Englander 25-pdvc questions

[wildCard]

Like most people I seem to being doing a lot searching trying to decipher what is the best settings for the lower 3 buttons and what I should be looking for as part of the normal burn process.
Right now it seems like the pellets are of terrible quality. Super small like 1/2 inch long or less most seem 1/4 inch or so. In short they burn up quick and dirty and on the lowest heat setting the flame almost goes out and it takes forever for the stove to heat up unless I crank up the heat.
So the question is what can I do to keep it burning steadier and cleaner. I turned down the Lower Feed Air to 2 which seemed to help the burn rate but its left it a lot dirtier. I can't seem to find any clear guide on what to do with the lower 3 buttons. Small dirty pellets set to this, super cold outside try this that sort of thing. I tried the 4-6-1 but that almost knocks the flame out completely and 6-4-1 the default seems to chew through the pellets quickly.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[CladMaster]

Tell us more about your setup -- exhaust flue, OAK etc....

 

[WoodPorn]

I'd suggest bumping both the lff and lba a notch or two
what are the 3 values at now?

 

[MCPO]

I`ve been thru all this too with mine and for the past couple years have had the best burning results with reliable and positive stove response by running the stove in heat mode " C " (in my insulated workshop).rear garage.
I use a single pole on/off switch in place of a thermostat . (thermostat does the same thing ,only automatically)
My bottom 3 settings are 3-3-1 . On idle (switch off, thermostat satisfied) The fire stays lit , burning the minimum amount of pellets while blowing 200-240 degree air . When calling for heat (switch on, or thermostat turned up) the stove goes into a hotter burn at whatever I have the heat range set at.
My glass stays pretty clean but I was told by factory service that mode C might run a bit dirtier but I haven`t experienced any difference. I`m vented (3") through the wall into a T and up 8 ft. I also have an OAK installed.
I`m on my 5th year with this stove and very happy with it. I average 20 hrs on a bag of pellets . I start off burning on heat range 9 , for 30 minutes and then down to idle once the shop is warmed up to 55 or so in the dead cold of winter.
Your mileage may differ depending on pellets and venting.
Hope this helps.

 

[wildCard]

Tell us more about your setup -- exhaust flue, OAK etc....

My setup is pretty straight forward. We got the stove from AM FM energy. We use the OAK kit that came with the stove. The exhaust is horizontal for about a foot and a half out the wall, tee, vertical for 4 feet, 90 degree bend and then the usual cap. It's the normal pellet vent kit they sell everywhere with an additional 6 inch pipe to get the stove to wall clearance I needed.
I had to pull the ignitor out an additional 1/8 of inch because these pellets are small enough they cover the hole and block the air flow.
Late last night after watching several youtube videos on what the flame should look like and what you should be seeing in the fire box I bumped it to 5-6-1 to see how it would burn. If I leave the heat on 1 the fire almost dies before pellets can be fed in. If I leave it on 2 it's better but the fire does get down pretty low before pellets are fed in. I have run it on 5-5-1 it just seems to take a long while for the stove to really start cranking out the BTU's. that's why I set the LFA to 2 just to see if I could hold more heat in the stove instead of blowing out into the world.

 

[WoodPorn]

The settings sound fine, Check to see what heat mode you are in.

 

[wildCard]

I just remembered a few other things. The baffle plate, ie the plate behind the fire box that you take out and vacuum behind seems a little loose, I can hear it rattle around sometimes but it only wobbles 1/8 inch or less. It's held in place but it's not snug and I have compared it to models at the stores and they seem the same way so I don't think it's an issue. I did jury rig up a thermometer I posted in another thread and on 1 the stove tends to blow at about 130 degrees and on 8 it hit around 180 but it took awhile to get there. Those temps seem low but I don't have any real world idea of what it should really be putting out.

 

[wildCard]

The settings sound fine, Check to see what heat mode you are in.

The heat mode is D. The default.

 

[WoodPorn]

I would try to bump it to C. my PDVC puts out around 225 - 250 on heat level 1 and blower on 2 with my bottom 3 @ 5-5-1 and burning Cleanfire pacific.

Heat mode is C