Englander 25PDVC not putting out as expected

[EnglanderandHunstman]

Hey guys,

I'm a life long coal stove burner (chubby stoves). I bought a new home this year and decided to install an englander 25pdvc (rated for 1500 sqft). My home is a two level cape with about 1300 square feet on the first floor. The floor plan is pretty open so air circulation isnt too much of an issue.

I installed the stove about 10 days ago and have been burning for about 5 days since the inspection passed. So far I have burned Green Team pellets from Lowes and Fireside from Home Depot. At the moment the stove which has been going for about 5 hours since I shut it down to completely clean it with my shop vac. It is set to 6/6 and its only 59 degrees at my thermometer 15 feet in front of the stove. Granted it is a very cold evening here at 16 right now but I am really let down by this heat output.

I held a digital thermometer in front of the output louvers and it is currently putting out 113 degree air. I am not sure if this is low for a pellet stove burning on a medium to high setting. I know these things are really only space heaters but I cant believe it cant even throw heat 15' and warm our sitting area.

The stove vent is the simpson duravent. I exited the stove into a 90 elbow, up a 3' continuous section, a right 90 elbow to huge the wall, then another 90 out the wall and through the thimble. once out the wall it hits another elbow and then up the tee about 6 feet and terminates. I have had no venting issues even with all these elbows. The reason for the elbows was to tuck it in the corner and window vent clearance issues per the manual.

I also connected the OAK as directed and that is straight out the wall.

I will upload pics of the installation. I am at a loss as to why this thing is so underwhelming. I have been cleaning it very well (used to cleaning coal stoves which is much more time consuming) and I'm about to fire up the basement hunstman stove to help it out. Tomorrow ill be calling Englander for help on their end. Thanks for any advice in advance.

 

[Ssyko]

You have alot of 90’s in that vent that are killing your draft. Im thinking when you got outside you should have gone straight up.

 

[rich2500]

If your used to coal heat your going to be dissappointed with pellet heat

 

[MCPO]

Too many elbows especially if your vent is 3".
I`d just do away with the outside stuff and put the end cap on where the vent exits the house.
The PDVC is a small stove and maybe borderline sized for your home ,depending on how well it is insulated.

 

[corkman]

Recommend EVL is 15 using 3” pipe. You’re pushing 35 with that setup. I’d remove everything on the outside for now and mount you’re termination cap there and see how it runs for a few days. Also do a search on here for Englander burn pot modification. If you have 2 holes under the wear plate,they can be plugged with steel wool to improve burn. I’m just not sure if it applies to the pdv or the pdvc

 

[EnglanderandHunstman]

Thanks for the responses. I am considering increasing the exterior section to 4” pipe. The reason for the excess elbows is the inside location of the wall studs and then on the exterior is the vent termination clearances per the manual. If I go straight out or up I’m too close laterally to the windows.

This may be a dumb question but is the difference between this models advertised square footage and the next size up just strictly how many pellets it will burn ? I have also considered returning for the larger Englander model if after my efforts don’t equal better output. I am attempting to heat about 1200-1300 square feet on the first floor with this thing and expected a little more oomph.

 

[cecil_archer]

Couple comments:
1- agree with above comments on EVL. I think this is outlined in the manual.
2- turn it up. I have a 1200 sqft cape and have to turn up to at least 7/9 to keep temps near 70 inside when outside temps are in mid-teens.
3- you have about 1300 sqft on first floor. Unless that second floor is sealed off, some of that heat will rise into that space. You may want to go the PDV for your space and heating needs.

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[EnglanderandHunstman]

Thanks again guys. As im new to the pellet fuel, so far i have tried the green team and fireside. The fireside seems to leave less ash but i didnt notice any heat difference. I am going to try the trick of plugging the two holes on the bottom of the burn pot and would also like to check the factory setting mode this is set on. I have hard a hard time finding a thread that states the process of checking and resetting the modes of A/B/C/D. If anyone knows it and doesnt mind a quick type out of it i would really appreciate it.

I figure I will tinker with the settings, pellets, and easy things such as the burn pot hole trick before i start changing any installation stuff or consider swapping to a larger model.

Whats the opinion out there on running softwood pellets through these? Has anyone seen a drastic change in heat output or is it minor changes in heat.

Thanks again for the advice on the EVL and your burn experiences. This website is such a great resource!

 

[Ssyko]

Softwoods burn hotter but they burn faster. Hillman plugs under the burn plate will help get more combustion air where you need it. Pdv is you stoves big brother it is a little larger footprint but would heat better. Most of your heat issue is the vent pipe. You gotta lose a couple 90’s”even with 4” your going to have issues.

 

[Hot Foot]

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/2016-englander-pellet-stove-modes.164264/#post-2205068

Credit for this info goes to Don2222 and webfish.

Setting the Heat Mode
Heat Mode, the default setting is 'd' for the 25-PDVC, and for the 25-PDV it is 'c', but some control boards default to 'A' when a reset is done. Do not run the stove in 'A' or 'b' mode.
Unplug the stove from the mains.
Plug power lead back in and press both the up and down blower speed buttons at the same time within 4 - 5 seconds and then release the buttons, you should now see a letter (A, b, c or d) in the left or right digital display under heat range or blower setting, you need to change this to 'd' or 'c' using the up / down buttons below that readout, or in case of the 25-PDV you need to use both buttons up or down, once set to 'd' or 'c' wait 10 - 15 seconds then unplug the power again and wait 5 seconds. (Sometimes the mode that you want does not set and defaults back to the mode that it was in before, repeat this step to make sure the mode that you want is set.)

More info ...
If the mode settings can not be set using both up or down buttons for the 25-PDV, try the procedure for the 25-PDVC. (Both stoves use the same control boards)

Older boards ... (before 2004)
Heat Mode Setting ......
if the board is a "non igniter" board the procedure is different may require 2 people if the plug is on the other side of the stove , the up and down blower speed buttons are held in while the stove is being plugged in , in other words, unplug , press AND HOLD the up and down blower speed buttons , plug in WITHOUT LETTING GO OF THE BUTTONS then once its plugged in ,let go of the blower speed buttons and set the abcd mode with the heat range up or down. then tap the "on " button twice to lock it in.

 

[EnglanderandHunstman]

I plugged the two holes underneath the burn pot (when looking into the burn pot I plugged each hole on the left and right side of the pot that sit near the bottom and are about 1/2-3/4 in diameter) hopefully these are the correct holes. The reason i am questioning this is since doing that my first burn is 50 degrees cooler than before. It seemed as if everyone got improved results with this so I am wondering if I plugged the incorrect holes.

 

[Ssyko]

Plugging the holes forces more of the combustion air up through the burn plate to burn the pellets better and it is a proven improvement. Have you checked which mode your stove is in? What heat setting are you running?

 

[Hot Foot]

I plugged the two holes underneath the burn pot (when looking into the burn pot I plugged each hole on the left and right side of the pot that sit near the bottom and are about 1/2-3/4 in diameter) hopefully these are the correct holes. The reason i am questioning this is since doing that my first burn is 50 degrees cooler than before. It seemed as if everyone got improved results with this so I am wondering if I plugged the incorrect holes.

The default burn mode for the PDVC is D. The defaults for the bottom three buttons left to right are 6-4-1. You should try these settings as a starting point. You can always tweak them later. Myself, I would reset to burn mode C for more heat. From what I've read. You can set the PDVC to C also.

 

[EnglanderandHunstman]

I just did the reset and it was set to D. I just reset to C and will see what that does....I have been burning on 5/7 to keep a consistent idea of what im getting out of it with different pellets and since tinkering. I had it going for a good hour or so and it never got up to the same temp as before i plugged those holes. that is kind of throwing me off since everyone has had success with that. i used knock out seal plugs.

 

[Mt Bob]

There is no reason to have your outside flue that way.Either take it straight up,or straight out a bit further.Remember,the install specifications are for "vent termination",not the hole through the wall.Sometimes is easy to gain the clearance just by extending (straight out) a bit further.Remember "vent termination"(the actual hole where exhaust comes out,and think in 3 dimensions.

 

[EnglanderandHunstman]

as far as i understand the termination limits in the manual, there is no reference to clearing windows by going out. it references vertical and lateral limits which i wouldnt meet by going straight out. My window position put me in a pickle where going straight up clears the first floor windows but then encroaches on the 4' clearance underneath the second floor windows. i had to jink the pipe over to satisfy the building inspector

 

[Ssyko]

The success they have was getting a better and cleaner flame. What does your flame look like? Bright yellow and busy? Or yellow/orange dark tips lazy?

 

[EnglanderandHunstman]

Heres a video of it burning on setting C at 5/5. my limited eye on pellet stoves doesnt tell me much on the flame im seeing

 

[EnglanderandHunstman]

if that didnt work here are a couple of pictures. same flame in each pic just my phone focusing differently on each

 

[Hot Foot]

The flame looks pretty good. What low fuel feed setting are you using? It's the bottom left button. It should be set to 6.

 

[Ssyko]

That fire is too tall and looks lazy. You have a draft issue. Your going to have to do something about your vent routing or maybe get a diff impeller for the combustion blower to move more air

 

[Ssyko]

The flame looks pretty good. What low fuel feed setting are you using? It's the bottom left button. It should be set to 6.

OP is burning at 5 / 7 low feed setting isn’t being used after heat setting 2.

 

[EnglanderandHunstman]

ill have to mess with the exterior vent set up and try running a bag with a straight out termination to see what that does. are there any standard temps to expect out of the front louvers ? i have a rutland thermometer from my wood stove on there to use as a measuring stick. getting 215 right now out of the section, slightly higher if i put it on the body of the stove

 

[zrock]

Just from observation u got a stove who's limits are close to your main floor size... the manufacturer specs are in optimal conditions so knock at least 10% off their specs or more... just my opinion but you will be lucky to get the output u need out of it. My stove is rated at 3x my sq foot and I barley take it off 2... it's easier to turn down if u go yo big but just about impossible to get more out of 2 small. If u still have the option to return do it now before it's to late. Also look at the suggestions above about your exhaust. Your inspector should have come up with another option.

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[Ssyko]

Honestly ive never put one on my stove. But the air out of the vents will burn your hand if you hold it 1’ in front of it. on 7/9