Drolet Tundra 2, getting thermostat to work

[Thomassen5]

I just installed our new wood furnace and it works great. I am trying to hook it up to our thermostat. The manual just says to install wires, tighten screws and turn off the damper. but the furnace isnt being controlled by the thermostat. the blower is turning off and on based on the setting on the blower digital screen. When thermostat is hooked up it just keeps the damper open all the time. Also there are lots of different settings on the digital display and nothing in the manual to descibe the different functions. does anyone no about the settings and how to get the thermostat to operate the furnace.please help

 

[JRHAWK9]

I don't have a Tundra, but I am pretty sure the thermostat controls the damper on these. When there's a call for heat the damper will open until the house meets whatever temp you have the thermostat set for. The blower is cycling because your plenum temps are not warm enough yet to maintain whatever temp the low limit switch is set for. They meet this temp, the blower kicks on which then cools down the plenum enough to where the low limit switch shuts the blower back off. You don't want the blower running non stop in this situation because you will have some very low supply temps.

I'm sure one of the Tundra guys will chime in if I'm wrong.......

 

[laynes69]

You need a basic thermostat that's separate. As far as I know, you can't wire to the existing thermostat in the house. As mentioned, the thermostat will open the damper when there's a call for heat, then close when the temperature is met. The hotter the fire the less cycling of the blower, however, if you're furnace is cycling the blower and the home temperature is satisfied, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Thomassen5]

ok thanks for the reply, problem being when the thermostat is hooked up it just opens the damper and stays that way, when the thermostat turns off nothing happens, it just keeps running and the damper stays open, i figure at the very least the damper should close, i tried crossing the wires and still the same, i have a fairly new quality thermostat that ran my old oil furnace just fine, im starting to figure out some of the settings on the back but does anyone have a list of what there all about the manual is terrible and doesent say anything, also how should the wires be hooked up from the thermostat i have one black wire and one white wire, one is hooked up to the W on the thermostat and the other to RH and there is a jumper in there aswell but nothing on the furnace as to which side they should hook up too, or does it matter? thanks

 

[Thomassen5]

sorry totally forgot to mention its a tundra 2

 

[STIHLY DAN]

Doesn't matter which wires they are hooked to, its just to complete a circuit. If the damper wires are (open) not hooked to anything, the damper should be closed and stay closed.

 

[laynes69]

It looks like it's to be wired in the manual with the existing furnace. There's an interlock that is supposed to disable the woodfurnace damper if there's a call for heat from the central furnace. I'm not sure about the wiring on the new ones, considering the display is all digital. Did you lower the set temp below the room temp and see if the damper closes?

 

[brenndatomu]

Hi @Thomassen5 , welcome to Hearth! I think you may be our first Tundra II owner...tell us a lil about your install, and maybe some pics of your setup if you have them.
Have you tried unhooking the tstat wires at the Tundra with the tstat calling for heat? If you do that and the damper closes, then something is wrong with your wiring or tstat. Do the same at the tstat, and if the damper closes then that tells you your wiring is fine, something wrong with, or at least setup wrong with the tstat itself.
I had something similar happen when I installed my sisters Tundra, turned out one of the wire staples was so tight that it shorted the wire internally even without cutting through the outer insulation.

I suspect the controller is the same one used on the Caddys...maybe the Caddy manual would explain things a lil better...

 

[Thomassen5]

ok thanks to stihly dan, laynes 69 and brenndatomu for the information, the furnace is just by itself, no central furnace thats an illegal setup in canada cant run them in tandem here, when i hook up the thermostat (with the damper switch in the closed position like it says) it just stays open no matter what, ive tried turning everything on/off up down, unplug/reset the damper just stays open, as soon as i unhook the wires it closes and i can operate it with the switch manually, my thermostat is a noma model 52-2546-6 its a pretty slick unit that i think should be compatible? and yes it is a digital display on the furnace which is why im a little upset the it didnt come with any instructions on what the nearly 15 or 20 different settings are for, since there all displayed in acronyms like what the hell? my install was a pain in the butt, i had to do a full renovation which involved pulling out walls and installing beams, had to jackhammer a trench in my floor so i could move the water main cause it came up through the floor right where it wanted to sit. Also had to move my hot water tank to a different location cause it was right there aswell, had to pour a concrete pad over top a footing that was inside the wall cause it was load bearing, i guess i could have used bricks but thought that would look cheesy. i put a new factory built chimney through the house where the old oil furnace chimney was, that was a challenge too cause the pipe was a different size and i needed more clearence. It was kinda hard to visualize everything prior and had too just wing it along the way but determination prevailed, at the end of it all i ended up being a little shy of 48 inches on the front door side so im gonna build a bunch of sheilding from all the sheet metal i demod out from the old ducting from the original oil furnace hopefully that gets me buy an inspection when the time comes. But at the end of the day I WIN!! its in and running if i could just get this thermostat thing figured out i ll be king! The replys are much appreciated and hopefully lead me in the right direction, this forum is awesome! thanks guys!

 

[maple1]

as soon as i unhook the wires it closes and i can operate it with the switch manually

Unhook where? At the furnace? Did you try the suggestion of unhooking at the thermostat then seeing what happens?

 

[Thomassen5]

ya i just tried it at the thermostat aswell and it did the same thing, it wont close the damper with the thermostat signal, just stays wide open until its unhooked

 

[STIHLY DAN]

So, its the T-stat. Wires not connected, damper closed, wires together damper open. 1 wire on R and 1 wire on W this will be wires not connected. Call for heat, wires together damper open. Can this T-stat run on batteries?

W on the thermostat and the other to RH and there is a jumper in there aswell but nothing on the furnace as to which side they should hook up too, or does it matter? thanks

A jumper between W and RH? That would do exactly what you are explaining.

 

[Thomassen5]

yes the thermostat will run on batteries it takes three AAA's, it also has a "dime" battery for a backup, so in your second paragraph you mention the jumper, should i pull it out? it worked that way on the old oil unit so i left it, thanks dan

 

[maple1]

There should be something in the lit that says what the jumper does? Or the jumper connections should be somehow labelled/marked?

 

[brenndatomu]

yes the thermostat will run on batteries it takes three AAA's, it also has a "dime" battery for a backup, so in your second paragraph you mention the jumper, should i pull it out? it worked that way on the old oil unit so i left it, thanks dan

I'd pull the jumper and see what happens...can't anymore then find yet another way that it doesn't work...

 

[STIHLY DAN]

yes the thermostat will run on batteries it takes three AAA's, it also has a "dime" battery for a backup, so in your second paragraph you mention the jumper, should i pull it out? it worked that way on the old oil unit so i left it, thanks dan

If the jumper is between rh and w yes pull it. Many T-stats have a jumper, but its between rh and r or rc.

 

[brenndatomu]

Wonder how this turned out?
Also, wondering if the T2s variable speed blower is infinitely variable, or the controller just has the ability to shift between the motors 4 speeds?

 

[STIHLY DAN]

I believe its between the 4 speeds. Someone somewhere posted a diagram or manual on it.