Running PelPro PP130 from a generator

[cja7928]

I recently purchased a PelPro PP130 pellet stove which I need to be able to run from a backup generator. I’ve reviewed a fair amount of info online regarding people running their stoves from small generators and didn’t expect it would be a problem. I bought a Honda EU1000i inverter generator and plugged it into my stove and found the stoves controls indicators seem to function as normal, the igniter works fine and lights the pot, but the exhaust blower barely turns and the auger never comes on. When I plug the stove into the house it works fine. The stove is pulling 315 watts during startup and 127 watts during normal operation. The generator outputs 900 watts and has plenty of juice to run the stove, not to mention I’ve run my entire house HVAC off the same generator with no issues, but with only the PelPro plugged into the generator on both eco and full modes the exhaust blower barely functions. I contacted PelPro customer support and explained the situation, I told them it’s the only thing running off the generator; they came back with telling me they don’t test their products to see if they will run from generators and I needed to make sure I’m not running multiple appliances and that my generator probably doesn’t have enough power – zero effort and no interest in helping me, I pushed back asking for some technical resources but they were not willing to help. Has anyone ever experienced an issue like this? Ive seen several people powering their stoves from generators and I’m wondering If there is just something about PelPro stoves, or the control board that doesn’t like the generator frequency? Perhaps I need a different generator or some type of signal conditioner? It seems strange to me that they would manufacture a stove that’s not capable of being powered from a generator and what the issue could be?

 

[Mt Bob]

Yes, some stoves do not want to run on a generator. You can try a few things, try a regular, non inverter generator. Grab a UPS for a PC, see if it will run on the battery, when unplugged from wall. If does, try plugging the UPS into the inverter gen.

 

[cja7928]

Yes, some stoves do not want to run on a generator. You can try a few things, try a regular, non inverter generator. Grab a UPS for a PC, see if it will run on the battery, when unplugged from wall. If does, try plugging the UPS into the inverter gen.

Thank you. I'll try ordering a UPS and see how that works.

 

[Jeremy6500]

I have a pp130 and run it off my 2500 watt inverter generator with no issues. I run the stove and a few other things at the same time.

I guess it is possible there is a generator power issue, but it sounds odd. Motors such as fans and compressors take a surge to start. Maybe that is what is causing it.

 

[gfreek]

I thought there was another PelPro owner here that had the same issue , not being able to run off a generator.. Can't find it though..

 

[Sako7STW]

Just curious if you tried running it with a surge protector plugged in to the generator and then plug the stove into that?

 

[cja7928]

So I bought a fairly decent Cyber Power UPS and it does the same thing, wont run the blower or auger. Given the stove is just a couple blower motors and an auger I don't see how they figured out how to make it not run from a generator (or UPS), must be something with how they designed the control board. This Pelpro stove is more or less junk if it cant be used on a backup. It would be nice if there was more info out there letting people know Pelpro stoves wont run from a generators. I might just gut the Pelpro control board, hardwire the blowers and setup my own timer for the auger - probably be more reliable given how much Ive read about the Pelpro boards going out.

 

[Canadianchill]

I have a PP90, and have it plugged into a UPS also, mainly because I want a controlled shutdown if power fails. The stove runs fine on the UPS alone.
I have never tried running on a generator, but I will try that this weekend.
If the stove works on the UPS, I see no reason why it wouldnt run if you feed the gen power to the UPS.
I will let you know how it works out.

 

[gfreek]

So I bought a fairly decent Cyber Power UPS and it does the same thing, wont run the blower or auger. Given the stove is just a couple blower motors and an auger I don't see how they figured out how to make it not run from a generator (or UPS), must be something with how they designed the control board. This Pelpro stove is more or less junk if it cant be used on a backup. It would be nice if there was more info out there letting people know Pelpro stoves wont run from a generators. I might just gut the Pelpro control board, hardwire the blowers and setup my own timer for the auger - probably be more reliable given how much Ive read about the Pelpro boards going out.

So while stove is running, plugged into the UPS, if you unplug the UPS from the outlet it won't continue to run ?? Spec shows 2.3 amps running, 276-300 watts.
This is in the owners manual, weird..
"This Stove needs 110v to run properly. This Stove has not been tested for use with a third party battery backup"

 

[Mt Bob]

Board may be damaged from your earlier testing.

 

[ReebyReebs]

I just want to contribute to the topic. We bought a Bluetti power station AC180 ( 1,152/1440 Wh with 1800W max draw) that advertised as a full UPS with pass through and true sine wave inverter output. The power station can run a hairdryer and leaf blower no problem. But for some reason it can't support our pelpro PP130 fans that at max draw 300 watts. There is a video of a guy trying this exact thing with another pellet stove and the Bluetti can't do that either. So I'm at a loss for which thing is the problem. The power station or the stove? I'm thinking it's the stove. I've seen one post where someone was able to keep the PP130 running using an APC 550, so I've got that on order and will try that as an interface between the stove and the Bluetti power station. Maybe that will work. I feel like this is going to be expensive to keep trying different systems. We didn't buy this stove. But I'll sure as heck not buy this brand when we have to buy one for our own house. Here's the video

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[johneh]

Check the generator output voltage. I run across
many of the small under 2500 watts that have a low voltage output
The out put is adjustable at the AVR.

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[MarkF48]

Purely a guess, but neither the inverter generator or the UPS (when unplugged to test) would be grounded (unless you have done this intentionally). The body of the stove when grounded through the wall outlet connection would tend to shield the internal control wiring and reduce any susceptibility to 'noise' or other weird stuff floating in the air which possibly could interfere with the operation of the stove. Without a ground, the body of the stove , connecting cords, and generator are somewhat like an antenna that will pickup stray AC or RF floating in the air and the control board could be 'receiving' something that confuses it. Grounding the stove is also a good idea from a safety perspective.
If you have the know-how, the generator appears to have a termination where a ground could be attached. A length of 14 gauge wire from the generator ground to a nearby outlet with a ring terminal screwed under the screw that holds the outlet faceplate on may be enough (if you have a meter, check the screw continuity to the outlet ground with the ohmmeter (be careful not to prong either the neutral or hot of the outlet when doing this)). Another method might be a ground wire connected to the body of the stove (a clean screw or bolt with a ring terminal on the wire) to some convenient nearby ground.

Regarding the generator voltage. The generator might be outputting the right voltage, but if you're using a longish light gauge extension, there may be a voltage drop under load the stove control board doesn't like.

 

[Jeremy6500]

This is the generator I have and I have always been able to run my PP130 off of it. I can run the stove along with my fridge, freezer and some other electronics (tv, router etc).

If memory serves I could also run it and my USSC 6500, but I had to set my USSC 6500 to only use 1 blower since the surge of the 2nd blower was too much.