Hopping up the pellet stove with guages to monitor the vital signs! Big E example!

Hello

Remember putting guages in the car before they came standard? Well why not a pellet stove?
Anyone else done this?
New touch pads will have monitors but this guage setup may be even better and works good right now!

I just got this guage in from my supplier in China. Maybe that is why the envelope is hard to read! LOL

After squeezing on the quick disconnect clips install is a simple plug and chug!
You should use wire tires to clean up the wires and keep them away from the hot spots!

I hooked this one up to the room blower but more guages can be added for the exhaust blower, auger motor and ignitor.

After starting up the stove the panel was still blank, then when the room fan started, voila! The panel background lit up a nice soft blue and the voltage and current numbers popped right in!
Success at last!

After going thru the room blower speeds I saw heat levels 1&2 and 4&5 have the same speeds
I never knew that! Learn something every day! LOL

Pic 1 - Envelope strait from China
Pic 2 - Voltage and Amp guage (See yellow arrows in upper left)
Pic 3 - Breckwel Big E with guage attached to convection blower
Pic 4 - Hookup to convection blower inside Breckwell
Pic 5 - Heat Level 1 setting for lowest convection blower speed
Pic 6 - Guage for Heat Level 1 shows voltage and current approx 42 vac (Heat Level 2 is the same spead!)
Pic 7 - Heat Level 3 setting for lowest convection blower speed
Pic 8 - Guage for Heat Level 3 shows voltage and current approx 68 vac

 

2 More pics


Pic 9 - Heat Level 5 setting for lowest convection blower speed
Pic 10 - Guage for Heat Level 5 shows voltage and current approx 118 vac (Heat Level 4 is the same speed!)

Click pic to Enlarge

 

European stoves have had that feature for a while,also temp readings.I bet the new harman system does also.I have used some of the cheap china gauges for other things,the quality seems to be ok,for 1/10 the price.

 

Yes the new Harmam control panel has some of this. Blowers are starting to have built on sensors for RPM measurement too. It is all being integrated in newer more expensive stoves. In the meantime these Guages can really help diagnose problems and are easy and cheap to install.

 

Austroflamm/Rika have had hall effect sensors since the stoves inception in the 80's.Ecoteck and pazzetti have always used them also.Not new,just playing catch up.By the way,Don,what we talked about earlier,older whits and brecks used to use the ebm papst motor,without the sensor,on a different mounting plate.Apparently people replaced them with cheaper motors over the years.Which is stange because usually the only thing that fails is the bearings,and take about 10 minutes to replace.