PE FP 25 Blower

[venator260]

I just had a Pacific Energy FP25 installed two days ago. I have my first fire burning in it as I type; about a half load of maple/ash mix. My question is about the blower.

Update to the thread: I wouldn't have thought this to be the case, so my OP was worded differently. My blowers kicked the breaker that they are on. It is on a 20 amp circuit with 4 outlets that were not used at the time.

The blowers worked for awhile with the stove not burning, and about 5-10 minutes with it burning, then it kicked the breaker. When I attempt to reset the breaker with the blowers on, it kicks immediately. Did I wire something incorrectly, or should I call the dealer?

 

[venator260]

So, as an update to this, I fixed the problem. I'll post this in case anyone else has the same issue.

The breaker tripped when the thermo disk kicked on. And the blowers turned on when it was cold. Neither one seemed like correct behavior. So I started investigating.

Firstly, the fireplace was wired nothing like the diagram in the manual. The problem arose because one wire to the thermodisk was in the hot wire bunch, and the other lead to the neutral. When the thermodisk switched on, it cause what I think would be called an arc fault (it connected the hot and neutral together) and the breaker tripped. Not unlike shoving a paperclip in an outlet

I fixed it by taking the wire leading from the thermodisk out of the neutral bunch and tying them back together with the neutral leading to my switch. I connected that wire to the hot wire from the switch, and left the other wire from the thermodisk connected to the bunch of hot wires. So now the power comes from the wall switch, to the thermodisk, then to the blowers.

I started a fire after this, and it works as intended. I let the wood catch, shut the door, and after about 15-20 minutes, the blowers kicked on; they're still running about 2 hours later, I have a small flame, and still about half a load of wood. I'm really liking the way this unit burns. Much easier to control than the 30NC in the basement, and it seems to burn all of the wood into a fine ash from front to back, leading to less charcoal buildup. I'm not sure if it's due to the shorter chimney, or the characteristics of the stove. Either way, I think I'll really like this.

 

[saydinli]

Nice job finding and correcting your problem and thanks for posting the fix in case others have a similar issue.

 

[Molsonc1]

Hu there, I know this is an old post but can you tell me if your happy with the fp25. What sq ft house is. About to pull the trigger and get one in about 2 weeks. TIA

 

[mcdougy]

Hu there, I know this is an old post but can you tell me if your happy with the fp25. What sq ft house is. About to pull the trigger and get one in about 2 weeks. TIA

How many sqft are you Heating? What is the size of your stove room ? Is it a fairly open floor plan? A little more Info on your situation would be helpful. We have a fp30, so I could give my experience with the bigger unit. As far as build and use quality, the 30 is simple design and easy to operate.

 

[venator260]

To answer the question about my experience; I really like mine. For my situation, I think that the PE would be one of only a few units to fit my needs as I certainly would not want to have gotten anything bigger.

I'm heating about 1400 square feet A-frame (1.5 story) that's not well insulated. R-13 shoved in accessible parts of attic, no insulation in 1/2 of the walls. My floorplan is not idea for head distribution as I have a low hallway off of the stove room that leads to the back half of the 1st floor. Considering all of this, the unit heats the house fairly well, and I only fire my basement stove if the temperatures stay in the low teens or the single digits for more than a day; I've needed the basement stove about 4 weeks in total over the mostly 2 years I've had the FP25 (I use it some in the spring and fall to dry out the basement as well).

Regarding actual operation - I only have the 30NC to compare it to in terms of modern stove designs. The FP25 is easier to operate for me. It's more forgiving in that there's a larger range between overfire and failure of secondary combustion than I've experienced with the 30NC with wood taken from the same pile at the same time. Perhaps this is a result of the PE extended burn technology, as I'm able to tame the fire pretty low and still have no visible smoke from the chimney. After reloading at 9-10 at night, I usually am able to reload without starting a new fire at 6am, and I usually also have coals at 3:30pm when i get home from work.

 

[Molsonc1]

How many sqft are you Heating? What is the size of your stove room ? Is it a fairly open floor plan? A little more Info on your situation would be helpful. We have a fp30, so I could give my experience with the bigger unit. As far as build and use quality, the 30 is simple design and easy to operate.

Hi there, the house is 1800sq ft, the room the fire place is going in is 22x25 with another room with a large opening into it that is 13x15. House is really open concept. Somewhat newer windows. 2x4 walls so not as insulated as I would like. 8ft ceilings