# Englander 25-PVDC tuning



## walterep (Jan 2, 2014)

I am new to this forum and have some questions regarding an Englander 25-PVDC pellet stove. We are trying to get as much heat as possible from this stove. We just replaced the two auger motors, as the lower one was bad. The stove now uses far fewer pellets, and therefore produces far less heat, even on the highest setting. We have reprogrammed the control settings to 6-4-1. The motors and augers are turning fine, it is just not feeding as much material as before. The factory auger motors turn at 1 rpm, so even if the new motors were the wrong rpm they would be turning faster, not slower. This is a bit urgent as the temperatures here are dropping below zero. Anyone have any ideas?


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## JayVee (Jan 2, 2014)

Make sure you are running in mode C, there is a thread on this forum telling the procedure . -31 degree wind chill in Maine right now and my little PVDC is running like a champ.


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## walterep (Jan 2, 2014)

JayVee said:


> Make sure you are running in mode C, there is a thread on this forum telling the procedure . -31 degree wind chill in Maine right now and my little PVDC is running like a champ.


Thanks. No idea what mode "C" is. Can you tell me?


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## chrisasst (Jan 2, 2014)

well, this is what I have been doing lately to get more heat.  I have my bottom three buttons set at 9-8-1 and my top two are at 2-8.  Seems to get more heat that way. Also check the gate in side your hopper to see if you can open it more.


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## CladMaster (Jan 2, 2014)

walterep said:


> Thanks. No idea what mode "C" is. Can you tell me?



Try this......

Perform a Control Board Reset as follows .....

Do this when the stove is *cold*.
Unplug the stove from the power outlet.

Plug the power lead back in.

You must press and hold the bottom 3 buttons all at the same time within 4 seconds and wait 3 seconds and then release buttons.

Wait 5 - 10 seconds for the F5 readout display to go blank.

Unplug power lead - wait 5 seconds

* Setting the Heat Mode*
Heat Mode, the default setting is 'd' for the 25-PDVC, but some control boards default to 'A' when a reset is done. Do not run the stove in 'A' or 'b' mode.
Plug power lead back in and press both the up and down blower speed buttons at the same time within 4 - 5 seconds, you should now see a letter (A, b, c or d) in the left digital display under heat range, you need to change this to 'd' or 'c' using the up / down buttons below that readout, once set to 'd' or 'c' wait 10 - 15 seconds then unplug the power again and wait 5 seconds. (Sometimes the mode that you want does not set and defaults back to the mode that it was in before, repeat this step to make sure the mode that you want is set.)

Plug power back in, then set the lower three (3) buttons to read 6 4 1 from left to right.

Clean out the stove and reload with pellets and fire it up. Set the heat range to 2. Set the blower speed to 3 or 4 and then leave the stove alone for 60 - 90 minutes. After 60 - 90 minutes have passed, set the heat and blower to the numbers that you want.


I have mine on 'c' mode as of now, lower 3 buttons from left to right  5-6-1.

Heat at 6, blower at 6.


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## walterep (Jan 2, 2014)

JayVee said:


> Make sure you are running in mode C, there is a thread on this forum telling the procedure . -31 degree wind chill in Maine right now and my little PVDC is running like a champ.


We need some help. It's getting colder here. 
I was unware of the different modes on this stove. Two questions;
1) Does changing the mode just mean changing the numbers from 6-4-1?
2) I've seen in a post how to view the current mode (pressing arrows simultaneously), but no mention of how to change from one mode to another. How can I change from D to C? We are using very few pellets and getting not enough heat. So I think we are in the wrong mode.


CladMaster said:


> Try this......
> 
> Perform a Control Board Reset as follows .....
> 
> ...





CladMaster said:


> Try this......
> 
> Perform a Control Board Reset as follows .....
> 
> ...



Thank you so much. We are turning off the stove now and we will follow your instructions. Does it need to be stone cold?


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## JayVee (Jan 2, 2014)

CladMaster got the heat mode reset method posted before I could help you out. Good luck, this worked for me.


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## CladMaster (Jan 2, 2014)

walterep said:


> Does it need to be stone cold?



Luke warm is fine, just follow the instructions in my other post above.


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## pelletizer (Jan 2, 2014)

My bottom 3 buttons are 5 6 1 and two upper buttons currently at 2 4 
Question is were did you purchase the auger motors?


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## walterep (Jan 2, 2014)

CladMaster said:


> Luke warm is fine, just follow the instructions in my other post above.


Thank you CladMaster. You did us a big favor. I'm sure it will work OK.


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## walterep (Jan 2, 2014)

CladMaster said:


> Luke warm is fine, just follow the instructions in my other post above.


CladMaster,
       Hope you are still there. We started the procedure, but when we press the up and down buttons for blower speed simultaneously, we don't get a letter in the readout. The number there, 5, remains. Before that step, things went OK. The readout went blank after pressing the bottom three buttons, etc.
        Any ideas?


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## CladMaster (Jan 2, 2014)

You need to press these two buttons at the same time (then release) within 4 - 5 seconds upon plugging in the power lead, sometimes it's a 2 person job.

Try again.


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## walterep (Jan 2, 2014)

CladMaster said:


> You need to press these two buttons at the same time within 4 - 5 seconds upon plugging in the power lead, sometimes it's a 2 person job.
> 
> Try again.


Thanks. I didn't get that it was critical to press the buttons quickly after plugging the stove in? We'll try it now.


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## walterep (Jan 2, 2014)

Still no letter code appearing. Here is what we did;
1) turned power off (we have a rocker switch on a surge protector)
2) turned power on and quickly pressed bottom three buttons simultaneously
3) waited for F5 to go blank. It did.
4) turned power off and waited 5 seconds
5) turned power on and quickly pressed the blower speed up and down buttons simultaneously.
6) held buttons down but never got a letter to indicate mode
By the way, where and how did you learn all this? No mention of burn modes in the manual that I can see.


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## CladMaster (Jan 2, 2014)

6) held buttons down but never got a letter to indicate mode   <<<   Release the buttons as soon as you have pressed them.


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## CladMaster (Jan 2, 2014)

By the way, where and how did you learn all this?

The info was on Englander's web site at one time, not sure if it's still there.


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## MaryH (Jan 2, 2014)

walterep said:


> Still no letter code appearing. Here is what we did;
> 1) turned power off (we have a rocker switch on a surge protector)
> 2) turned power on and quickly pressed bottom three buttons simultaneously
> 3) waited for F5 to go blank. It did.
> ...



You just did a "hard reset" of the board.

It's most likely in mode "A"

 Unplug, then "Plug power lead back in and press both the up and down blower speed buttons at the same time within 4 - 5 seconds, you should now see a letter (A, b, c or d) in the left digital display under heat range, you need to change this to 'd' or 'c' using the up / down buttons below that readout, once set to 'd' or 'c' wait 10 - 15 seconds then unplug the power again and wait 5 seconds. (Sometimes the mode that you want does not set and defaults back to the mode that it was in before, repeat this step to make sure the mode that you want is set.)

Plug power back in, then set the lower three (3) buttons to read 6 4 1 from left to right."


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## walterep (Jan 2, 2014)

OK, that worked. We set it to "C" (it was on "A"). But we are unclear about what step to repeat in order to check it. We tried just pressing the up and down again, but the letter didn't come up. So we've fired it up and we'll see. Is there a way to check the mode while the stove is running? If not, we'll shut it down in the morning and do it all again.
Thanks for helping us through this.


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## walterep (Jan 2, 2014)

MaryH said:


> You just did a "hard reset" of the board.
> 
> It's most likely in mode "A"
> 
> ...


Thanks Mary. Please see my post to CladMaster.


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## CladMaster (Jan 2, 2014)

walterep said:


> OK, that worked. We set it to "C" (it was on "A"). But we are unclear about what step to repeat in order to check it. We tried just pressing the up and down again, but the letter didn't come up. So we've fired it up and we'll see. Is there a way to check the mode while the stove is running? If not, we'll shut it down in the morning and do it all again.
> Thanks for helping us through this.



The stove needs to be power cycled to check / change the Heat Mode Setting.

REPEAT THIS STEP TO CHECK THE SETTING
Unplug, then "Plug power lead back in and press both the up and down blower speed buttons at the same time within 4 - 5 seconds, you should now see a letter (A, b, c or d) in the left digital display under heat range, you need to change this to 'd' or 'c' using the up / down buttons below that readout, once set to 'd' or 'c' wait 10 - 15 seconds then unplug the power again and wait 5 seconds. (Sometimes the mode that you want does not set and defaults back to the mode that it was in before, repeat this step to make sure the mode that you want is set.)


DO NOT RUN THE STOVE IN 'A' or 'b' mode, it will over fire the stove and may cause a house fire. The stove was not designed to run in modes 'A' or 'b'.


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## walterep (Jan 2, 2014)

CladMaster said:


> The stove needs to be power cycled to check / change the Heat Mode Setting.
> 
> REPEAT THIS STEP TO CHECK THE SETTING
> Unplug, then "Plug power lead back in and press both the up and down blower speed buttons at the same time within 4 - 5 seconds, you should now see a letter (A, b, c or d) in the left digital display under heat range, you need to change this to 'd' or 'c' using the up / down buttons below that readout, once set to 'd' or 'c' wait 10 - 15 seconds then unplug the power again and wait 5 seconds. (Sometimes the mode that you want does not set and defaults back to the mode that it was in before, repeat this step to make sure the mode that you want is set.)



Thanks CladMaster. That sounds simple enough. So there's not really a way to check the stove's mode while it is operating...only after it's been shut down? We've got it fired up and we'll see how it goes through the night. Again, I can't thank you enough. I checked, and none of this is on the Englander website.


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## MaryH (Jan 2, 2014)

walterep said:


> Thanks CladMaster. That sounds simple enough. So there's not really a way to check the stove's mode while it is operating...only after it's been shut down? We've got it fired up and we'll see how it goes through the night. Again, I can't thank you enough. I checked, and none of this is on the Englander website.



*Because, once it's set -it's not (usually) to be fooled with...


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## KMcK16602 (Mar 2, 2014)

I have searched all over for information on this topic, but yet find anything.  The door latch(inside door handle) is almost ready to break off on my year 2000 Englander 25 pvdc.  Not sure if this is a replaceable part or I need to replace the whole door. Irritating. any help would be much appreciated. I emailed and called Englander, with no reply...(btw...Englander needs to dump the Indian based support....terrible....)


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## CladMaster (Mar 2, 2014)

The door to the stove lifts off. Find a local metal smith / welder and have it repaired (welded).


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## Jackfire (Dec 13, 2014)

just bought a 25pdv  manufac date 2011 will the reset work on mine ?


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## walterep (Dec 13, 2014)

Jackfire,
      It was quite a process when I did it. Cladmaster really saved us on a very cold night. If you need it, I can dig up the notes I took. The process should be pretty clear from the above posts. The first step would be to find out what mode your stove is currently set at.


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## CladMaster (Dec 13, 2014)

Jackfire said:


> just bought a 25pdv  manufac date 2011 will the reset work on mine ?



The reset will work on this stove, but it may also set the stove to mode 'A', you will need to change it back to 'c' by following the instructions I posted here in this thread.

Perform a Control Board Reset as follows .....

Do this when the stove is *cold*.
Unplug the stove from the power outlet.

Plug the power lead back in.

You must press and hold the bottom 3 buttons all at the same time within 4 seconds and wait 3 seconds and then release buttons.

Wait 5 - 10 seconds for the F5 readout display to go blank.

Unplug power lead - wait 5 seconds

To change the mode you will need to press both the up or down buttons at the same time, the 25-PDVC only needs one button to change the mode, the PDV needs both buttons pressed to change the mode.

*Setting the Heat Mode*
Heat Mode, the default setting is 'd' for the 25-PDVC, and for the 25-PDV it is 'c', but some control boards default to 'A' when a reset is done. Do not run the stove in 'A' or 'b' mode.
Unplug the stove from the mains.
Plug power lead back in and press both the up and down blower speed buttons at the same time within 4 - 5 seconds and then release the buttons, you should now see a letter (A, b, c or d) in the left or right digital display under heat range or blower setting, you need to change this to 'd' or 'c' using the up / down buttons below that readout, or in case of the 25-PDV you need to use both buttons up or down, once set to 'd' or 'c' wait 10 - 15 seconds then unplug the power again and wait 5 seconds. (Sometimes the mode that you want does not set and defaults back to the mode that it was in before, repeat this step to make sure the mode that you want is set.)

More info ...
If the mode settings can not be set using both up or down buttons for the 25-PDV, try the procedure for the 25-PDVC. (Both stoves use the same control boards)

Older boards ... (before 2004)
Heat Mode Setting ......
if the board is a "non igniter" board the procedure is different may require 2 people if the plug is on the other side of the stove , the up and down blower speed buttons are held in while the stove is being plugged in , in other words, unplug , press AND HOLD the up and down blower speed buttons , plug in WITHOUT LETTING GO OF THE BUTTONS then once its plugged in ,let go of the blower speed buttons and set the abcd mode with the heat range up or down. then tap the "on " button twice to lock it in.


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## Jackfire (Jan 4, 2015)

We did all that there was to do reset from A to D mode and it started eating pellets like there was no tomorrow.  Ended up setting it back to A. What happened ?


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## jss227 (Jan 4, 2015)

These directions are for a PDV or PDVC. Are you trying to use them on your EP ? The EP is a completely different stove.


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## Jackfire (Jan 4, 2015)

no i own both i am asking about the pdvc


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## CladMaster (Jan 5, 2015)

Jackfire said:


> We did all that there was to do reset from A to D mode and it started eating pellets like there was no tomorrow.  Ended up setting it back to A. What happened ?



What year is your 25-PDVC ?


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## Jackfire (Jan 5, 2015)

2011


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## CladMaster (Jan 5, 2015)

Jackfire said:


> 2011



That stove should run in c or d mode only, not A mode !

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/englander-25-pvdc-tuning.121069/page-2#post-1840776


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## Jackfire (Jan 6, 2015)

Then explain what  it's doin


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## Harvey Schneider (Jan 6, 2015)

Jackfire said:


> Then explain what  it's doin


My PDVC has a healty appetite for pellets. Perhaps it is doing what it is supposed to.
You have to tell us more about the flame behavior. Pellet stoves burn pellets... the more pellets in the more heat out. What are you control settings? 
You said that you replaced the auger motors. Are you sure the motors you installed are the correct rpm (nominally 1 rpm). Some are selling replacement motors that are higher rpm and that causes the stove to burn much hotter and consume more pellets.


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