Ravelli Monica custom settings not holding

[Deromax]

Hello all! I've been running a Ravelli Monica pellet stove for the last 10 years! My house is a small open plan, and the stove will stay in "Modulation" mode 90% of the time, stepping up to level 2 only when there is a real cold snap! The pellet brand I'm using are burning hot. Actually it's too hot for the house! The pellets will also tend to clog the fire pot, as there is clearly too much pellet and not enough air.

So I recently decided to tune the stove using the Default Settings hidden menu, going with a small adjustment at a time and watching how it goes, over a few days. I eventually got the Power 1 pellet feed (TF16) from 1.4 second to 1 second, and the air flow (TF17) from 0.95 to 1.20. The stove is now producing a short, bright and lively flame, which is what I want, and the fire pot is no longer clogging. And the house is more comfortable!

However, when the stove is stopped, the next time it's restarted , it's back to using what's looking to be the old settings, not those I have entered, even if my custom settings *are* still there in the menu. They're there but somewhat ignored. If I modify the setting, say to 0,9 second, exit the menu, then back to 1.0 second, it will now use the 1.0 second setting and I hear the extraction fan slightly rev up. Anything I'm missing? Thanks!

 

[Rascus]

What do you mean by "when the stove is stopped?" Full power off (pulled the plug) or ecostop or other stop with power still to the unit?

This is interesting to me. I have an older Ecoteck Elena and have never had an issue (that I can tell) with my custom settings. In fact, I've tuned nearly every parameter on the thing and it runs like a top. Even after having it unplugged the entire off season..

 

[Deromax]

Hi! I mean when I turn it off, as when a cleaning is needed or if the outside temperature is rising and the stove must be shut down. It's never unplugged.

My custom setting for the starting up, the ignition and the stabilization phases are staying, but as soon as the "normal" working/modulation phase is reached, the feed time and air velocity are not what I have set.

 

[Rascus]

How quickly are you checking the feed rate and air velocity after the stove changes work state? I have to find it again in my manual, but I read that any changes in feed/fan speed will slowly taper over the course of ~40 seconds. It doesn't make an immediate change or it could smother the fire if too many pellets are added before they light or blow it out before more pellets are added.

 

[Deromax]

Maybe. I shall check if the desired setting is happening over a certain period of time. But going from the flame present state to the normal running state is not a change that I'm inducing, it's in the program that the stove is supposed to follow!

 

[Rascus]

It isn't a matter of you or the machine changing modes, it should still slowly make the changes for the reasons I cited above.

As far as moving from flamestart to flame present to working states (P1-P5, modulate, ecostop), these are controlled by the machine through settings.

Flame present to normal work state for my stove is set to 5 minutes, this is setting PR2 (yours may be different depending in year), this allows the machine to get up to a certain temp before moving into work state; if it doesn't reach that temperature it shuts off.

There's a neat little run state diagram in my manual, I am trying to locate it to post. Again, it may be different than yours depending on year, but I doubt they changed the world year to year.

 

[Rascus]

It isn't a matter of you or the machine changing modes, it should still slowly make the changes for the reasons I cited above.

As far as moving from flamestart to flame present to working states (P1-P5, modulate, ecostop), these are controlled by the machine through settings.

Flame present to normal work state for my stove is set to 5 minutes, this is setting PR2 (yours may be different depending in year), this allows the machine to get up to a certain temp before moving into work state; if it doesn't reach that temperature it shuts off.

There's a neat little run state diagram in my manual, I am trying to locate it to post. Again, it may be different than yours depending on year, but I doubt they changed the world year to year.

Check this diagram out, it may help a little with visualizing how the machine times things. Each of the PR settings is something you can change through the menu. Again just to note: I don't know if this applies 1-1 with your stove.

 

[Pelleting In NJ]

If you want to tweak the operating parameters (PR#s), that is done in the "Default Settings" menu. Then the stove will retain your changes.

The passwords are :
Recipe = B9
Zero Set Hours = 35
Default Settings = A9

 

[Rascus]

If you want to tweak the operating parameters (PR#s), that is done in the "Default Settings" menu. Then the stove will retain your changes.

The passwords are :
Recipe = B9
Zero Set Hours = 35
Default Settings = A9

I've been waiting for you to come along. Fellow Ecoteck/Ravelli pro 😂

 

[Deromax]

View attachment 336844
Check this diagram out, it may help a little with visualizing how the machine times things. Each of the PR settings is something you can change through the menu. Again just to note: I don't know if this applies 1-1 with your stove.

Yes, I had seen this. My problem is the stove is not using my P1 (modulation) setting after the Flame present stabilization period (it's 8 minutes on on stove). It's using something that looks like it may be P3 or P4, even if the stove is entering the P1 Modulation phase immediately after the Flame period phase.

 

[Deromax]

If you want to tweak the operating parameters (PR#s), that is done in the "Default Settings" menu. Then the stove will retain your changes.

The passwords are :
Recipe = B9
Zero Set Hours = 35
Default Settings = A9

I know these, obviously, or I wouldn't be discussing all this! My settings do work, when the stove is using them!😆

 

[Rascus]

Yes, I had seen this. My problem is the stove is not using my P1 (modulation) setting after the Flame present stabilization period (it's 8 minutes on on stove). It's using something that looks like it may be P3 or P4, even if the stove is entering the P1 Modulation phase immediately after the Flame period phase.

I guess I'm unsure how to help here. My stove ran a high flame for the first minute or two until it really burnt down all the startup pellets and then settled into whatever power setting I had it on. To best mitigate this, I turned down the start up pellet feed so if the stove goes to P1, I don't have a ton of pellets in the firepot burning like crap under low airflow.

This also helps overall efficiency, using the least amount of pellets I need to get it started.

As soon as your stove leaves startup and goes into work, if you go to stove status, it'll tell you the blower speed so you can see if it it, in fact, running at high than it should. Just remember the taper time.

 

[Deromax]

Hi! I checked the operation more closely and did some timing. After the stove finished with the start-up phases, the auger feed time gradually ramp up to a longer time, before going back down to my setting. It's like it's working at Power 5 initially before reading my settings and using them. I think I'll copy my Power 2 settings to Power 3, 4 and 5 and be done with it!

 

[Rascus]

Interesting! If you only ever use the P2 settings, then I guess you can set them all up to match and have no problems at all! I use all power settings on mine, depending on the weather. Burning pellets is still somehow cheaper than propane in my area and I can afford to keep it a little warmer!

Stay warm!!