New Furnace Day: Drolet Heat Commander

[Gbawol42]

FYI the secondary air does not close, it's a fixed opening at the rear center.

Eric

Ok you have the grate air on the left, the open center, then what is the shutter on the right called? This is the one I meant.

 

[brenndatomu]

Ok you have the grate air on the left, the open center, then what is the shutter on the right called? This is the one I meant.

Primary air...same as the front flap/damper on the Heatmax...

 

[sleewok]

I had a thermocouple hooked to a cheap Chinese PID controller to view my flue temps. A Inkbirk or another brand of BBQ thermometer could be used to view it via Bluetooth monitor. Some brands even connect to the cloud so you can view it when you aren’t home.

One probe to view flu temps, another to view plenum temps.

Any thoughts on tapping into the HC thermocouples and getting a reading from an Arduino or similar?

The thermocouples in the firebox are type-k ungrounded. The plenum has a 100ohm rtd probe. Both of these seem to be easily supported on the Arduino. I have one sitting around and I'll see if I can get any readings.

I'm not sure if the additional resistance by tapping into the thermocouple will cause problems. That is my only concern.

 

[brenndatomu]

I'm not sure if the additional resistance by tapping into the thermocouple will cause problems. That is my only concern.

It very likely will....TC's are sensitive lil buggers...they won't even tolerate the wrong kind of wire very well.
I'd mount my own separate TC somewhere first...even if it was just in the HX clean out door

 

[sloeffle]

Any thoughts on tapping into the HC thermocouples and getting a reading from an Arduino or similar?

The thermocouples in the firebox are type-k ungrounded. The plenum has a 100ohm rtd probe. Both of these seem to be easily supported on the Arduino. I have one sitting around and I'll see if I can get any readings.

I'm not sure if the additional resistance by tapping into the thermocouple will cause problems. That is my only concern.

No clue, I moved on to a Heatmaster G4000. Luckily it has a O2 sensor, and a web enabled Siemens controller.

This post might be of interest though.

 

[sleewok]

It very likely will....TC's are sensitive lil buggers...they won't even tolerate the wrong kind of wire very well.
I'd mount my own separate TC somewhere first...even if it was just in the HX clean out door

Yep. Pretty much what I figured. I'll grab a type k and get it running. If / when I get it all implemented I'll be sure to post everything. Long term plan is temperature / plenum pressure monitoring with zoned duct damper control. The damper control won't be anytime soon.

 

[NSGUY]

Hey guy's, well we finally had a good shot of cold weather for a few days, as low as -15 ( about 5 F I think) so I got to run the furnace straight for a few day. It ran absolutely outstanding.
It ran exactly as I was expecting when I got it, lots of heat, long burn times with a consistent temp in the house. My wife even commented how much of difference the HC is compared to my old one and how nice it is.
The manometer/baro along with the the fresh air intake are really what it needed. load size and size of wood I found make a difference to.
very happy with it

 

[tyler123]

FYI the secondary air does not close, it's a fixed opening at the rear center.

Eric

hi eric is it possible to message me about the drolet heat commander i live in central pa and looking for a decent inddor wood furnace and just need reliable feedback. i live in a 2500 sqft rancher TIA I just joined but im not sure how to private message yet,,,
ive had a fire cheif and moved to a neoploan 150 hybrid and fought it all winter long so far

 

[brenndatomu]

ive had a fire cheif and moved to a neoploan 150 hybrid and fought it all winter long so far

oof...you are due for a better turn of luck then!

 

[Gbawol42]

Just had my first hiccup burning the heat Commander. Seeing if this has happened to any of you guys.

Went downstairs to load for the night, hit the reload button, and the air shutter on the right (as you look at the back) basically got stuck like it was trying to fully close and just kept actuating. Unplugging and plugging back in didn't fix. Was just about to give up when I reached a screwdriver into the grate and just barely touched the metal switch that the shutter rests on when closed. Not sure what this switch is, I'm guessing it tells when the shutter is fully closed? It stopped actuating and started working again.

I included a video since perhaps my rambling isn't quite painting the picture.

 

[brenndatomu]

Just had my first hiccup burning the heat Commander. Seeing if this has happened to any of you guys.

Went downstairs to load for the night, hit the reload button, and the air shutter on the right (as you look at the back) basically got stuck like it was trying to fully close and just kept actuating. Unplugging and plugging back in didn't fix. Was just about to give up when I reached a screwdriver into the grate and just barely touched the metal switch that the shutter rests on when closed. Not sure what this switch is, I'm guessing it tells when the shutter is fully closed? It stopped actuating and started working again.

I included a video since perhaps my rambling isn't quite painting the picture.

Yup, that one has been addressed a time or two in this thread already...can't say exactly where though, sorry.
You are on the right track though...the limit switch has to be made when the shutter is supposed to be closed...shutter must have hung up a bit.

 

[Gbawol42]

Yup, that one has been addressed a time or two in this thread already...can't say exactly where though, sorry.
You are on the right track though...the limit switch has to be made when the shutter is supposed to be closed...shutter must have hung up a bit.

This thread needs a index like the old tundra one. Hopefully this is a one time thing.

 

[mondain]

Can anyone tell me if the air handler on the back of the HC has feet that also rest on the floor to support it's weight? Or is it screwed onto the HC itself and hangs its weight that way?

Trying to learn if, when I build a pedestal for the HC, I also have to extend the pedestal under the air handler so it can rest on it, too. Thanks!

 

[SBI_Nick]

Hi, yes you will need to extend the pedestal underneath the air handler. There is to leveling bolt at the back:

 

[mondain]

Hi, yes you will need to extend the pedestal underneath the air handler. There is to leveling bolt at the back:

View attachment 310348

Awesome, thank you for confirming!