need some help englander 25pdvc

[Erich20]

I bought and Englander 25pdvc a little over a month ago brand new and I'm having problems with it I have contacted mike from Englander and have not heard from him in over a week after him replying to emails pretty fast

my stove is eating pellets like crazy on #1 I'm burning 30 lbs in about 12 hours which seems like way to much that's on factory settings

I ran the stove on 4-4-1 like I was told to by mike and now it smolders down to nothing then relights on the coals and keeps doing it... cant get a steady burn tried 5-4-1 like he said same thing

I'm burning greene gold pellets it burns great on the factory settings but I don't want to burn thru pellets like crazy

I've messed with different combos on the "magic buttons" and cant get anything to work like it should

I also get a orangeish brown soot on the glass I don't know if this is normal or not?

the stove is clean only the third time I've had it on and it was bought new. I am getting very frustrated as it is starting to get colder

thanks in advance

 

[Lake Girl]

Welcome to the forum ... Mike is usually pretty good on answering but there are other owners here.

Go back and edit your title thread to include Englander 25 pdvc and it will bring more responses... will be able to tell you what is normal for usage on that stove and the best settings they have found.

Read and re-read your manual and use the search box at the top of the forum page... Good luck.

 

[Erich20]

thanks for the response I took your advice on changing the thread title

 

[Daveman]

Hey Erich, I'm a newbie too, and really can't help troubleshoot but can tell you as an FYI my new 25pdvc I installed last weekend seems to run fine. Today I fired it up at noon, running 5-5 for a few hours, then 4-4 once the heat became too much downstairs ( ) I've burned through maybe half a bag of pellets today max in the last 10 hours, thinking probably a little less than that....only needed to clean the glass once in the past week of burning. Haven't touched the bottom 3 buttons, still at factory settings. My install is in the basement rec room, about 5 feet of vertical rise then 2 feet horizontal out, with a 3 inch OAK connected. I'll be watching the thread

 

[CladMaster]

Low Heat range settings --- 1 through to 4 ...... the fire in the stove will go up and down, this is normal for this stove, at higher heat settings the flame will be more constant due to more pellets being fed to the burn chamber / pot.

If you are getting brown / black soot on the glass, the air mixture is too low or the pellet feed is too high. Also, the venting can play a part in this.

On the control board there is a connection point for a thermostat, if you don't have a thermostat connected make sure there is a jumper / bridge wire in these two points (see manual for more details on this).

With the stove in Mode 'd', burn time per bag of pellets (this depends on the brand of pellets).

Low settings --- 24 - 36 hours per bag

Mid settings --- 18 - 26 hours per bag

Hi settings -- 8 - 12 hours per bag

Inside the hopper there is a restrictor plate that has a screw that holds it in place, this plate allows you to adjust the fuel feed rate from the hopper, the bigger the opening, the more pellets are fed into the fire chamber via the top auger screw. Mine is set with the screw at the midway point in the slot on this plate.

Make sure your stove is 'd' mode.

Perform a Control Board Reset as follows .....

Do this when the stove is cold.
Unplug the stove from the power outlet.

Plug the power lead back in, and at the same time press and hold the bottom 3 buttons all at the same time within 4 seconds and wait 3 seconds and then release buttons.

Wait 5 - 10 seconds for the F 5 readout in the top display to go blank.

Unplug power lead.

Setting the Heat Mode
Heat Mode, the default setting is 'd' for the 25-PDVC, but some control boards default to 'A' when a reset is done. Do not run the stove in 'A' or 'b' mode, the stove is not designed to run in 'A' or 'b' mode.
Plug power lead back in and press both the up and down blower speed buttons at the same time within 4 - 5 seconds, you should now see a letter (A, b, c or d) in the left digital display under heat range, you need to change this to 'd' or 'c' using the up / down buttons below that readout, 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, 'c' or 'd'.)

Plug power back in, then set the lower three (3) buttons to read 6 4 1 from left to right. These settings allow fine adjustment of the burn (pellets to air ratio), the last number (far right) '1' must never be changed.

Clean out the stove and reload with pellets and fire it up. Set the heat range to 2. Set the blower speed to 3 or 4 and then leave the stove alone for 60 - 90 minutes. After 60 - 90 minutes have passed, set the heat and blower to the numbers that you want.

 

[Erich20]

its not just an up and down fire it literally goes out and relights itself off the hot embers

stove is in mode "d" and I get probly 14-16 hours out of a bag on factory settings which is ridiculous I bought this thing to save some money instead of buying oil

never moved my restrictor plate so it is where it was set from factory

I don't know what else to do im tired of this thing already

 

[Erich20]

bump

 

[Lake Girl]

Have you searched the threads for old discussions that may be useful? IIRC, there have been lots of threads on settings... Those three numbers - I know there is one you are not supposed to change - ever. Can't recall which one - went looking

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/25-pvdc.92391/#post-1211318

Last number of the 3 settings is always supposed to stay one ... https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/englander-feeding-too-fast.80311/#post-80311

Time to search and read

 

[Lake Girl]

Just reading another thread and wondered?
Location of your probe?
Do you have an OAK (outside air kit)?
What kind of pellets are you using?

 

[CamperWill]

The fire going out on heat setting 1 is pretty normal for the 25-PDVC. I recommend playing with the plate CladMaster mentioned

 

[Erich20]

I have an OAK hooked up and its not clogged or anything

im using greene gold pellets

that plate didn't do anything I moved it a dozen times and I even took it completely out at one point didn't make any difference at all

 

[Erich20]

bum again

 

[briansol]

I don't have any 1st hand expr with this stove, but i would think taking out the restrictor or is the exact opposite of what you want to do. Sounds like you want that in, tighter, with the higher settings.

what do your pellets look like? i'm not familiar with that brand.
are they short or long?

 

[pastera]

My flame modulates from coals to flames when the thermostat is not calling for heat - hours per bag is good so I don't sweat it.

 

[Dustin]

What's your venting set up like?

 

[Erich20]

the pellets are mixed some short some long and the venting is exactly like the simpson duravent kit is set up straight out the wall up 3 feet 90 degree then the end cap

 

[Erich20]

bump

 

[chrisasst]

I have a pdvc. Since day one, I go through a bag of pellets in about 12-13 hours even on the lowest pellet feed. And I get very low, IMO, hear out put run on the highest setting. My stove I think is a 2009 model. What is yours?

 

[Pete Zahria]

I have a pdvc. Since day one, I go through a bag of pellets in about 12-13 hours even on the lowest pellet feed. And I get very low, IMO, hear out put run on the highest setting. My stove I think is a 2009 model. What is yours?

I started mine in the garage yesterday, to do a paint project. Went 24 hours on 1 bag on setting #1..
lower numbers are 4-6-1. Holes under the pot are plugged.
Garage is 65. Outside is pretty breezy around 10-15mph, and about 40°.. so it's chilly.

I don't think they ever "feel" like they are blowing out a lot of heat on lower settings,
they are just pushing out some steady heat all the time... (imo)

Dan

 

[Barmoose2777]

Man I was going to check what mode mine was in but I don't know if I should mess with it now. My model is either an 06 or an 08 it's hard to read and I bought it from its second or third owner. I leave my stove down on 1 and 1 pretty much all the time. My magic buttons left to right are 4-3-1 that is just where I ended up by playing with it. I get about 36 hours a bag of pellets and love the stove. Once we start getting temps below 20 degrees I adjust up to 4-5-1 I believe and that brings my consumption down to about 24 hours. Still love the stove and it keeps us warm. I've trie to find the letter it is set on but unplugging the unit and holding the buttons at the same time doesn't bri up any codes at all. I've tri several times. What am I doing wrong ?

 

[Pete Zahria]

I've trie to find the letter it is set on but unplugging the unit and holding the buttons at the same time doesn't bri up any codes at all. I've tri several times. What am I doing wrong ?

You have to press and release the two buttons somewhat quickly after you plug it back in..

Dan

 

[Barmoose2777]

Man I was going to check what mode mine was in but I don't know if I should mess with it now. My model is either an 06 or an 08 it's hard to read and I bought it from its second or third owner. I leave my stove down on 1 and 1 pretty much all the time. My magic buttons left to right are 4-3-1 that is just where I ended up by playing with it. I get about 36 hours a bag of pellets and love the stove. Once we start getting temps below 20 degrees I adjust up to 4-5-1 I believe and that brings my consumption down to about 24 hours. Still love the stove and it keeps us warm. I've trie to find the letter it is set on but unplugging the unit and holding the buttons at the same time doesn't bri up any codes at all. I've tri several times. What am I doing wrong ?

You have to press and release the two buttons somewhat quickly after you plug it back in..

Dan

i tried holding the buttons right after I plugged it in and I tried holding them as I plugged it in. Same results. Am I not supposed to hold them in and wait for a code? Am I just supposed to click them simultaneously and let them go?

 

[OhioBurner©]

30# in 12hrs does sound a little high. Are you just guessing or actually measuring that?

I've got the PAH, so a little different, but mine too seems go through pellets quicker than is indicated in the specs. 1 40# bag lasts me a bit less than 24hrs, I figure I'm burning 1 1/8 to 1 1/4 bag per day on a setting of 1. I kind of wish the stove would go a little lower but now its getting a bit cooler out I probably wouldnt be able to run it lower anyhow. Lately I've been going from a 3 setting overnight to 1 during the daytime. Mine also varies from good flame to not any visible flame and I hear this is normal. In a couple weeks of burning now its went out 3 times. But all 3 times the hopper was also low so I'm not sure if that had something to do with it (not empty, but it seems they don't feed in as they should when its that low).

Setting the Heat Mode
Heat Mode, the default setting is 'd' for the 25-PDVC, but some control boards default to 'A' when a reset is done. Do not run the stove in 'A' or 'b' mode, the stove is not designed to run in 'A' or 'b' mode.
Plug power lead back in and press both the up and down blower speed buttons at the same time within 4 - 5 seconds, you should now see a letter (A, b, c or d) in the left digital display under heat range, you need to change this to 'd' or 'c' using the up / down buttons below that readout, 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, 'c' or 'd'.)

Plug power back in, then set the lower three (3) buttons to read 6 4 1 from left to right. These settings allow fine adjustment of the burn (pellets to air ratio), the last number (far right) '1' must never be changed.

Clean out the stove and reload with pellets and fire it up. Set the heat range to 2. Set the blower speed to 3 or 4 and then leave the stove alone for 60 - 90 minutes. After 60 - 90 minutes have passed, set the heat and blower to the numbers that you want.

I had wondered how to adjust these setting since its often mentioned, thanks for the instructions. Well I should ask first are these instructions also valid for the PAH model? I assume they are all basically the same.

Is there any specifics on what the values actually do? Like for example If its adjusted to burn less pellets will that also effect the top end? Do you need to adjust these in the dead of winter versus right now when I am barely running it? I hate playing with things if I don't have a good idea on whats actually changing. I'm an engineer, so I like to know these things. However it seems to burn ok so I wonder if I should just leave well enough alone. I just hate leave any potential efficiency gains on the table just because it seems to be running ok now. But maybe my higher fuel consumption is a sign of it not being setup to be the most efficient?

 

[Pete Zahria]

i tried holding the buttons right after I plugged it in and I tried holding them as I plugged it in. Same results. Am I not supposed to hold them in and wait for a code? Am I just supposed to click them simultaneously and let them go?

You have to press them RIGHT after you plug the stove back in... and release them.. don't hold them in.

 

[chrisasst]

Not to Hijack this thread.. but after reading this, I filled my pvdc hopper up this morning, around 8:00, filled it level right to the rim around the hopper. I set my heat and blower at 1-3 and bottom three are 6-4-1 It is definitely been putting out some heat today, ( it is 40 degrees out)
It is now 4:40 and and bottom of hopper is just barely covered with pellets, will definitely run out by 8:00 ( 12 hours later). I have done all the rests etc..
I don't see how some of you are getting the hours you are reporting on 1 bag of pellets and have good temps coming out.