Fire Chief FC1500 install

[Case1030]

yeah, we have two ceiling fans running 24/7/365.

Here's an example of what I mentioned above.
We got 4-5" of snow overnight. Temps dropped to 14° overnight and when I went out to blow snow this morning I looked up at the roof and this is what I saw.

View attachment 237151 View attachment 237152 View attachment 237153

That's crazy. Alot of heat bust be making it's way through your roof to cause that. Any future solutions planned to minimize heat loss?

 

[Case1030]

IMO, from a strictly delivered efficiency standpoint. you want the distribution blower running as much as you can. Otherwise you are just wasting BTU's. It won't be able to strip anything off the flue gasses if the blower is not running.

Do you also have a pressure head controller on your Kuuma for slowing down fan speed?

 

[JRHAWK9]

That's crazy. Alot of heat bust be making it's way through your roof to cause that. Any future solutions planned to minimize heat loss?

unfortunately no. We just had that metal roof overlaid a handful of years ago, before the wood furnace. Nothing you can really do at this point except rip both roofs off as well as the sheeting underneath in order to access the minimal 12-15" of airspace. One could probably somehow access the airspace from the inside but that would me tough to do also. We had an energy audit place who does insulation come and look at it and the cost to do something about it would be quite a bit. I'm not a home remodel kind of guy, so my abilities are limited, add to that the height of the ceiling and the pitch of the roof and it's a no for me.

Do you also have a pressure head controller on your Kuuma for slowing down fan speed?

yep I do. I checked the voltage being sent to the blower motor yesterday morning while in the middle of a small burn on low and it was only being sent 67V RMS.

 

[Case1030]

yep I do. I checked the voltage being sent to the blower motor yesterday morning while in the middle of a small burn on low and it was only being sent 67V RMS.

I'm thinking about putting one of those on the furnace. I have no complaints, heats really well. But since I have the unit in my sunroom, when I go in there I dont want to be hearing... click... click on... off. And it would be nice to turn the fan noise down a bit.

I was looking at the ICM 326 might need some guidance. Maybe it's a good idea to create a new thread for others down the line that might need help also.

 

[sloeffle]

I was looking at the ICM 326 might need some guidance. Maybe it's a good idea to create a new thread for others down the line that might need help also.

That is what I used on my Caddy. I'd highly recommend installing one. The install was pretty straight forward if you have any kind of electrical knowledge. I was tired of hearing the off and on, off and on too.

 

[JRHAWK9]

I'm using the Totaline version of the 326 I believe.
I agree, I would recommend installing one too. It's not the most efficient way to speed control our type of motors, but it's definitely the cheapest and easiest. Keep in mind you WILL need a True-RMS meter if you want to meter the correct voltage being sent to the motor from the SC. Non RMS meters are not accurate, as the voltage coming from the SC is not a pure sine wave.

https://www.fluke.com/en-us/learn/best-practices/measurement-basics/electricity/what-is-true-rms

 

[brenndatomu]

I'm thinking about putting one of those on the furnace. I have no complaints, heats really well. But since I have the unit in my sunroom, when I go in there I dont want to be hearing... click... click on... off. And it would be nice to turn the fan noise down a bit.

I was looking at the ICM 326 might need some guidance. Maybe it's a good idea to create a new thread for others down the line that might need help also.

Biggest thing(s) I did that took my Tundra from dud to stud was, 1. Mypin temp controller 2. Head pressure (speed) controller on the blower. Keeping that blower running low and slow at the end made even more difference in heat output than I expected...and I expected a lot!

 

[Mrpelletburner]

Would anyone believe me if I could tell you what the inside flue temps (18” from the rear of the stove) were by just reading the draft?

If I measure a -.2” wc draft, my flue temp will be 1,000 degrees F.

If I measure a -.15 wc draft, my flue temps will be ~550

Yup... a -.18” wc and the flue temp is 800.

Not sure if this is the norm, but I bet my flue is clean.

Still only achieving a 7hr run time. Been a bit shorter with single digit temps.

 

[Case1030]

Would anyone believe me if I could tell you what the inside flue temps (18” from the rear of the stove) were by just reading the draft?

If I measure a -.2” wc draft, my flue temp will be 1,000 degrees F.

If I measure a -.15 wc draft, my flue temps will be ~550

Yup... a -.18” wc and the flue temp is 800.

Not sure if this is the norm, but I bet my flue is clean.

Still only achieving a 7hr run time. Been a bit shorter with single digit temps.

Well... we all got to work with what we got. But to put it this way I wouldn't be very happy with any burn times under 10 hours.

I'd be making sure my wheel is getting greased after only getting half of the burn time expected out of a furnace that size.

Also in regards to flue temp... you can't claim heat once it's in the chimney. Also not going to heat the outside ether lol. That draft is just robbing all your heat.

 

[Case1030]

Loaded it an hour ago and will last me 11-12 hours ~9am. Not trying to toot any horns here. JRHawk or Bren might be posting 14 hour burns .

Once I put a fan speed controller I'm hoping to milk a couple more hours out of my unit.

If it ain't perfect try to do your best to make it work.

 

[Mrpelletburner]

What is the bathroom fan timer for?

Right now I have been, with the approval from HY-C, cutting of the amount of primary air. Still seeing very high flue temps and the same burn times.

 

[Case1030]

What is the bathroom fan timer for?

Right now I have been, with the approval from HY-C, cutting of the amount of primary air. Still seeing very high flue temps and the same burn times.

I use it right after I load the wood. Allows me to load and go on coals by keeps the flue temperature between a certain range high enough to promote secondary combustion and clean burn while not keeping the temps that high throughout the course of the entire burn.

It's kinda acts like a thermostat for the flue. Keeping it from throwing heat out the chimney.

 

[Mrpelletburner]

Basically your running the draft blower to keep the secondary burn going?

It was mentioned that I should run the draft blower for 15 mins after reloading. Thought it was more for ensuring that the fire got a jump start.

 

[Case1030]

Basically your running the draft blower to keep the secondary burn going?

It was mentioned that I should run the draft blower for 15 mins after reloading. Thought it was more for ensuring that the fire got a jump start.

Well in your case it would be a draft blower. For me it uses the natural draft of the stove to introduce air into the firebox. Simple cover allows air in and shuts when its satisfied. Has a big enough hole to maintain combustion in secondarys and small hole in primary aswell.

 

[Mrpelletburner]

Loaded at 5:20 am, outside temps 7, draft blower off

8:41 am still cold out, no draft blower

Noon, prob 12 out and still no draft blower. At least 3” of very hot embers.

 

[Case1030]

Loaded at 5:20 am, outside temps 7, draft blower off

View attachment 238125

8:41 am still cold out, no draft blower

View attachment 238126

Noon, prob 12 out and still no draft blower. At least 3” of very hot embers.

View attachment 238127

Yeah your not loading it that much. About half load? That's not too bad.

I guess if your able to lower your draft a bit you could benefit from a slower burn, while being able to load it more wood and get the extra burn time. Do you have much more room to reduce primary maybe even secondary air a bit more?

 

[Mrpelletburner]

Yeah your not loading it that much. About half load? That's not too bad.

I guess if your able to lower your draft a bit you could benefit from a slower burn, while being able to load it more wood and get the extra burn time. Do you have much more room to reduce primary maybe even secondary air a bit more?

Actually I couldn’t load the firebox anymore as the darn smoke shield wouldn’t close. That thing has to go, nothing bust a pain in the ass.

Last night at 11:30 loaded for the night

Reloading now at 6:14 am (zero heat, distribution lower no longer cycling!)

So, yes there are still hot embers but what is the point when the stove is no longer heating the house. Really really really tired of reloading every 5 f’n hours

Nothing I can do to adjust secondary, only can add or cut back on primary air.

Also, last night I had discovered I had a broken bolt on the back of the stove that was allowing extra air to be pulled into the back of the stove. Now I understand bolts can break, but WTF.

HY-C has spent time this week trying to diagnose, but I am going through wood at 2x the rate as I expect. I am just really at the end of my rope.

Broken bolt

High temp sealant to fix for now

 

[maple1]

My diagnosis: furnace needs to operate properly at 0.06" WC. If it won't, it has a defective design. End of story.

I'm a bit unsure about your primary air mention. You haven't been shutting it down - until they said it was ok to do so? I would think that would be the first thing to do. Well, right after getting draft in spec.

 

[Mrpelletburner]

My diagnosis: furnace needs to operate properly at 0.06" WC. If it won't, it has a defective design. End of story.

I'm a bit unsure about your primary air mention. You haven't been shutting it down - until they said it was ok to do so? I would think that would be the first thing to do. Well, right after getting draft in spec.

So the primary air is provided via an opening on the draft blower. The opening is fixed via 2 rivets, so one cannot adjust as they see fit. The draft blower is attached to the rear of the stove where the air is preheated via a channel that delivers the air across the bottom front of the stove. So the primary air is either supplied by force when the draft blower is on or from the natural draft of the stove.

As you can see I am testing cutting down the primary air using the blue tape. I have discovered that shutting off the primary air completely doesn’t allow the stove to maintain a hot enough fire to heat the house. Therefore I have been testing different openings.

Now I hear you loud and clear regarding the 0.06” WC, we know how to fix that, but I need to play ball.

HY-C has stated that even with a higher draft, let’s say 0.1” WC, I still shouldn’t have the crazy high temps in the flue. So the focus has been on what is causing the high flue temps.

My fear is I give up on this stove and the next brand stove I am back to square 1.

 

[JRHAWK9]

My fear is I give up on this stove and the next brand stove I am back to square 1.

If you buy a decent one next time you'll be starting at square one.....not at square -10 where you have started the last two furnaces.

 

[sloeffle]

You are a patient man @Mrpelletburner. I'd of told HY-C to shove that furnace where the sun doesn't shine after working with them for a week or so. Honestly, I would of told PSG the same thing if I had one of the original Tundra's too. And neither company would of gotten another cent of my hard earned money again. These companies shouldn't be using their customers as an R&D department.

*rant over*

My fear is I give up on this stove and the next brand stove I am back to square 1

I've had my Caddy for eights years and have had zero problems out of it. From what @Case1030 has reported, it sounds like PSG has worked all of the kinks out of the Tundra line too with the Tundra II. If you have the dough, order a Kuuma now and you'll have it for next winter.

 

[brenndatomu]

My fear is I give up on this stove and the next brand stove I am back to square 1.

The difference now is when (not if ) you move to the next brand stove you will know to do some homework here first so you don't get another turd...which since it is the only one even close to the same price range I would bet it would be a Tundra II...and that would be a good choice...with $100 worth of aftermarket controls they can be made into something that works almost as well as a Kuuma...almost

 

[Medic21]

If you buy a decent one next time you'll be starting at square one.....not at square -10 where you have started the last two furnaces.

Farm show this week. Going to take advantage of the pricing and get either a MF5000 or C250 from heatmaster or C250 from Crown Royal. They will have all of them at the show.

I am done with H-YC. this has not worked as designed and I finally fixed the puffing problem with a reostat and relays but, it cut burn times to 7 hours.

 

[brenndatomu]

I would of told PSG the same thing if I had one of the original Tundra's too.

You mean SBI...
I doubt you would have told them to shove it though...most owners that had the T1 ended up with another SBI product because SBI refunded their money for the failed T1...can't beat that. The guy I got my cracked T1 from bought a Max Caddy and reports being VERY happy with it.
FYI for those that don't know...Tundra is the "big box store" version of the Caddy...and Heatpro the same for the Max Caddy...the Caddys are made by PSG, the TII and HP by Drolet, both lines owned by the parent company SBI
(Stove Builder International)

 

[Mrpelletburner]

I am done with H-YC. this has not worked as designed and I finally fixed the puffing problem with a reostat and relays but, it cut burn times to 7 hours.

Wow! Thought you had become a believer after the draft blower update.