new to stoves with problems.

[jeremygrimm]

Hello all I thank you for your advanced help. My brother in law gave me an older unit. It is an englander model # 25-pvd/55-shp22. The serial number is whi-012803 and the manufacturing date says 07101? I received this thing not working properly. I went to pick it up and could see obviously it was improperly cared for. He had a reducer on the vent pipe that went from the 3" pipe to a 7" pipe. When we pulled the flue off there was literally 50 pounds of ash inside the flue. Horrible care. He said he cleaned it once a year cause it was so big. I didn't say anything but I knew that wasn't right. Anyways the reason he gave it to me is when you plugged it in and turned it on the heat setting has a dim colored 9 lit and a bright looking 1 on the heat side and the blower setting was stuck on 9. It would read that for about 30 seconds and then both setting would go to dashes. The buttons don't do anything. It's like frozen. Also when you 1st Turn it on the low fuel feed light is lit and the air on temp is lit. After the 30 seconds everything turns off except the power on light and the dashes on the screen. The board is the pucb98. My 1st thought was to replace the board, but I seen someone talking about resetting the board. I can't find any information on resetting the 98. I see resetting the pucb04 but not the 98. I would like to try that before I replace it. I may also change out some resistors 1st. A few aren't reading correctly. Please help me!

 

[Jags]

Give a call to Englanders' tech support. They are legendary for customer service.

 

[jeremygrimm]

I did and I talked to a guy who basically said there is no way. But in the following board a guy named Mike that worked for tech support clearly says there is.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/25-pdvc-reboot.32037/

So now I don't know what to do. Maybe call back and ask for. A guy named mike.

 

[Polar Bear]

try to PM Mike... he's usually around but obviously busier during the season

 

[jeremygrimm]

try to PM Mike... he's usually around but obviously busier during the season

I just did that. I should have thought of that a while ago. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks.

 

[jeremygrimm]

1 other question. The recommended height of exhaust flue is 3 feet. Would it be a problem if I went up 6 feet? I'm putting this in a finished basement and I have about 6 feet to get out of the ground. Would that be an issue?

 

[TimfromMA]

1 other question. The recommended height of exhaust flue is 3 feet. Would it be a problem if I went up 6 feet? I'm putting this in a finished basement and I have about 6 feet to get out of the ground. Would that be an issue?

That's most likely the minimum height. 6 feet should not be an issue.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

1 other question. The recommended height of exhaust flue is 3 feet. Would it be a problem if I went up 6 feet? I'm putting this in a finished basement and I have about 6 feet to get out of the ground. Would that be an issue?

ESW recommends minimum vertical of three feet to make a natural draft to stop smoke back in a case of loss of power. Is this the height you are talking about?

As for 3" vent the 6' would pose no trouble by itself as long the total vent system meets all other requirements

3" vent does have limits and whether or not you are pushing them, will depend upon everything in your vent run.

 

[Polar Bear]

Must meet clearances on the outside as well.

Height above grade (grass or gravel)
Windows, doors, decks...

The list goes on.

 

[Jags]

So now I don't know what to do

You listen to what Mike has to say. He will get you fixed up if you allow him to.

 

[jeremygrimm]

I'm an industrial electrician by trade. I'm not scared of electronics, so if has me soldering and stuff I'll be able to do that. I'm just going to patiently wait on his reply. Thanks for the information on the flue height. I thought I was fine, I just wanted to make sure.

Hopefully he has a print on the board. That would be helpful

 

[Jags]

I will put up the englander version of the batman light for you
@stoveguy2esw

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I will put up the englander version of the batman light for you
@stoveguy2esw

I'll add he is very busy.

I sent him a PM some time ago and I do not know if he got in touch with the party that was having an issue.

 

[Jags]

Yep - this is a super busy time of the year for all the stove folks.

 

[jintoreedwine]

1 other question. The recommended height of exhaust flue is 3 feet. Would it be a problem if I went up 6 feet? I'm putting this in a finished basement and I have about 6 feet to get out of the ground. Would that be an issue?

This is probably the manual for your stove: (broken link removed to http://www.heatredefined.com/assets/images/general/pre-04.25-PDV.pdf)

It says that you can use up to 15' of 3" flue pipe and after that you need to switch to 4" for the rest of the flue. So, I'm sure you are fine with 6', that said I'm no chimney expert -- just going by what the manual says . I have a 12.5' vertical chimney with 3" and have no issues.

 

[jeremygrimm]

Thanks a lot. I'm sure it will be fine then. I'm pretty excited to get this thing going. I have electric forced air heat. No gas here in fracking country, go figure. But last winter is was a cold one and I had a 630 dollar electric bill keeping my house at 68. Hopefully this can help a little on that bill. Maybe not heat the house but maybe a little by warming the basement.

I'm thinking of opening the return air vents in the basement and just turning the furnace blower on to try to suck some of the heat from down there and try to circulate it upstairs. I'm wondering if it will work or if it will cool to fast to get it upstairs. Anyone mess with something like that? Right now all the return air is on the floor of the upstairs I have a spec home. Looks like a double wide trailer with a basement, but it was built by the amish. In the milled of finishing the basement and then going to hook up the pellet stove. Probably won't be done til spring as funds keep coming in.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

PM sent

 

[Harman Lover 007]

PM sent

you da man!

 

[jeremygrimm]

Last night I was working on cleaning before the pipe arrives on monday. I noticed my lower auger seemed loose. I can wiggle it up and down easily. My question is this normal? The auger turns fine when I plug the unit in even though the control is messed up. The lower auger turns with no problem, but I'm wondering if that auger needs to be solid or possibly tightened, or it is suppose to be loose like that to prevent jamming?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I believe that the augers on that unit float and there are alignment instructions for doing so on ESW's website for one place.

ETA: (broken link removed to http://www.heatredefined.com/assets/images/general/PU047040_replaceandalign.pdf)

 

[jintoreedwine]

Last night I was working on cleaning before the pipe arrives on monday. I noticed my lower auger seemed loose. I can wiggle it up and down easily. My question is this normal? The auger turns fine when I plug the unit in even though the control is messed up. The lower auger turns with no problem, but I'm wondering if that auger needs to be solid or possibly tightened, or it is suppose to be loose like that to prevent jamming?

As far as I know, it is supposed to be loose. As you suspect, I believe this is to help prevent jamming. My bottom auger is like that as well and I've never had an issue. When you are first starting the stove and during shutdown you may hear it make a little bit of noise as it rubs against the feed tube, this is also normal as the auger can touch the bottom of the feed tube without pellets present and you are simply hearing the two metal surfaces rubbing one another.

 

[jeremygrimm]

Thanks. As I was reading the cleaning instructions it suggested to clean all around the auger and the feed tube with a screw driver or a nail file to get rid of carbon build up, that's why I asked cause as I was doing it I thought, I wonder if this auger is suppose to be loose like that. Thanks for your inputs.

 

[jintoreedwine]

Thanks. As I was reading the cleaning instructions it suggested to clean all around the auger and the feed tube with a screw driver or a nail file to get rid of carbon build up, that's why I asked cause as I was doing it I thought, I wonder if this auger is suppose to be loose like that. Thanks for your inputs.

Yup, gotta keep that auger tube clean! I normally use a screw driver for the inside of the tube and a 1-1/4" firm paint scraper for the front of the tube and to scrape the front of the auger itself. I am experimenting with taking an extra firm paint scraper and grinding it down such that I can more easily fit it inside the auger tube to scrape. Hoping it can save me a bit of time and effort over the screw driver ... .

 

[jeremygrimm]

I was wondering about maybe taking one of those diamond tipped Sawzall blades used for cutting cast and stuff and using that to scrape around the tube. It would be reusable for quite a long time. And they make them around 12 inches long.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I was wondering about maybe taking one of those diamond tipped Sawzall blades used for cutting cast and stuff and using that to scrape around the tube. It would be reusable for quite a long time. And they make them around 12 inches long.

Get a Hougen Rotabroach the same diameter as the auger tube and ream it with that.......