Possible upgrade for the Enviro Omega/Maxx M stove

Note: The Omega and the Maxx M share the same control board. ENVIRO part #50-2164

Looking to possibly upgrade the Omega to boost the BTU output. I know the Maxx is rated for 70K yet the Omega/Maxx M were only rated for 60K BTU's. The Omega shares the same chassis as the Maxx, Maxx M and I've already upgraded to the 455 cfm convection blower to match the Maxx and Maxx M stoves.

Thought about just putting the Maxx control board(ENVIRO 50-1929) in. But that board doesn't have the multi fuel programming.

So I decided to look into the M55 series stoves board(ENVIRO 50-2050) and go from there. It has the agitator and also has the multifuel program.

I ordered the board and also added a timer to check the feed rate cycle and start time(igniter on time) to my board tester/repair station.

I only need to check the 50-2164 start up cycle and igniter on time as all the rest of the times are listed in the Enviro tech manual. They never update the tech manual to include the M55 times!!

 

Spec's for the Omega boards start cycle.

Feed fill time Auger on for 2 minutes to charge the burn pot. Then goes into a 3 seconds on to a 25 second off feed cycle until the 10:15:00 minute start cycle is complete. Same cycle as Pellet heat level 1 on the chart below.

Combustion blower volts is line voltage

Convection blower volts is 0 voltage until the start cycle is complete

Agitator is off until the 5 minute mark.

Here are the other spec's listed in the tech manual to compare to that I find with the M55 board.

 

Spec's for the M55 boards start cycle.

Feed fill time Auger on for 2 minutes to charge the burn pot. Then goes into a 3 seconds on to a 4.0 second off feed cycle until the 9:15:00 minute start cycle is complete.

Combustion blower volts is line voltage

Convection blower volts is 0 voltage until the POF switch closes then goes to 85v

Agitator is off until the 5 minute mark.

Voltage and Heat cycle times below.





Note: Agitator runs less in Premium pellet than Regular pellet. And runs more in Multifuel.

 

Looks like the M55 with a 3 rpm auger will provide the 70K BTU's I'm looking to achieve. So I'm going to give it a go this weekend. I'm a bit worried about the low fire feed rate in heat level 1 with the voltage level on the combustion blower. The M55 burn pot liner does have a lot more holes so it might be fine? We shall see. I will be keeping a very close eye on it!!

Also a bit worried on the start up cycle on the M55 board. It feeds at a much higher rate than the Omega board. The Omega board is a mellow start in low heat cycle 1 where the M55 board is in the medium heat cycle 3. Its going to roar compared to the OEM Omega start cycle. I will need to get used to that.

 

Tried the M55 board with the 3 rpm auger. Low fire at the default settings was fine in medium and high fire rates. But low fire was pretty rich for my liking. It clouded up the glass like I've never seen before!! So took the board back out and did some more testing on the test stand. The Combustion blower has a feed trim(unlike the Omega). So I trimmed it to #5 which is the highest volts @87v. Also Adjusted the feed trim to the least amount of feed for the low fire. Even trimmed to the lowest setting it is well above the OEM feed rates. But trying it anyway. My hunch is it will still be on the rich side and I will have to re-install the Omega board for now.

I do expect to have to order a Gleason Avery 902.5 auger motor with a 2.5 rpm. This will get the low fire feed rate closer to the OEM feed rate range of the Maxx stove. But still above what the Omega had on low maintenance fire. It will also still be above what the Omega had for a highest heat level 5 setting of 7.6 pounds per hour. It will approximately be around 7.8 to 8.0 pounds per hour. Which is a boost that will help the stove on the extremely cold days where I have had to go full on balls out to get some heat up from the basement!

There are many positives of the M55 FS board over the OEM Omega's. You get feed trim adjustments in every heat setting. You also get combustion blower adjustments in every heat setting as well. I will be working on a chart to graph the heat setting times and also the voltage adjustments with the combustion blower trim. The agitator does a full rpm in regular pellet mode which will help with keeping the burn pot cleaner at lower heat settings with meh pellets! There is likely more pro's than I can list!! So I surely want to figure out what it needs to work in the Omega!! I also expect at some point the OEM Omega board will be discontinued as with some of the parts that have already been dropped!!

** One big plus is the board also remembers both the feed trim and combustion blower trim settings you have selected if the board looses power, IMHO that is priceless as I always forgot to reset my trim levels when I clean the stove!! I'm old school and always pull the plug on cleanings.**

I also want to order an M55 faceplate to match the M55 controller. Just so I know what all the buttons do.

 

Ran over night mostly on low and no clouding this morning. Glass stayed clean so I increased the feed trim up one trim level. Going to let it run for a day or so and do a clean up. Check the innards for any black icky stuff inside. Specially down by the ash pan area.

edit: Stove's been running great with the new board. The extra lil bit on low keeps the basement warmer and a bit more goes upstairs. Doesn't seem to be eating any more pellets than usual. If anything the stat isn't cycling as much.