same low outside temp reloads, I also make sure to pull oak/beech/black or yellow birch from the rack as opposed to red maple or white birch. Lots more BTUs gets the temp up quicker and and holds temp longer.
A quick note on when the speeds change with the Caddy digital controller. It's not just achieving a certain plenum temp that kicks up the speed. The controller also monitors how long this temp is sustained. Mine jumps speeds when 140+ is achieved for a period of time and will creep up a speed at a time to 6 between 145-160. Speed 6 keeps me under 165 (usually in the 150's) and never allows an over fire. Back to my original point about the intake damper... if it closes due to the end of a heat call, the plenum temp will immediately drop and I'll be down to speed 1 in less than 10 minutes. More like 5 minutes most times...
Static pressure is definitely the key to quickly raising the plenum temp and jumping speeds on the blower. Wood selection also plays a part. My system is zoned so I have a relatively simple way to increase static pressure. On really cold mornings, I turn down the 1st floor thermostat so it's not calling which closes the zone dampers. Then I just have the second floor and bonus room over the garage calling for heat. This creates a bit more static pressure and gets me higher blower speeds in short order. The same can be done with manual dampers in your ductwork. On these same low outside temp reloads, I also make sure to pull oak/beech/black or yellow birch from the rack as opposed to red maple or white birch. Lots more BTUs gets the temp up quicker and and holds temp longer.
A quick note on when the speeds change with the Caddy digital controller. It's not just achieving a certain plenum temp that kicks up the speed. The controller also monitors how long this temp is sustained. Mine jumps speeds when 140+ is achieved for a period of time and will creep up a speed at a time to 6 between 145-160. Speed 6 keeps me under 165 (usually in the 150's) and never allows an over fire. Back to my original point about the intake damper... if it closes due to the end of a heat call, the plenum temp will immediately drop and I'll be down to speed 1 in less than 10 minutes. More like 5 minutes most times...
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
All I can say is that until I installed the temp controller on my Tundra, I was ready to rip it out and throw it on the scrap pile out back. (seriously...the only reason I didn't was a nasty storm was coming in and I wouldn't have had time to get things back in any kind of working order before the storm hit...then I stumbled across the temp controller idea before getting mad enough to rip it out again)
The temp controller monitored exhaust temps, and overrode the tstats call for heat once the exhaust temp hit the preprogrammed temp, and then kept it closed until the exhaust temp dropped below another preprogrammed temp. That made all the difference...Tundra went from dud to stud...and the big Tundra thread is full of people that had the same results with theirs too.
Doesn't matter if its Tundra/Heatmax, or Caddy, Max Caddy, same design.
I don't disagree that static pressure needs to be right though...
usernametaken
Burning Hunk
I had trouble in the beginning with mine Dave as you probably remember. However, it operates as advertised with the correct static pressure and well seasoned wood. I'm heating 3500 sq/ft with mine and it has extremely long duct runouts on the second floor and bonus room. The only time it struggles is if the temps are very low combined with wind. This past Jan we had a couple days of high wind combined with sub zero temps. The house was OK but the bonus room got chilly. Maybe low 60's. I have a ventless heater now to help out in those rare situations up there though....
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
When I increased static pressure it helped raise duct temps a bit...but didn't address the underlying issue, which was that the tstat was never satisfied, so the damper never closed, and it blew through a load of wood in no time, much of that heat up the chimney.
usernametaken
Burning Hunk
Not mine. As I said, when my damper closes, I immediately loose plenum temp and my blower drops to speed 1.
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