Piazzetta pellets stove A to Z recommendations

[Pascal_Maertens]

Hi there,

I assume that you are a new Piazzetta owner, at this moment if you are on this forum it usually because you need help with your new stove, I would like to introduce myself, my name is Pascal Maertens I’m from Mont-Laurier, Quebec in Canada I’m also a certified Piazzetta technician. I have been selling Piazzetta products for now five years and since then owned too stove, one was a Sabrina and recently bought a P962 only for the look of it, and believe me, at first I had my share of problem too but today Piazzetta stove have no secret for me.

Here are my recommendations if you own a Piazzetta;

• The less you have chimney the less it cost and the less you have problem
  
  
• First have it adjusted with the proper tools to the proper settings by a technician
  
  
• Always run your stove with the type of pellets you made your settings with soft of hard wood
  
  
• Have your stove and chimney totally cleaned every 2000 to 2400 pounds of pellets
  
  
• In winter run on power level P3 and more then adjust the temperature with thermostat
  
  
• Energy saver mode in fall and spring time only unless you have a very well insulated house
  
  
• OAK or no OAK I don’t care it’s your money but be aware in some states there’s laws on this but this stove is fully adjustable so it dosent really need it
  
  
• It is also possible to run a Piazzetta on solar panel and minimize the effect on batteries
  
  
  Please, note that for all of these recommendations, I made a little explanation text below, that I hope, will help you out, but don’t forget I’m also there if you need further professional assistance or have any other issue that would not be covered by this document.
  
  Now before you go out there looking for answers please read this A to Z help guide that I have built after many e-mail and post that I have exchange in the past years in Canada, Europe and in the states. I do not represent Piazzetta opinion; this document is made as an individual interest in the product, and in accordance with my ready to lend a hand, way of life. And like many other member on this forum, I do not get paid for this.
  
  Cleaning the stove properly
  
  First thing I would ask you to do, if you have burn at least 2000 pounds of pellets or if you have any black soot problem on your door window. If not got to ( 2.)
  
  You should clean your stove, simply clean the complete air channel step by step, starting with the oak entrance, then the stove grate in and under it, the back of baffle and also disconnect the chimney and clean inside the exhaust careful there is an impeller in there, the chimney itself should also be cleaned. If the prior adjustments have been correctly done most of the time this simple cleaning should do the job and everything should be fine, if not let me know.
  
  For your own information this cleaning operation is needed after a certain time. After 2000 to 2400 pounds if installed on 3’’ chimney if not it caused a lack of air and will result in a large lazy flame, an accumulation of black soot on the door window that can also end up on the outside walls like on this picture below
• Figure 1 Mont Vernon on this picture the chimney installation is a little too low, but it was only to show you the soot cause by a lack of air, this wall has been cleaned with a pressure washer and still shows trace of soot from a none adjustable stove.

 

[webfish]

Cold test of all component


Now that the cleaning is done we can start to test the components of your stove it’s called, the cold test. You will need to enter in, the parameter menu first, let’s have a look at your control panel



Take note of the numbers 1 to 6 below the control buttons

It is possible to operate the electrical components individually (Igniter, Exhaust fan, Auger motor, Room fan) in order to do a diagnostic check on each component. The test may be carried out on each component separately or all at the same time.

To do so;

Press the 6 for 3 seconds

Press the 6 to scroll in menu select language, unit of measurement, set clock, set Chrono, energy saving and menu parameter.

Once at menu parameter press the 3 (set button)

Once setting factory appear press the 3 (set button) again

You will be ask for a code

Scroll up with 2, and down with 1, the code your looking for is F5 then press 3 for set




Pressing individual buttons will activate the test of each of the electrical components separately or all at the same time thus allowing you to do a diagnostic check.


Pressing button #1 > CHECK AUGER MOTOR



The auger motor activates (as you should hear the motor turning) and the display shows the letter c.

NOTE: each function may be deactivated by pressing the same button a second time.


Pressing button # 2 > CHECK IGNITER



The igniter turns on (as you should hear a quick click) and the display shows the letter A.

NOTE: each function may be deactivated by pressing the same button a second time.



Pressing key # 5 > CHECK ROOM FAN MOTOR



The room fan turns on ( as you may feel the air editing the unit)and the displays shows the letter V.
NOTE: each function may be deactivated by pressing the same button a second time.


Pressing key # 6 > CHECK EXHAUST FAN MOTOR



The exhaust fan turns on ( as you will hear and feel air being force out the rear flue pipe) and the display will show the letter F.


Pressing the key # 3 > GENERAL CHECK



ALL ELECTRONICAL COMPONENTS ARE ACTIVED SIMULTANEOUSELY

The display shows all the letters A V C F

By pressing key # 3 a second time the test is terminated.

This ends the cold test of your electric components

 

[Pascal_Maertens]

OAK or no OAK, adjustable stove or not ?
Prior to get stoned, this is my own comprehension and opinion of why all North American stove needs to be hooked up to an OAK there is no North American stove that have an adjustable combustion fan, they are all static rpm depending on which power level they are set at example; you can change the rpm from the fan by changing power level from P1, P2, P3, P4 and P5 but you cannot change individually the rpm of P1,2,3,4 or P5 this is what make the Piazzetta and most European stove so remarkable not only they can change from 1000 to 3000rpm on each level but they also can change the convection fan rpm as well make it so much quieter in a living room.

• If you find one North American Stove that as adjustable combustion fan, please let me know.
• I’d like to mention that in some states, it’s a law and you need to refer to your own locality before applying any of these advices
  
  In Quebec I never hook up OAK, why will you ask? Its pure physic, houses are mostly all different but no one live in a bottle so no matter how your house is sealed there will always be air coming in. Another reason is that in Quebec province all new houses have to be hook to an air exchanger, believe me it does bring some fresh air in to. So why should I bring even more cold air in? If I’m in a sealed house all I need to do is to put more rpm to the exhaust or combustion fan to every level to reach the (Pa) score in accordance to the Piazzetta technical manual at programme line, 16P to 22P on programming sheet. This way my flame will be nicely vented, no lack of air = no soot, no problem and another satisfied customer.

What difference it make to have an adjustable combustion fan?
Poor air of combustion can be caused by many things

• House well sealed, need to raise the rpm combustion fan
• By obstruction, ash or soot need to be removed or cleaned
• Combustion fan rpm set to low, adjustments error in programme P16 to P22

We will see these adjustments further down in programming section

Poor air of combustion can cause many problems

• like we saw earlier soot on the door window
• soot outside on the exterior walls
• ash accumulation, causing NO LITGTING alarm
• pellets accumulation, causing dangerous backfire
• smoke and smells in the house
• poor anti-pollution
• poor heat performances
• low combustion

These are mostly all related or bring one to the other


On the other end having too much air of combustion can be caused by a poor sealed or insulated house and can also be a major source of problem;

• overheating alarm
• sending heat outside instead of keeping it inside a good stove you should be able to hold your hand at the chimney cap outlet without burning your finger
• hi rate of pellet burning
• poor performances

 

[Pascal_Maertens]

Understanding power levels
During normal operating mode – the Exhaust Fan operates in conjunction with the power level selected by the end user, but unlike all North American stove, with the respective pre-set and fully adjustable parameters that if unlocked will range from 1500 to 2800 rpm;

Power Level 1 = 18P;

Power Level 2 = 19P;

Power Level 3 = 20P;

Power Level 4 = 21P;

Power Level 5 = 22P;

During normal operation – the Exhaust fan increases its speed to 2700 rpm to executing a cleaning of ash from the grate at pre-set fixed intervals found in parameter 12P.

This cycle of “ Cleaning Grate” is executed ONLY at power levels 3,4 & 5 , and not power levels 1 & 2.

My Advice: and don’t run your stove to P1 or P2 if the temperature is too hi or too low simply adjust the thermostat not the power level, unless you need to speed up the for few minutes then P4 or P5 only


Energy saver vs no Energy saver issue
In spring time and fall time where we don’t need to heath the house constantly, I do recommend using the ENERGY SAVING mode, the stove will automatically shut down desired degree +1, or power up once the desired degree -1 is reached, this was my shortest version for me explaining this mode. Please take a moment to read your manual and understand the ENERGY SAVING mode.

If the stove is installed in a house that is not properly insulated, in real winter weather condition I recommend to turn the ENERGY SAVING off, cause on the end it will not be saving much I explain;

• If UNIT of MAESURMENT is set in Celsius and the ENERGY SAVER set ( -1 degree off desire temp to start ) and ( +1 degree of desire temp to stop); at an outside temperature of -30 and the stove thermostat set to 20 degree.

Once the temperature in the house will increase over 20 +1 degree = 22 the stove is going in an ENERGY SAVING mode it will start the shot down procedures till cold, by then the temperature will had start to decrease, once under 20 -1 degree = 18 the thermostat will send a new demand to the stove and a start-up procedures begin and when I talk about procedures I mean it’s going to take allots of pellets and 30 to 40 minutes before the convection fan stars and give you some heat, in a house that is not properly insulated the demands to the thermostat are going to be steady, on and off, well you will need to change your igniter more often and it’s an approx. 80$ CAN part plus time to install it $$ so in these condition leave the ENERGY SAVING off.

• Only one customer ask me ( why does my stove shot down at 21 instead off 22 ) reason is simple, the stove dose not display decimals but supports them, in fact it’s reading 21,5 but the display shows 21 only.

What will happen if you do not engage the ENERGY SAVING mode? Let’s say you are using, as I recommend, your power level at P3 and are demanding for a temperature of 20 degree. Once the temperature will increase over 20 degree, the stove will automatically drop the power level to P1 ( the display will show P3 ) till a new demand is made by the thermostat, the stove will always be hot, you will end up with a steadier temperature, cost you less pellets and save your igniter.

• Please refer to your manual for the procedure on how to turn on and off the Energy Saver mode

Hard wood vs soft wood

Again, might I’ll get stoned, some people thinks that hard wood is the best pellet you’ll find wrong!! This come from people that run wood stove, they will tell you; to heat up a house you need half more soft wood to do the same job hard wood would. The calorific value of wood is almost the same in weight, regardless of the essence!

17.1 btu / Kg for oak

17.3 btu / kg for fir and birch

But as the wood is sold through volume commonly called "CORD" (1 cord = 4 'X 8' X 14 "or 16") and not the weight and softwoods are lighter (+/- 340kg / cord) that hardwoods (+/- 420kg / cord) would require a larger volume of softwood for the same weight. Once crushed and convert to pellets, 40 pounds of soft or 40 pound hard wood will be the same size.

My own advice on this, remember that a good quality pellet is more important than the essence, check what is mostly available in your neighbourhood and adjust your Piazzetta stove with what wood is available and stick to it. And believe me when I say that Piazzetta can burn soft wood, if you’re in doubt then just go visit a European forum, 90% of them will even tell you that soft is better. It is so funny to see the different comment between North America and Europe forums.

The use of an external thermostat
Is it needed? One example where you can spare the expense of an external thermostat is when the stove is installed in the basement and no one really live in it. You can cut the thermostat probe wire and extend it to the first floor with a same size wire. I did mine and I get to read on my stove the temperature that I have upstairs on the first floor where we mostly live. Sometime because of the sun coming true the windows I will get a 22-23 degree, mean will in the basement some time it can go down to 19 degree, I don’t want my stove to power up we are not using the basement.

Even do the Piazzetta stoves have all the possibility to be run by a sim card one cool thing about external thermostat is that some of them can be run by Wi-Fi and set and diagnosed from a smartphone.

 

[Pascal_Maertens]

Programing the stove parameters
This usually needs to be done by a professional with specific tools,

I truly remember saying on a French forum that exposing to all viewers, the Piazzetta technician manual and its programming sheet was irresponsible and could be very hazardous to customer whit minimum knowledge.

But now that I see these files with all kind of settings running all over the forums, I taught that it would be necessary to put up a sheet with detailed information on what programme line is used for, what are the settings you can change. now Please chose the pdf file you need for your stove there is Monia, Sabrina, P95X series and P96X series if you do not find what you are looking for let me know

The default settings are mend to be use in a certain type of house, but since houses are not all built the same way in some cases we need to do a little fine tuning and it’s mostly all air related some house are well vented some are air sealed.

Note: you need to have a manometer to do the adjustments, some of the value have been updated by Piazzetta to be used in North America last formation 06-2015 Asolo Italy

 

[Pascal_Maertens]

hey I'd like to give a big thank you to the hearth.com staff members this sticky link I think will really help people.

 

[Pascal_Maertens]

these one are in french for who ever needs them; fichiers de programmation en français pour poêle; (Sabrina et Svena),( Monia et Marcella),( P955 et P958),( P960 P961 P962 et P963)

 

[rich2500]

great job Pascal

 

[Pascal_Maertens]

Installing a pellet stove on a solar system is that possible and be energy efficient,

indeed Piazzetta produced by their multiple configuration possibilities added with a genius idea. it's not only possible but also it is even less damageable for batteries


Prior to do any changes below,
I first need to unlock the stove parameters with the use of a ‘’boot loader’’

Here’s how I do it;
I need to open the left cover of the stove
I Begin by disconnecting the cable of the igniter and securing it from heat,
I decreased intake of pellets around two seconds (settings of P6 from the Piazzetta programming sheet),
I decreased the air intake between 50 to 60 (Pa) the point of having only a flame lit pilot (settings of P18 from the Piazzetta programming sheet) stove must be hot and running for at least 5 minutes at P1 to set P18 with manometer

Why do I need to do all this; when plugged on a solar panel system, most of the time there are minimum power installation due to the price of the equipment so the 300watts of the igniter would become a major source of power consumption draining batteries down now that it’s unplugged the all we needs is around 82 watts to run the stove, it’s just like using a lightbulb

After all this is done let say the stove is off and cold;

1. Considering that I have cancelled the ENERGY SAVER mode
2. I can now lit the stove with a gel or zip till I get a nice flame in the burning pot
3. I can now turn the stove on to power level P3, no less.

note that this 1.2. and 3 are normal procedure that you would find in your owners manual in case your Igniter fails out

Now how’s the stove going to react with these change;
If the temperature is set to 20 Celsius to the thermostat and the power level to P3 no less
The stove is going to run till it reaches 20 Celsius then
The power level will drop to P1, leaving it to run on the minimum setting that I have made just like a pilot note that the display will always read P3, turning the ENERGY SAVER mode off the stove will run like this for many hours
If you need to clean it simply turn the stove off.

Hope this little tutorial will help you consider the Piazzetta product like a great and brilliant product for your solar panel installation

Remember I’m always around if you need help or have any issue about Piazzetta

Regards
Pascal Maertens

 

[709GADE]

Great info source Pascal, thanks

 

[Pascal_Maertens]

when you have a lazy flamme or irregular soot accumulation,

Sometime a simple inspection can solve little problem. a nice example in this video on YouTube you can see a chimney grid that is causing an air lack to correct this problem simply remove or clean the grid.

 

[Pascal_Maertens]

The use of a boot loader

usually you do not need this tool, only in very particular cases you will find this very helpful
the use of a boot loader is to reset a stove but not only has the default settings but to a full setting range I'll try to explain;

this is a boot loader you plug this in the back of the stoves so you can unlock all the settings


now what’s about it, well has you can see in the next image I have circled settings from Program P18, 2.0 being the minimum and 12 is the maximum adjustment for pellet feed. That's is true in the tech book only, in real life the stove default adjustments are way less permissive if I remember at Power level 3 you only can go from 5.9 to 7 ( time feed ) but what if you need more or less in another example the combustion blower settings are from 1500 to 2800 rpm but by default at level 3 will be from 1750 to 2300 if you need more you can’t unless you have this little boot loader to expand all setting and it gets very fun when you have different configuration example; using energy saver or not, or I had a customer who wanted to run is stove on solar system there a way to never stop the stove just like those thank stove, but to bring it down so much you wound believe there is a flame in there. Anyway they are so many adjustments I can do whit a Piazzetta its almost unbelievable that people are having problem whit this stove it's now my fifth years whit Piazzetta many sales and all of our customer are very satisfied whit the product and it as to stay that way Mont-Laurier is too small for customer problem.

 

[Pascal_Maertens]

Before you by a Piazzetta or just any other stove

just make sure that your dealer knows is product, and how it's going to be installed and it's good for other brand to...
if he is going to put the stove in your trailer and goodbye, run away.
if the dealer dose not make the first start and adjustment of your stove, run away.
if a magnehelic sound like a strange word to him, well be aware.
if he dose not have a boot loader well he might not be such an Piazzetta expert but may be a good tech too.
if not, you are going to be the next one on this forum waking that your stove run like sh...

I owned Piazzetta stove for 5 years now I also sale an install them and I can assure you that none of my customers went on a forum complaining about there stove and this is due to the fact that I always go an start the stove for them. why would you ask

first adjust the stove to the proper settings cause Piazzetta is built in Italy and for dose who know a little mechanics will know that a carburetor in high altitude will not work whit the same adjustment than at low altitude. so the settings in the technical manual ( yes there is one, which is different than the owners manual that the customer has and many dealer don't even know about lol.) the setting was I saying are going to be slightly different then the one given by the manual different altitude or just different house will be enough to have a significant chance in settings

then to teach the customer how to operate his stove, just to avoid the ones that don't read there owners manual
and also how to do the maintenance every 4 days, every month and every 50 to 55 bags of pellets

and before I leave the last question but the more important to me is ( if one of your friend comes in a week or so and ask you if you are satisfied about your stove, if your answer is well I'm satisfied but ) you just forgotten to give me a call. and this is how every dealer should treat there customers


then come the little tricks;

• like taking the grid of the chimney cap off, it cause fine ashes to stick to it in intense cold weather -30 to even -40 Celsius ( I live in Quebec )
• adjust the energy saver +1 off and -1 degree start, more money in your pocket
• not to install an external thermostat it cause the energy saver not to work properly ( a bug? )
• extending your sensor wire so you can have it on the second floor you will not be able to control the temperature but at least you going to have the correct temperature where you want it.
• adjusting the temperature of the stove to the same off the second floor were the sensor is ( yes there is a way just ask me )
• adjusting the alarm to a longer delay so wen you open the cover to put pellets in you have enough time so the stove don't shut it self off will feeding it, default is 60 sec. rise it to 90 sec.
• adjusting the grate cleaning time and frequency of cleaning to longer and more frequently period

and there is also more to it when comes to trouble shouting, there is always a solution and believe me when I say that none off my customers are unsatisfied whit there Piazzetta stove so there is a way to be happy whit your stove.

just put your priority on finding a good dealer, they sure will also have good stove to offer you.

for those who think that this is all publicity the most part of this forum come from the states I'm from the north of Quebec in the nice little village of Mont-Laurier the only way I could ever meet you is if you ever come for snow sled we have many nice trail over here

well that's it for today if you have just any questions, I'll be more then happy to try to help you out

regard's
Pascal
https://www.facebook.com/Piazzetta-217062731813368/timeline/?ref=hl

 

[biom@ss]

Hi Pascal,

Thanks for all this info.

I'm next door in New Brunswick and it's my 3rd year with the Piazzetta Sveva. Generally, I really like it, but I am currently having a problem with the external thermostat set up. First, I noticed that the room temp. sensor's original plastic plug had disintegrated, so I replaced it with a metal one of the same size (see pic below) and I at the same time I also tried to extend the temp. sensor wire by splicing in a 25' thermostat wire, but that didn't work for some reason - this morning I woke up to a room temp. of 30 degrees Celsius! I cut out the middle part of the thermostat wire and then spliced the white to white, black to black, as in my pic. Now, the room temp. sensor works again. This leads me to believe that the room temp. sensor did not fail because I reversed the wires, but because of voltage drop across the 25' length - I cannot think of another reason. (contd. below pic)


Consulting the manual, I then decided that my only option was to install an external thermostat. I read the manual's description on how to do this, opened the side of the stove, and installed the 2-wire thermostat wire, as the manual recommends. I attached the wires to the electronic board 2-pin terminal (N.H20 as labelled on the board). I took the pic below before I attached the thermostat wires - that's why the relevant 2-pin terminal is empty in this pic. (contd. below pic)


I connected the other end of the thermostat wire to a standard room thermostat, shown in the pic below (post contd. below pic)


My problem is that the manual states that the energy saving works either with the room sensor or else with the external thermostat. Since extending the room sensor did not work, I need to figure out how the energy saving works with the external thermostat. You mention that there is some kind of bug in the system. Do you have the contact info for Piazzetta tech support so that I can try and figure this out? Or, is there anything in my set-up that is obviously wrong?

Thanks for your help!!

BioM@ss

Before you by a Piazzetta or just any other stove

just make sure that your dealer knows is product, and how it's going to be installed and it's good for other brand to...
if he is going to put the stove in your trailer and goodbye, run away.
if the dealer dose not make the first start and adjustment of your stove, run away.
if a magnehelic sound like a strange word to him, well be aware.
if he dose not have a boot loader well he might not be such an Piazzetta expert but may be a good tech too.
if not, you are going to be the next one on this forum waking that your stove run like sh...

I owned Piazzetta stove for 5 years now I also sale an install them and I can assure you that none of my customers went on a forum complaining about there stove and this is due to the fact that I always go an start the stove for them. why would you ask

first adjust the stove to the proper settings cause Piazzetta is built in Italy and for dose who know a little mechanics will know that a carburetor in high altitude will not work whit the same adjustment than at low altitude. so the settings in the technical manual ( yes there is one, which is different than the owners manual that the customer has and many dealer don't even know about lol.) the setting was I saying are going to be slightly different then the one given by the manual different altitude or just different house will be enough to have a significant chance in settings

then to teach the customer how to operate his stove, just to avoid the ones that don't read there owners manual
and also how to do the maintenance every 4 days, every month and every 50 to 55 bags of pellets

and before I leave the last question but the more important to me is ( if one of your friend comes in a week or so and ask you if you are satisfied about your stove, if your answer is well I'm satisfied but ) you just forgotten to give me a call. and this is how every dealer should treat there customers


then come the little tricks;

• like taking the grid of the chimney cap off, it cause fine ashes to stick to it in intense cold weather -30 to even -40 Celsius ( I live in Quebec )
• adjust the energy saver +1 off and -1 degree start, more money in your pocket
• not to install an external thermostat it cause the energy saver not to work properly ( a bug? )
• extending your sensor wire so you can have it on the second floor you will not be able to control the temperature but at least you going to have the correct temperature where you want it.
• adjusting the temperature of the stove to the same off the second floor were the sensor is ( yes there is a way just ask me )
• adjusting the alarm to a longer delay so wen you open the cover to put pellets in you have enough time so the stove don't shut it self off will feeding it, default is 60 sec. rise it to 90 sec.
• adjusting the grate cleaning time and frequency of cleaning to longer and more frequently period

and there is also more to it when comes to trouble shouting, there is always a solution and believe me when I say that none off my customers are unsatisfied whit there Piazzetta stove so there is a way to be happy whit your stove.

just put your priority on finding a good dealer, they sure will also have good stove to offer you.

for those who think that this is all publicity the most part of this forum come from the states I'm from the north of Quebec in the nice little village of Mont-Laurier the only way I could ever meet you is if you ever come for snow sled we have many nice trail over here

well that's it for today if you have just any questions, I'll be more then happy to try to help you out

regard's
Pascal
https://www.facebook.com/Piazzetta-217062731813368/timeline/?ref=hl

 

[Pascal_Maertens]

I noticed that the room temp. sensor's original plastic plug had disintegrated, so I replaced it with a metal one of the same size (see pic below)

I'm not sure about this now, same size but maybe not same capability, I would have it replace by the same one

and I at the same time I also tried to extend the temp. sensor wire by splicing in a 25' thermostat wire, but that didn't work for some reason

Mine as around 20' and is working properly !? but from a fishing experiment I know you can put 90' and it would still work. ( if your interested I'll explain this one to you.)

I cut out the middle part of the thermostat wire and then spliced the white to white, black to black, as in my pic. Now, the room temp. sensor works again. This leads me to believe that the room temp. sensor did not fail because I reversed the wires, but because of voltage drop across the 25' length - I cannot think of another reason.

There is no positive or negative side but I'm in doubt about the metal probe.

Consulting the manual, I then decided that my only option was to install an external thermostat. I read the manual's description on how to do this, opened the side of the stove, and installed the 2-wire thermostat wire, as the manual recommends. I attached the wires to the electronic board 2-pin terminal (N.H20 as labelled on the board). I took the pic below before I attached the thermostat wires - that's why the relevant 2-pin terminal is empty in this pic. (contd. below pic)

if an external thermostat is attached to the stove; you need to lower the internal thermostat of the stove to the minimum think it's 7 degree, so the stove will consider only the thermostat that as the highest temperature set ( hope I explain, so this make sense to you)

My problem is that the manual states that the energy saving works either with the room sensor or else with the external thermostat. Since extending the room sensor did not work, I need to figure out how the energy saving works with the external thermostat. You mention that there is some kind of bug in the system. Do you have the contact info for Piazzetta tech support so that I can try and figure this out? Or, is there anything in my set-up that is obviously wrong?

for the External thermostat, you had everything done properly, the bug is that the ENERGY SAVING will not work with your external thermostat. there is a way but you would need a technician with a boot loader and a newer version of firmware for you stove, and believe there are not many tech that have that boot loader and software. So my cheapest suggestion to you would be to get a new room sensor probe ( if you are in good terms with your dealer you can ask them to just make a claim and give you one), then splice it, and trie it back but with an wire identical to the original ( as small and multi tread wire, cause I think that usually, a real thermostat wire are single tread wire and may not react the same way to voltage)

If all this is done, and you still experiencing problem
please send me by e-mail at; [email protected]
the model: svena
the serial number under the hopper matr:
and your adresse;
the firmware of your unit :
to get that firmware just hit the two button like on the image bellow for five seconds and it will scroll your firmware on the display

Then I'll find you the nearest tech too your locality to perform this upgrade,
then the ENERGY SAVING will be able to run with your external thermostat.

Till then good luck
Regards
Pascal Maertens

 

[biom@ss]

Thank you v. much, Pascal! I will try this with my dealer and see what he says. So far, I have not been impressed with the dealer's follow-up, but we'll see. I'll post again when I've made some progress. Really appreciate you sharing your expertise!

I'm not sure about this now, same size but maybe not same capability, I would have it replace by the same one


Mine as around 20' and is working properly !? but from a fishing experiment I know you can put 90' and it would still work. ( if your interested I'll explain this one to you.)


There is no positive or negative side but I'm in doubt about the metal probe.



if an external thermostat is attached to the stove; you need to lower the internal thermostat of the stove to the minimum think it's 7 degree, so the stove will consider only the thermostat that as the highest temperature set ( hope I explain, so this make sense to you)



for the External thermostat, you had everything done properly, the bug is that the ENERGY SAVING will not work with your external thermostat. there is a way but you would need a technician with a boot loader and a newer version of firmware for you stove, and believe there are not many tech that have that boot loader and software. So my cheapest suggestion to you would be to get a new room sensor probe ( if you are in good terms with your dealer you can ask them to just make a claim and give you one), then splice it, and trie it back but with an wire identical to the original ( as small and multi tread wire, cause I think that usually, a real thermostat wire are single tread wire and may not react the same way to voltage)

If all this is done, and you still experiencing problem
please send me by e-mail at; [email protected]
the model: svena
the serial number under the hopper matr:
and your adresse;
the firmware of your unit :
to get that firmware just hit the two button like on the image bellow for five seconds and it will scroll your firmware on the display
View attachment 165505

Then I'll find you the nearest tech too your locality to perform this upgrade,
then the ENERGY SAVING will be able to run with your external thermostat.

Till then good luck
Regards
Pascal Maertens

 

[biom@ss]

Hi Pascal,

I am still waiting (since yesterday morning) for my dealer to call me back. In the meantime, I've been doing some more research and found an Italian forum (http://stufapellet.forumcommunity.net/?t=49875452) that claims you can upgrade your firmware by using the downloadable software called "SeramiNet" from the following MicroNova site: http://www.micronovasrl.com/portal/default.asp?id=1301&lang=ita&sez=download together with a cable - I assume a Plugable USB to RS-232 DB9 Serial Adapter like this one: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00...rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=2055621862&pf_rd_i=desktop (I am also assuming that my SVEVA uses a MicroNova board - but please correct me if I am wrong)

So, after reading what the Italians say, I am wondering if I actually require the boot loader tool (http://www.micronovasrl.com/Bootloader/) or if it is just used to make firmware upgrades more convenient for technicians . . . ? I found one on ebay for less than $200 CAD (http://www.ebay.com/itm/BOOT-LOADER...NITe-DE-CONTROLE-POUR-MICRONOVA-/301134784002), which might be less than the cost of a technician's visit??, but since I would only be doing v. occasional upgrades, I don't want the tool if I can simply use my computer.

[EDIT: I just found this in the manual for the SeramiNet software (translated by google): "Hardware requirements: To use this software you need to be in possession of the interface "serami".
It is a special electronic card that Micronova srl has realized for interfacing
a computer circuit boards manufactured by it." This means the Italian forum was wrong about how to connect- at this point, either you own the boot loader or else this other hardware. . . . I'll post again when I find more]

Even if this works, it leaves another issue because I would still require the firmware upgrade itself. The Italian forum, cited above, also claims that you can download the Piazzetta firmware through BitTorrent. However, do you know a more reliable source like maybe the Piazzetta's Italian website? Following your direction, I looked up my current version: SP40-B-V1-1-115.

Thanks again for your help. Please correct any errors in my admittedly layman's findings and sure, please also share the fishing story concerning the 90' long extension on your room sensor.

I'll update again once I've made more progress.

biom@ss

I'm not sure about this now, same size but maybe not same capability, I would have it replace by the same one


Mine as around 20' and is working properly !? but from a fishing experiment I know you can put 90' and it would still work. ( if your interested I'll explain this one to you.)


There is no positive or negative side but I'm in doubt about the metal probe.



if an external thermostat is attached to the stove; you need to lower the internal thermostat of the stove to the minimum think it's 7 degree, so the stove will consider only the thermostat that as the highest temperature set ( hope I explain, so this make sense to you)



for the External thermostat, you had everything done properly, the bug is that the ENERGY SAVING will not work with your external thermostat. there is a way but you would need a technician with a boot loader and a newer version of firmware for you stove, and believe there are not many tech that have that boot loader and software. So my cheapest suggestion to you would be to get a new room sensor probe ( if you are in good terms with your dealer you can ask them to just make a claim and give you one), then splice it, and trie it back but with an wire identical to the original ( as small and multi tread wire, cause I think that usually, a real thermostat wire are single tread wire and may not react the same way to voltage)

If all this is done, and you still experiencing problem
please send me by e-mail at; [email protected]
the model: svena
the serial number under the hopper matr:
and your adresse;
the firmware of your unit :
to get that firmware just hit the two button like on the image bellow for five seconds and it will scroll your firmware on the display
View attachment 165505

Then I'll find you the nearest tech too your locality to perform this upgrade,
then the ENERGY SAVING will be able to run with your external thermostat.

Till then good luck
Regards
Pascal Maertens

 

[Pascal_Maertens]

I am still waiting (since yesterday morning) for my dealer to call me back. In the meantime, I've been doing some more research and found an Italian forum (http://stufapellet.forumcommunity.net/?t=49875452) that claims you can upgrade your firmware by using the downloadable software called "SeramiNet" from the following MicroNova site: http://www.micronovasrl.com/portal/default.asp?id=1301&lang=ita&sez=download together with a cable - I assume a Plugable USB to RS-232 DB9 Serial Adapter like this one: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00...rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=2055621862&pf_rd_i=desktop (I am also assuming that my SVEVA uses a MicroNova board - but please correct me if I am wrong)

I have been to the site and download the software then I tried to open the firmware that I have, cause I do have a few copies of firmware no problem now I just dont have the proper cable to use with, the one I use for the boot loader is "Gestion Bootloader HID" its all Italian but it works well. ( this part as been change from original post ) I'm now able to upload My firmware in to the software but I just dont have a cable to transfer it to the stove.

By the way I did found the password to unlock the software but I just dont know what to do with it, I which we could make are own Firmware or just be able the make modifications out of it, I only played for an hour with it but it does look complicate to me, for now.

So, after reading what the Italians say, I am wondering if I actually require the boot loader tool (http://www.micronovasrl.com/Bootloader/) or if it is just used to make firmware upgrades more convenient for technicians . . . ? I found one on ebay for less than $200 CAD (http://www.ebay.com/itm/BOOT-LOADER...NITe-DE-CONTROLE-POUR-MICRONOVA-/301134784002), which might be less than the cost of a technician's visit??, but since I would only be doing v. occasional upgrades, I don't want the tool if I can simply use my computer.

I purchase mine for 150$ Canadian

I just found this in the manual for the SeramiNet software (translated by google): "Hardware requirements: To use this software you need to be in possession of the interface "serami".
It is a special electronic card that Micronova srl has realized for interfacing
a computer circuit boards manufactured by it." This means the Italian forum was wrong about how to connect- at this point, either you own the boot loader or else this other hardware. . . . I'll post again when I find more]

keep me informed on this if we can help more people with this it would be great.

Even if this works, it leaves another issue because I would still require the firmware upgrade itself. The Italian forum, cited above, also claims that you can download the Piazzetta firmware through BitTorrent. However, do you know a more reliable source like maybe the Piazzetta's Italian website? Following your direction, I looked up my current version: SP40-B-V1-1-115.

that's my problem, I do have few firmware in my possession also one that fits Sabrina and Svena you will have to be very careful with this one, I do install the SP40_B_V_1_1_115 enr. but the version I have is totally unlock dont even ask me how I got this one, it was a mistake. but a mistake that helped me a lot. and also the software that goes with it. if you e-mail me I would be able to send you all this.

Thanks again for your help. Please correct any errors in my admittedly layman's findings and sure, please also share the fishing story concerning the 90' long extension on your room sensor.

I'll send you a private message for this last one it has noting to do on this forum

 

[gusto]

Hi Pascal,

Thanks for all this info.

I'm next door in New Brunswick and it's my 3rd year with the Piazzetta Sveva. Generally, I really like it, but I am currently having a problem with the external thermostat set up. First, I noticed that the room temp. sensor's original plastic plug had disintegrated, so I replaced it with a metal one of the same size (see pic below) and I at the same time I also tried to extend the temp. sensor wire by splicing in a 25' thermostat wire, but that didn't work for some reason - this morning I woke up to a room temp. of 30 degrees Celsius! I cut out the middle part of the thermostat wire and then spliced the white to white, black to black, as in my pic. Now, the room temp. sensor works again. This leads me to believe that the room temp. sensor did not fail because I reversed the wires, but because of voltage drop across the 25' length - I cannot think of another reason. (contd. below pic)
View attachment 165493

Consulting the manual, I then decided that my only option was to install an external thermostat. I read the manual's description on how to do this, opened the side of the stove, and installed the 2-wire thermostat wire, as the manual recommends. I attached the wires to the electronic board 2-pin terminal (N.H20 as labelled on the board). I took the pic below before I attached the thermostat wires - that's why the relevant 2-pin terminal is empty in this pic. (contd. below pic)
View attachment 165494

I connected the other end of the thermostat wire to a standard room thermostat, shown in the pic below (post contd. below pic)

View attachment 165495
My problem is that the manual states that the energy saving works either with the room sensor or else with the external thermostat. Since extending the room sensor did not work, I need to figure out how the energy saving works with the external thermostat. You mention that there is some kind of bug in the system. Do you have the contact info for Piazzetta tech support so that I can try and figure this out? Or, is there anything in my set-up that is obviously wrong?

Thanks for your help!!

BioM@ss

I extended my temperature sensor as well ,about 30ft (10 meters) used a cheap chinese NTC 10k sensor works fine reads about two degrees lower then actual , with my firmware I can not calibrate the sensor to read the correct temp I just put a variable resistor in parallel with sensor and adjust for proper reading (potentiometer 10 M ohm ) I dont think the wire length is your problem .

Regards

 

[biom@ss]

variable resistor

Ah, very cool, gusto! Great idea. I doubt it is wire length also, but do you think it could be that the wire I used is solid rather than stranded copper-Pascal suggested this might be it? I still don't know why it didn't work. On Pascal's suggestion, I asked my dealer to put in the warranty request for the room sensor, which they did. If that does not come through, I might try a similar solution. Or, even if it does come through, I will order a chinese NTC sensor for the wire. I love the idea of adding the variable resistor to solve temp. discrepancies.

Although Pascal must already know this, I will just add what I have discovered in the past few days for any customer out there who was confused like I was and did not know where to turn. I had no idea how the network of Piazzetta distribution worked, and my dealer did not know what firmware was and without this forum, I would have had no access to a knowledgeable tech person. I did some further research and found that at the top of the distribution chain in Canada is a company called Pacific Energy (PE), based in BC. They manufacture some stoves, but not Piazzetta, which is manufactured in Italy and distributed in Canada through PE. PE is a partner with the Piazzetta group. Here is PE's contact info (post contd. below):

Legal/Operating Name:

• Pacific Energy Fireplace Products

http://www.pacificenergy.net
[email protected]
Mailing Address:
2975 Allenby Rd
DUNCAN, British Columbia
V9L 6V8

Location Address:
2975 Allenby Rd
DUNCAN, British Columbia
V9L 6V8
Tel.:
(250) 748-1184
Tel.:
(888) 223-0088
FAX:
(250) 748-0844

Interestingly, there are also regional distributors, so for instance my dealer does not get the Piazzetta stove directly from PE, but instead through the Atlantic distributor for Pacific Energy, called Compact Appliances, located in Sackville, NB (http://www.compactappliances.ca/contact):

Address:

142 Crescent Street

Sackville, New Brunswick

E4L 3V5

Telephone:

1-800-561-7019

1-506-364-8002

So, in my case, Piazzetta manufactured my stove, shipped it to Pacific Energy, who shipped it to the regional distributor, Compact Appliances, who shipped it to my local dealer, where I bought it. If you are located elsewhere than in Eastern Canada, I'm guessing you will have a different regional distributor (rather than your dealer getting the product directly from PE).

Now, in terms of my current question about how to make an external thermostat operate with the Energy Saving mode, my regional distributor has called PE in BC. PE, in turn, has a call in to Piazzetta in Italy. I will be waiting approximately one week for the reply to trickle down through the chain, considering that we are in the midst of the hearth industry's busiest season.

Ideally, customers should not need to contact anyone other than the local dealer. However, it seems that not all the dealers have been properly trained in the Piazzetta line, as Pascal has mentioned above. My dealer is friendly, I am happy that they put in the warranty application, and they have also become more responsive during the past week. However, they did not appear to know what firmware was when I spoke with them initially, so they were unable to help me with my particular issue, except by connecting me with the regional distributor.

For anyone else out there whose dealer is unable to help, I hope that knowing something about the Piazzetta distribution hierarchy in Canada will help.

I suspect that Piazzetta is relatively new in Canada and so the whole distribution and repair network is on a learning curve right now-although the situation is vastly improved by people like Pascal.

To conclude for tonight, let me say that I love this stove, and do recommend it, but just be aware of this particular limitation.

 

[Pascal_Maertens]

I extended my temperature sensor as well ,about 30ft (10 meters) used a cheap chinese NTC 10k sensor works fine reads about two degrees lower then actual , with my firmware I can not calibrate the sensor to read the correct temp I just put a variable resistor in parallel with sensor and adjust for proper reading (potentiometer 10 M ohm ) I dont think the wire length is your problem .

Regards

sorry to interrupt, but if you go in the menu parameter, you will be ask for a code, hit ( F8 ) this will allow you to calibrate the stove temp with the room temp but not more then 4 degre up and 4 degree down in this case this it will do the job. no need to ad anything.

 

[Pascal_Maertens]

Ah, very cool, gusto! Great idea. I doubt it is wire length also, but do you think it could be that the wire I used is solid rather than stranded copper-Pascal suggested this might be it? I still don't know why it didn't work. On Pascal's suggestion, I asked my dealer to put in the warranty request for the room sensor, which they did. If that does not come through, I might try a similar solution. Or, even if it does come through, I will order a chinese NTC sensor for the wire. I love the idea of adding the variable resistor to solve temp. discrepancies.

Although Pascal must already know this, I will just add what I have discovered in the past few days for any customer out there who was confused like I was and did not know where to turn. I had no idea how the network of Piazzetta distribution worked, and my dealer did not know what firmware was and without this forum, I would have had no access to a knowledgeable tech person. I did some further research and found that at the top of the distribution chain in Canada is a company called Pacific Energy (PE), based in BC. They manufacture some stoves, but not Piazzetta, which is manufactured in Italy and distributed in Canada through PE. PE is a partner with the Piazzetta group. Here is PE's contact info (post contd. below):

Legal/Operating Name:

• Pacific Energy Fireplace Products

http://www.pacificenergy.net
[email protected]
Mailing Address:
2975 Allenby Rd
DUNCAN, British Columbia
V9L 6V8

Location Address:
2975 Allenby Rd
DUNCAN, British Columbia
V9L 6V8
Tel.:
(250) 748-1184
Tel.:
(888) 223-0088
FAX:
(250) 748-0844

Interestingly, there are also regional distributors, so for instance my dealer does not get the Piazzetta stove directly from PE, but instead through the Atlantic distributor for Pacific Energy, called Compact Appliances, located in Sackville, NB (http://www.compactappliances.ca/contact):

Address:

142 Crescent Street

Sackville, New Brunswick

E4L 3V5

Telephone:

1-800-561-7019

1-506-364-8002

So, in my case, Piazzetta manufactured my stove, shipped it to Pacific Energy, who shipped it to the regional distributor, Compact Appliances, who shipped it to my local dealer, where I bought it. If you are located elsewhere than in Eastern Canada, I'm guessing you will have a different regional distributor (rather than your dealer getting the product directly from PE).

Now, in terms of my current question about how to make an external thermostat operate with the Energy Saving mode, my regional distributor has called PE in BC. PE, in turn, has a call in to Piazzetta in Italy. I will be waiting approximately one week for the reply to trickle down through the chain, considering that we are in the midst of the hearth industry's busiest season.

Ideally, customers should not need to contact anyone other than the local dealer. However, it seems that not all the dealers have been properly trained in the Piazzetta line, as Pascal has mentioned above. My dealer is friendly, I am happy that they put in the warranty application, and they have also become more responsive during the past week. However, they did not appear to know what firmware was when I spoke with them initially, so they were unable to help me with my particular issue, except by connecting me with the regional distributor.

For anyone else out there whose dealer is unable to help, I hope that knowing something about the Piazzetta distribution hierarchy in Canada will help.

I suspect that Piazzetta is relatively new in Canada and so the whole distribution and repair network is on a learning curve right now-although the situation is vastly improved by people like Pascal.

To conclude for tonight, let me say that I love this stove, and do recommend it, but just be aware of this particular limitation.

all the new stove should be able to have the ENERGY SAVING working with the new firmware but they also have a different motherboard, to be very honest I never hook external thermostat when its needed, I simply extend the probe wire but I have a demo running at my job so I'll trie to set one up, since its a new stove it should have the newer firmware, software and correct board I'll get back to you with an answer but please give me a few days.

 

[gusto]

all the new stove should be able to have the ENERGY SAVING working with the new firmware but they also have a different motherboard, to be very honest I never hook external thermostat when its needed, I simply extend the probe wire but I have a demo running at my job so I'll trie to set one up, since its a new stove it should have the newer firmware, software and correct board I'll get back to you with an answer but please give me a few days.

Firmware MV 1.1 does not have the option of temp probe calibration ,there is an option for the fumes temp probe calibration.
Correct me if i am wrong

Regards

 

[Pascal_Maertens]

Firmware MV 1.1 does not have the option of temp probe calibration ,there is an option for the fumes temp probe calibration.
Correct me if i am wrong

Regards

I have a few firmware and I can named them like I want so MV 1.1 dosent mean much to me as you can see bellow
and most of them have this F8 code to adjust the temperature reading on the stove display but I remember once going at an Piazzetta P963 owner and the stove did not even ad the ENERGY SAVING option on is stove, I had to update the firmware to correct this.

 

[gusto]

I have a few firmware and I can named them like I want so MV 1.1 dosent mean much to me as you can see bellow
and most of them have this F8 code to adjust the temperature reading on the stove display but I remember once going at an Piazzetta P963 owner and the stove did not even ad the ENERGY SAVING option on is stove, I had to update the firmware to correct this.
View attachment 165974

OK

I have SP 40 SC MV 1.1 and the previous firmware was SP 40 BV 1.1 115 ENCODER.enc (Firmware code H09900480) which I think had more options available (ambient temp probe cal) and maybe wider parameters settings for pellet drop and smoke fan

Regards
Gaston