1992 Englander PDVC in Cold Building

[numbcoffee]

Hi all;

On other threads I talked about my vintage 1992 Englander PDVC stove, really old, doesn't have any pressure switches, ignitors or anything like that, only a board upgrade to the digital style ones Englander offers. The stove used to be in the house and ran well but we upgraded to a Pelpro PP130 which the wife loves. We cleaned out the Englander and stored her.

We have an insulated building outside in Michigan and it was being heated by a Cleveland Iron Works 215 which I don't really want to talk about... people have called the Englander a fire hazard but the Cleveland fitted the bill much better. Long story short I had to remove the 215 from the hearth pad and almost broke my back moving the Englander in its place. It ran instantly after we ignited it but we noticed something.

With the stove being so heavy, there is a lot more metal to heat up when this thing gets going compared to the modern wafer thin steel stoves of today. Especially when the building is in the 40°s. With the building being so cold when we put the stove on, the stove is so cold that there isn't ample time even when the stove is lit and going well to get up to temperature. Coordinating with Mike at Englander we put a new heat sensor in his recommended spot on the stove years ago and in the house it was fine, but I can't keep her going before she figures out she isn't warm enough and goes into shut down mode.

So I am wondering what the best course of action is, adding heat insulation tape on top of the sensor to hold in heat against the sensor? Appreciate any ideas.

 

[ericofmaine]

First, try cleaning the sensor? They do get dirty over time and that will insulate them. Last time I cleaned mine I also put some thermal paste on it (think computer CPU's) and I haven't had a problem since. In your current situation, does the room air blower ever come on or does it go right into shut down?

Eric

 

[numbcoffee]

Hi Eric, the sensor is one of the eyelet style sensors, I do have some thermal paste lying around and I will give that a go.

The air blower will not come on unless I warm the sensor and then I can get them to come on, that was just so once installed I knew everything was operational. Once I stop warming it, the fans will run for ten or so seconds then the cooling down turns them off again.

 

[ericofmaine]

Thanks. I figured but thought I would ask to confirm. The sensor on both of my Englander's is the same so I would give it a look. Is the impingement plate at the bottom of the hopper still in place? Maybe open it up, if it is, to get more pellets in to get more of a fire going?

Eric

 

[ARC]

Hi Eric, the sensor is one of the eyelet style sensors,

Sensors do go bad have you tried a new sensor. The sensor tells the board if there is a fire and it also tells board to turn on/off room fan at a preset temperatures.

 

[ARC]

You probably answered this question in another post but what are your three bottom switches set at? 541 or 641 are default for most englander stoves. The third number is always 1 on every englander stove I have worked on that is the Air on number.

 

[zrock]

Sort of a redneck idea but what about putting in a toggle switch? Flip the switch on it bypasses the sensor making the stove think its warm, then once you get it up and running and warm switch it off and it goes back to relying on the sensor. Find it strange that after 15 min the section of the stove the sensor is in is not hot enough to trigger the sensor.

 

[Ssyko]

In a cold building it takes quite a while. In my shop that is not heated its an hour or 2 before i feel it making a difference. A toggle alone wont do what needs to be done. If you made a circuit that allowed power switching without rewiring it would, but its not cost effective. You need a 90 deg proof of fire snap disc ( on rise) and make sure all the nooks and crannies are clear. Leaf blower works best.