Wiring diagram that some may find useful

[Snowy Rivers]

With my new timer/controllers on the way, I decided I had better get all the wiring ideas, color codes and such down on paper.

Had some time this morning to doodle out a schematic (such as it is) and it is a doodle on an unlined note pad right now.

Looked it all over and it will work sweet for the Prodigy and likely the Advantage as well.

I will share this for anyone wanting to accept the challenge of a DIY control system.

Keep in mind that all the original safeties are still in place. I am switching the high temp snap switches out for ones that must be manually reset if they trip.

The factory pressure switch is in the system as is the low pressure switch, fuse/fuses etc.

All the wiring is color coded to allow ease in tracing out what goes where. (currently its not that easy to follow)

A stove that does not use a door switch can still use this setup, with only slight modifications

The Prodigy uses the Blower fan as both an inducer as well as convection fan and it must be off if the door is opened.

The door switch in this app controls the power to the Blower fan as well as the fuel feed system.

The exhaust fan runs as soon as the master switch is turned on.

This setup requires the Burner switch to be turned off to shut the system down and then as soon as the fire is out and the stove has cooled down, the main can be switched off.

A little bit less automated but plenty safe and far less complicated than the original system.

The control timers are really simple and have only simple 1/4" spade terminals

The main on off timer has the on time setting on the timer .3 seconds to 10 seconds (2 seconds optimum) and the off time (heat setting) is on a remote pot in the panel

The one shot timer has the time adjustable on the timer from .3 minutes to 30 minutes

The latchout relay will shut the stove off if the AC power is interupted for a second or two and must be manually reset with a button before the stove will run again.

A 6 amp fuse protects the entire system and a 2 amp fuse is in line with the feed motor.

The controllers are rated at 10 amps and the entire system only uses about 3-1/2 .

The original low temp switch is retained and used pretty much in the same manner as the factory wiring had it.

Originally the exhaust fan was tied in with the door switch and this made cleaning the pot on the fly a bit tough as the thing could smoke into the room.

There are to be two indicator lamps on the panel, the MAIN power lamp GREEN and will be on any time the main switch is on. The other lamp is Orange and will illuminate while the auger is feeding.

Here is a Piccy of the schematic

Now that I have the details done, I will work at making the schematic neater.

Just have to buy the various colored wire and the needed Buss bars and such extra goodies.

With this done, the job will be really easy to do.

Snowy

 

[slls]

Looks like Greek to me lol.

 

[Snowy Rivers]

HAAAAAAAAAA

Yuppp
Unless you have spent time working with electrical schematics it certainly would.

I will admit that its not the neatest one in the world by any means but has the stuff in all the right places.

Eventually I am going to spend a couple hours and carefully lay this all out with a straight edge to draw the wire lines and get the stuff a bit neater.

Actually its not all that much worse than the factory one in my stoves service book.


Snowy

 

[slls]

P/N on each item would be nice.

 

[Snowy Rivers]

Yess it would indeed.

I did the schematic as a workup to rewiring my Prodigy II

The controller/timers are from Precision timer company and have a LONG part number that was assigned based on how I specd the timer.

The Whitfield numbers have changed since the stove was built too. The numbers have all been swapped around by Lennox since their aquisition of Whitfield.

The basics of this diagram are usuable with several of the older stoves though.

The Pellet stove IMHO does not need to reflect extremely high technology.
The current push seems to be to install complex touch pad controls and sofisticated equipment, to the point that it just precipitates a more failure prone environment.

After all, its just a steel box with a window in the front that gets HOT and blows warm air.

I tend to get up on my soap box when it comes to too much electronics on stuff that needs to be simple.

The auger motor, Blower motor, exhaust fan and such are really simple.

The most basic of controls is all thats needed to run the thing.


A few very simple safety items to shut the thing off in the event of an under or over fire condition is all thats needed along with a pressure switch to stop it if the chimney is plugged or the exhaust blower quits.

The trend to over engineered "Fool proof" controls has taken the simple stove to a point that it is ready to fail as soon as it comes out of the box.

Everyone is trying to make stuff so it takes zero "Common sense" to operate. Bad idea.

With an appliance that burns something, we bring FIRE into our home, and with this wonderful little helper comes the responsibility to be able to understand it and control it.

IMHO anyone who owns a "Burning appliance" needs to understand its workings and be able to deal with its issues.

I want to be able to fix almost any problem with my stoves, should they occur and at any time day or night.

I want it simple, dependable and safe.

I also want as few micro processors as possible. Now, its understood that the stove needs some sort of timer/controller to feed the fuel but there is a limit to this stuff


Down off the soap box

Snowy

 

[jtakeman]

Snowy,

The control your making is very similar to the Enviro EF3 dial a fire. The bigest difference I see is the timers and that the EF3 has an igniter curcuit. I think the Napoleon NPS40 also has a simular control. Probably the last of the manual controlled stoves out there.

I understood the drawing NP, But I am used to it. I work with an engineer that doodles out the drawings. Mostly when he's at home and the idea hits him(We call it lightning strikes). Doing prototypes and one offs is probably the most interesting part of my job.

Can't wait until you get this going and hoping your having some fun with it.

 

[Snowy Rivers]

Thanks for the words of ecouragment.

Yeah, I get those strikes too.

Fun, Oh yess. I mostly want to do the refit to equip the stove with parts that are readily available and cheap.

The timers/relays are solid state, fully adjustable and easy to use. The cost is about $45 each

The single shot startup timer will likely last forever. The on/off timer should too but ya never know.

Once these are up and working and have some time on them and if all seems well, I will order a spare set for the shelf.

I want to redo the Advantage too but, it will take a slight revision in the schematic as that stove uses a draft/exhaust fan and a separate room air fan. Its also does not use a door switch.

No biggy, just need to adapt things to the particular application.

The Advantage uses a pressure switch too but it is normally closed I believe and opens if the vent system clogs up. The pressure tap is on the downstream side of the exhaust fan.

I do want to swap out the High temp switches to ones that pop open on an overtemp and that must be manually reset.

If there is an overheat, I dont want it to come back on unless I tell it to.

Our stoves run all day long without anyone here so safety is paramount.


In the near 20 years of running pellet stoves with nut shells, we have only had one mishap, and that was the one time that a stick jammed the feed system and broke the feeld motor coupling.

Just want to keep it all that way.



My other big thing is to have parts on hand to effect most any repairs day or night without having to order anything.


Having parts on hand is a good thing.

The two whitfields share the same part number feed motor.

The exhaust fan and the blower are different though.

I can get all those parts and have on the shelf.

These stoves should be able to last at least another 20 years with ease.

Snowy