Pellet stove vacuum

[lefty Ef3]

Okay may stove says to set the damper at a reading of 12 to 13 wc hg at max fire ..I usually only run the stove at about half of that fire setting ,.would the number be lower or higher ..less fire less vacuum?

 

[SciGuy]

Okay may stove says to set the damper at a reading of 12 to 13 wc hg at max fire ..I usually only run the stove at about half of that fire setting ,.would the number be lower or higher ..less fire less vacuum?

The vacuum is set lower at lower fire. That said, those numbers sound incredibly high to a Harman pellet stove user. The Harman Stoves are adjusted to ~.35 " WC to .45" WC for low fire and ~ .50 to .60" WC on the high end for high fire. This is inches of water rather than mercury too. What stove are you using?

Hugh

 

[Ssyko]

i believe its an enviro EF3 as its part of his name and the suggested vacuum is .12 - .13 iwc, and it should be set when the stove is hot and is on a high heat setting

 

[SciGuy]

i believe its an enviro EF3 as its part of his name and the suggested vacuum is .12 - .13 iwc, and it should be set when the stove is hot and is on a high heat setting

Well that makes a heck of lot more sense. Only a couple of orders of magnitude off there. Now I'm surprised at how much lower draft it uses than a Harman.

Thanks Ssyko

 

[Ssyko]

don't feel bad i had a double take on it myself lol

 

[SciGuy]

don't feel bad i had a double take on it myself lol

If his name was Lefty P43 , P61a or P68 I'd of probably caught on

 

[lefty Ef3]

The vacuum is set lower at lower fire. That said, those numbers sound incredibly high to a Harman pellet stove user. The Harman Stoves are adjusted to ~.35 " WC to .45" WC for low fire and ~ .50 to .60" WC on the high end for high fire. This is inches of water rather than mercury too. What stove are you using?

Hugh

I have an envirofire ef3. It says in the manual to set at high fire..I just checked it and when I’m at max fire it’s about 13 if I run the stove at normal which is about half a dial I’m at around 18. Now I’m using a digital manometer and its setting is inches hg. Maybe I was incorrect saying wc. Oh and I do own a p38 so I guess I could be both of those lefty’s. Ha ha

 

[lefty Ef3]

Heck now I want to go out in the garage and check my p38 vacuum. Just for comparison and I know from lighting the p38 that it does pull in a lot of air.

 

[lefty Ef3]

Oh I forgot is there any open ports to attach my gauge on the p38.?

 

[SciGuy]

I have an envirofire ef3. It says in the manual to set at high fire..I just checked it and when I’m at max fire it’s about 13 if I run the stove at normal which is about half a dial I’m at around 18. Now I’m using a digital manometer and its setting is inches hg. Maybe I was incorrect saying wc. Oh and I do own a p38 so I guess I could be both of those lefty’s. Ha ha

Lefty, Your manometer is off kilter or there's an exponent you're missing in the reading. 13" of mercury would be 176.74" WC so somethings not right there. As Ssyko mentioned earlier the proper reading is something less than .13"WC. The inches of hg would be a .00956" hg to be equivalent to .13"WC

Hugh

 

[lefty Ef3]

Lefty, Your manometer is off kilter or there's an exponent you're missing in the reading. 13" of mercury would be 176.74" WC so somethings not right there. As Ssyko mentioned earlier the proper reading is something less than .13"WC. The inches of hg would be a .00956" hg to be equivalent to .13"WC

Hugh

Okay I will have to look at it again I’m using the negative port. I have a + and - port on it

 

[SciGuy]

Okay I will have to look at it again I’m using the negative port. I have a + and - port on it

I'd agree that it ought to be used with a negative port. I'd expect there ought to be a way to cycle through the units so that it can display in to show inches of water column rather than inches of mercury.

 

[Ssyko]

mine adjusts with the units button has 12 measurements

 

[lefty Ef3]

Lefty, Your manometer is off kilter or there's an exponent you're missing in the reading. 13" of mercury would be 176.74" WC so somethings not right there. As Ssyko mentioned earlier the proper reading is something less than .13"WC. The inches of hg would be a .00956" hg to be equivalent to .13"WC

Hugh

Okay I found the correct setting on my gauge it has a (inH2O) setting that I didn’t see. And I also noticed that my readings I was getting were .013 inHg. Didn’t notice the extra zero. So tomorrow I will try it out..I have been running this stove since 1995. Just by visual flame setting I’m kind of doing this for shits and giggles ..I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another ef3 it has been a work horse if you run this stove on high you better be ready to open some windows because it’s going to get hot in the house,it’s only down fall is the mini ash pan ,but I think the newer ones have a larger ash pan.thanx for all the input

 

[lefty Ef3]

I took readings this morning with the correct setting and a max fire I’m getting 17 on vac inH2O. That’s with my damper closed as far as it goes,it was sitting at 24 until I closed the damper some more ..I have had problems in the past with the damper getting stuck,when the weather breaks I will open her up and see what’s holding it open ,that’s why I always buy extra gaskets .this may be the reason my glass ashes up so fast,and yes I know it’s the nature of the beast to get ash on the glass,but not as fast as I get it,I cleaned it yesterday day and you can’t see in the stove already that’s with maybe 5 hrs burn time ,this may also be the reason my igniter does always light in time ,aka just as the fire starts to light,the stove will shut down and it has plenty of pellets in the pot.but if she has excessive airflow going thru the pot it maybe cooler her down a little..I will an update when I get my damper straightened out

 

[SciGuy]

I took readings this morning with the correct setting and a max fire I’m getting 17 on vac inH2O. That’s with my damper closed as far as it goes,it was sitting at 24 until I closed the damper some more ..I have had problems in the past with the damper getting stuck,when the weather breaks I will open her up and see what’s holding it open ,that’s why I always buy extra gaskets .this may be the reason my glass ashes up so fast,and yes I know it’s the nature of the beast to get ash on the glass,but not as fast as I get it,I cleaned it yesterday day and you can’t see in the stove already that’s with maybe 5 hrs burn time ,this may also be the reason my igniter does always light in time ,aka just as the fire starts to light,the stove will shut down and it has plenty of pellets in the pot.but if she has excessive airflow going thru the pot it maybe cooler her down a little..I will an update when I get my damper straightened out

Hi Lefty,

Just to clarify, I assume it's reading .17" rather than 17" correct?

 

[lefty Ef3]

Hi Lefty,

Just to clarify, I assume it's reading .17" rather than 17" correct?

View attachment 273258

Yes

 

[lefty Ef3]

Yes

That’s what I have in my tech manual

 

[lefty Ef3]

That’s what I have in my tech manual

Thankyou

 

[SciGuy]

Oh I forgot is there any open ports to attach my gauge on the p38.?

The P-38 has a port under the left side of the fire box as you face the front of the stove. There's a 3/8" X 16 bolt threaded in there that you remove to gain access. I rethreaded a brass barb from pipe thread to the 3/8 X 16 straight thread to access it.

 

[lefty Ef3]

The P-38 has a port under the left side of the fire box as you face the front of the stove. There's a 3/8" X 16 bolt threaded in there that you remove to gain access. I rethreaded a brass barb from pipe thread to the 3/8 X 16 straight thread to access it.

View attachment 273262

Oh perfect I just happen to have a few of these laying around,but this stove doesn’t have a normal sliding damper correct?

 

[SciGuy]

Oh perfect I just happen to have a few of these laying around,but this stove doesn’t have a normal sliding damper correct?

Correct. If it's like a P-43 there is a tiny screw that found in the control panel face that one can tweak.
I've circled mine in blue.

View attachment 273263

 

[lefty Ef3]

Correct. If it's like a P-43 there is a tiny screw that found in the control panel face that one can tweak.
I've circled mine in blue.

Ok I have the old 2 knob style control panel. I’m thinking of upgrading to the new version like yours,I bought the p38 for 100 bucks beautiful condition I had to soldier a stab on the control board and put a new combustion fan in and it runs like a champ,that stove will put off some heat,the only reason I like my ef3 in the house is it is auto ignition and the only thing on it that you can’t touch when it’s running is the glass,the Harmon gets hot just like a wood stove on its body which is fine in my garage...thankyou for all your help,the more I get into these stoves the more I think about doing a little stove work on the side.like every body always says most the time the dang thing needs to be cleaned..we don’t really have many stove guys in our area,just local retailers selling them like tractor supply,don’t get me wrong I know people who have bought there stoves and haven’t many other issues with them and I tell them to keep them clean,,and especially the leaf blowing hack during the burning season it will help make your annual cleaning much easier,,I know one thing I’m glad I didn’t buy was a bixiby stove we had a couple guys in my shop a few years ago bought them,they started off great But I thing most of them got rid of them,they said they just started failing..that is one time when the old saying you get what you pay for wasn’t true....

 

[SciGuy]

Ok I have the old 2 knob style control panel. I’m thinking of upgrading to the new version like yours,I bought the p38 for 100 bucks beautiful condition I had to soldier a stab on the control board and put a new combustion fan in and it runs like a champ,that stove will put off some heat,the only reason I like my ef3 in the house is it is auto ignition and the only thing on it that you can’t touch when it’s running is the glass,the Harmon gets hot just like a wood stove on its body which is fine in my garage...thankyou for all your help,the more I get into these stoves the more I think about doing a little stove work on the side.like every body always says most the time the dang thing needs to be cleaned..we don’t really have many stove guys in our area,just local retailers selling them like tractor supply,don’t get me wrong I know people who have bought there stoves and haven’t many other issues with them and I tell them to keep them clean,,and especially the leaf blowing hack during the burning season it will help make your annual cleaning much easier,,I know one thing I’m glad I didn’t buy was a bixiby stove we had a couple guys in my shop a few years ago bought them,they started off great But I thing most of them got rid of them,they said they just started failing..that is one time when the old saying you get what you pay for wasn’t true....

You might even consider converting your P-38 to a P-43. If you were going to upgrade the control board anyway it might make sense to go the whole way. IIRC Rickwai on the forum here has done at least one if not more with good success. It's not a big deal if you're handy.

Hugh

 

[lefty Ef3]

You might even consider converting your P-38 to a P-43. If you were going to upgrade the control board anyway it might make sense to go the whole way. IIRC Rickwai on the forum here has done at least one if not more with good success. It's not a big deal if you're handy.

Hugh

Yeah I have been thinking about