England 28-3500 stove limit switch question

[kieth4548]

I just purchased the above furnace add on and have a question on the fan limit switch. I understand that there are some guys on here that work at england and can help answer this question. On the thermostat there are three switches. One for fan on, one for fan off and the other that is for limit switch. Can someone tell me what the limit switch does. I called england tech support and the guy that I got said that was a good question and no one has ever asked before and he didn't know what it was for. He said he would get back to me but that was a week ago and haven't heard anything. Currently the limit switch is set to 200 degrees.

Thanks

 

[begreen]

I don't have a schematic of the switch, but would guess that the high limit is to be wired in series with the primary furnace limit switch so that if the limit is hit, the primary furnace can't come on, even if the thermostat is calling for heat.

Mike do you agree? As far as I can see, there is no mention in the manual about this.

 

[kieth4548]

my stove is not wired to my furnace. I don't know if that will help

 

[begreen]

OTOH, it could be they just put in a standard limit switch for a regular furnace and this is just extra.

 

[kieth4548]

not sure.. it says something int he manual about setting it but it doesn't say what to set it at and why you would need to set it.

 

[henfruit]

i think you would set it for the temp you want the fan to come on. check i think they are preset at the factory.

 

[kieth4548]

no there is a swith for fan and fan off so i know its not that. it would be nice if they would better explain things in the manual

 

[laynes69]

The limit is used when a furnace has a forced draft like mine. Mine is set to kick off at 170 degrees, which then would stop feeding the fire. I don't think those have a forced draft. A standard limit control like mine has a on off and limit. You set the temps where you want them. If you dont have a forced draft, then the limit is there just because those limit/controls come with them.

 

[Corie]

Actually, the intended purpose of the limit switch on our thermostat is not needed for the use of it on our furnace. The limit switch is designed to essentially turn a gas or oil burner off, if the temperature in the plenum exceeds the preset limit on the thermostat face. This is a safety feature of the thermostat which would be useful if it was being used on a conventional furnace or as laynes said, a forced draft wood furnace, where one could wire the forced draft blower to the limit side of the thermostat.

Since you won't be wiring anything to that side of the thermostat (right side) anyway, the limit feature has no function for you.


Hope that helps.


-Corie

 

[Eric Johnson]

Thanks, Corie.

You want to tackle this question about the best way to get a clean burn on that furnace?

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/12986/

Also, if you have the time, I'd be interested in learning a bit more about the future of gasification, if any, in wood-burning furnaces. Seems to me you might have a problem with overheating, since with forced air there's really no way to store heat. But I still think it might hold some promise. What your perspective on that?

 

[kieth4548]

Speaking of clean burn. Now that I have up'd my temps in my stove things seem to be much better. I am getting better burn times out of my stove. I have another quick question. I'm sure everyone is getting tired of these. My question is I set my damper and went back latter to make sure that I didn't set it to low. I have a a good flame. Not to big but not too little. Enough to keep things hot. When I looked into the glass I noticed that the fire was going across the top like normal but the flames were what I say floating. It's not from the fire being real big coming off the wood. They were floating in mid air. Is this the second burn that I keep reading about? If so then does that mean I have finally figured out where to set the damper for a clean burn.

Thanks
Kieth

 

[Eric Johnson]

Yes, indeed. Congratulations!

 

[kieth4548]

SWEEEEETTTTTT

Thanks Eric for all the help you have given

 

[Eric Johnson]

It always takes time to learn a new stove. It takes at least a year to really learn how to drive one.

But keep an eye on your chimney, secondary burn or no secondary burn. It's an important part of the puzzle that you need to know about, no matter what's going on in there.

 

[laynes69]

I have a different wood furnace, but I always get those flames that are just lazy and light in color. They float and dance around above the wood. This is all the time for me, once you get er down you will be good to go. I have a thermometer thats above my loading door, and I can keep my furnace between 400 and 500 for hours. Which keeps the whole house warm and toasty. Some say secondary burn is difficult in a wood furnace, but if you do it right, and have some secondary air, which mine comes in from the back of the furnace, its easy. I turn down my ash door damper, and keep my rear forced draft plate open, but not running and my fire feeds from that rear air supply.

 

[kieth4548]

I got up this morning and reloaded my stove. Once it got going I have a little flame, red hot coals and my stove pipe is warm. I then went outside to check for smoke and have no smoke but lots of heat waves. Looks like I am finaly getting things dialed in. I have to this has been the best forum. If it wasn't for here I would still be tryinh yo figure this out.