Drolet Eco-65 - Bin Auger Operation?

[HVAC_Marc]

I purchased and installed myself a Drolet Eco-65 pellet stove. I read the directions twice before the install and referenced them frequently during the install.

The flue is 4" DuraVent Pro. It comes out via a tee, the bottom of the tee ends in a cap. The tee is rotated 45 degrees, then a 45 degree bend, then straight pipe up another 13 feet. It is all DuraVent run up inside of a factory built chimney internal to the house. The chimney is 8" triple wall insulated stainless. Both the top and bottom of the 8" are capped and sealed. The 8" has a proper stainless steel bird-proof cap.

It is wired as first stage via a Lennox ComfortSense 7000 thermostat (hard wired, with isolation relay). Second stage is an LP furnace. Stage 1 is 72 degrees, 1.5 degree swing, 6 degree deadband. The stove control is set to shut down on the heat call being satisfied.

This unit was banged around during shipping. It had a gouge behind the shipping material on the left door panel and the front handle has some paint missing.

On initial startup it ran fine on manual. I ran it hot to cure the paint. Then the thermostat took over. Within 1 day the bin auger motor stopped. There was power to and through the motor (116 volts) but no motor turning. The motor/auger was not jammed and I could cause pellets to move/fall by pushing the shaft bolts. Running a temporary wire from the bin auger motor to the frame (ground) appeared to resolve the issue. I removed the circuit board, checked the pin-out diagram, but found no reason for the lack of neutral (loose pins, broken solder connections, etc.) So I assume I have a bad wire.

However, even on the new/temporary neutral, occasionally the bin auger will not go. I have the control set to display the flue temperature. It would not go until the flue temp was below 100 degrees. During the time of not feeding the main auger is spinning, the combustion blower is running, and the ignitor is not running.

The L-160 Thermal switch is not tripped. There is 49 volts at one side of the switch but not the other. I did not test the L-250 switch. It is currently running at mid-fire and flue temp is 206 degrees.

I have cleaned the stove per the manual's instructions. It was pretty clean. The glass gets smoky pretty quick and it leaked some ash. I tightened the door a tad.

The instruction manual does not get into much technical diagnosis. Does the bin auger need a certain flue temp or stove temp before the bin auger will start? Is this a board issue?

One more thing, the outdoor air kit is 4". The inlet to the stove is only 3". Is that the way it's supposed to be?

If any more information is needed I'd be happy to provide.

Edit: I watched the next startup. No bin auger operation until flue temp was 98 degrees. This is a consistent temperature across 2 separate startups.

 

[Lake Girl]

Hoping someone with an Drolet chimes in or at least someone who can give you some advice. Brain too tired at the moment to work through this - sorry.

I hope you documented damage when unpacking - talk to the seller as more may be wrong from said banging around...

 

[crusher]

I have an older eco 65 (2010) and the fresh air is 4 inch. As for the auger have you checked the hopper lid switch ? As for flue temp it is not available on the older models

 

[Lake Girl]

Have you read through other posts on the Eco-65? I know there are other owners here so use the search box at the top of the page and see what info you can find...

 

[HVAC_Marc]

i've read most of the posts about the eco-65. None really address my questions. So far, the flue temp is always 98 degrees and then the bin auger starts. So, that must be proper operation. The hopper lid switch is fine. It does disengage and re-engage the augers as it's supposed to.

All the damage was documented. I sent pictures to my seller and they are sending a paint touch up kit.

 

[Lake Girl]

From the manual page 40 ... (broken link removed to http://www.drolet.ca/upload/documents/manuels/45433A_10-12-2012.pdf)
The thermistor is a heat sensor located on the exhaust housing. Its
function is to tell the control board that the unit has ignited properly
by measuring the heat in the exhaust. The pellet stove will not start
feeding pellets at the desired heat setting until it has received a
signal from the thermistor heat sensor. If the thermistor heat sensor
is bad, the unit will stop after the ignition cycle. If this situation
occurs, call your dealer or technician.

Sounds like it is normal operation and a safety feature to avoid overloading the burn pot with pellets

Welcome to the forum - post pics of your stove - we like pics!

 

[HVAC_Marc]

I found that in the manual too. I wish it stated at what temperature the signal is generated. I like tech info.

I was going to post pics today but got all wound up in opening day of hunting season. I will post pics when I get a chance.

 

[Lake Girl]

Pics of hunting season or the stove?

 

[hyfire]

There is nothing wrong with your stove, The feed or bin auger will stop and start during the start up cycle, see sequence below. You maybe checking the voltage during an off cycle in the timing.


0 sec -> 2min45sec

Auger 1/Vis 1 : ON (full speed)

Auger 2/Vis 2 : ON (full speed)

Ignitor/Allumeur : OFF

Combustion blower : ON

Exhaust blower : ON

Convection blower : OFF


2min45sec -> 7min15sec

Auger 1/Vis 1 : OFF

Auger 2/Vis 2 : ON (full speed)

Ignitor/Allumeur : ON

Combustion blower : ON

Exhaust blower : ON

Convection blower : OFF


7min15sec -> 18min00sec

Auger 1/Vis 1 : OFF

Auger 2/Vis 2 : ON (full speed)

Ignitor/Allumeur : OFF

Combustion blower : ON

Exhaust blower : ON

Convection blower : OFF


18min00sec -> 19min30sec

Auger 1/Vis 1 : ON (full speed)

Auger 2/Vis 2 : ON (full speed)

Ignitor/Allumeur : OFF

Combustion blower : ON

Exhaust blower : ON

Convection blower : OFF


19min30sec -> 24min00sec

Auger 1/Vis 1 : OFF

Auger 2/Vis 2 : ON (full speed)

Ignitor/Allumeur : ON

Combustion blower : ON

Exhaust blower : ON

Convection blower : OFF


24min00sec -> 34min45sec

Auger 1/Vis 1 : OFF

Auger 2/Vis 2 : ON (full speed)

Ignitor/Allumeur : OFF

Combustion blower : ON

Exhaust blower : ON

Convection blower : OFF

 

[hyfire]

On another topic, you should be checking your your pressures to make sure your chimney is working well. I am seeing .28-.35" w.c. The inlet air collar on the stove is 4" but the stove uses a hybrid fresh air setup. I;m sure 3" would work just fine.

 

[HVAC_Marc]

the pressures can be checked from the air tube going to the pressure switch? a tee inserted in the line to a manometer should work, right?

 

[hyfire]

the pressures can be checked from the air tube going to the pressure switch? a tee inserted in the line to a manometer should work, right?

Yes that would work. I prefer closer to the exhaust box, if its a permanent gauge install.

 

[HVAC_Marc]

i purchased a dwyer mini magnehelic gauge that has a range of 0-1" wc, panel mount. I also purchased another burn pot. it should be easier to clean out of the stove than in. Just swap it out and go.

 

[HVAC_Marc]

I still have to trim the wall. The old wood stove temp gauges are for old-time's sake.

 

[Lake Girl]

Nice install ... I like the idea of the spare burn pot where you can do a quick vacuum, switch burn pot and start her up!
Hope you have surge protection on the stove...

 

[hyfire]

Looks like they changed the design, do i see a shelf under the door to catch the ash? My air intake is on the left of the stove not center. Your temps look about right on the exhaust, depends how hard your firing the stove.. I can see about 180F on full steam...

 

[HVAC_Marc]

no surge protection, but i will add it.

there is an ash shelf. it works pretty well. probably because the door leaks ash... i tightened the latch per the book but it made little difference. the air intake has little latches that disassemble the fan and intake adapter all at once. i run the stove mid-fire right now and it seems to heat the house ok. we'll see how it does when it drops down to 10 or 0. im sure it'll be fine though.

 

[HVAC_Marc]

Looks like they changed the design, do i see a shelf under the door to catch the ash? My air intake is on the left of the stove not center. Your temps look about right on the exhaust, depends how hard your firing the stove.. I can see about 180F on full steam...

We are running 8-9 degrees outside today (design temp here is 0), with our WNY blizzard going on. The stove is running nearly wide open. Flue temperature is 267 degrees. It's maintaining 70 and slightly gaining when the wind stops blowing.

is there a way to have the fan have a higher speed off-delay when the call for heat ends? (or do i have to redesign the system). It runs at the slowest speed right now.

 

[hyfire]

Is that what temp the display shows or your pipe thermostat?

 

[HVAC_Marc]

The electronic display built into the stove. The old wood stove gauges only show surface temperatures. They are mainly there to let the wife know if it's ok to dust the pipes.

I also switched the pilot mode to ON. The wait time for the stove to reach a flue temp of 98 degrees allowed the house temp to fall to 67. We use more pellets but the temperature stays more constant.

 

[hyfire]

The eco-65 has a very slow start-up, one thing that I don;t enjoy. Alot of energy is wasted to bring the stove up to temp, I agree, pilot on is the best way to combat this problem. Now you up and running I suggest a flue cleaning every 30 bags, you probably seen by my posts some pics of my flue after 30 bags..

 

[HVAC_Marc]

no, but im going to look now

 

[HVAC_Marc]

I installed the new draft gauge. With a cold flue, 13 feet of equivalent height, 4" diameter, the draft during prepurge is neg. .7-.72. At high fire, 210 degree flue temp the draft is neg. .4.

 

[HVAC_Marc]

Looks ok to me.

 

[hyfire]

Are you sure on the .7" w.c that seems way high! As the burn pot clogs up the draft gauge will go higher about .05" than your normal burn.I would consider .3-.4 normal. At .2 i would say you flue or stove chambers are starting to plug.