Fahrenheit Technologies Endurance 50F Information

All - so instead of building an entire pot to get the benefits of 1/4" SS requiring frame modification, I've recently acquired some tools that would allow me to surgically remove the area of common failure and replace just that area with 1/4" SS. Igniter clearance should be ok, but it may also require a slight shim for clearance. I can attest that the thicker material has no impact on start-up as I've been running mine for months now. Trying to gage interest in this mod...new pots are around $350...was thinking $175 shipped for the mod and I'd need your pot (I have 2 well used spares that could be used for exchange if necessary. Mine's a V3, but other versions shouldn't present a problem.

Thoughts?

 

I see you've welded the two pieces together, right on! Can you break down what a new pot is as I have no clue what it consist off. Does that include the pusher and dump gate?

 

Nope...just what you see in the pic...that's the burn pot and I've not welded anything together yet

That's just me cutting out the area to be replaced...it's an odd shaped object and tough to cut up without damaging the mounting rails on the bottom or the pusher arm slide bars in the pot...remember the idea is to replace the thin 1/8" burn area with 1/4" SS and still have the mod pot drop into an otherwise stock machine...should last many years instead of a season or two...

 

Well...the pot looks decent...the door not so much and the pusher & arm are brand new

A perfect candidate for an upgrade as it's a spare unit and won't incur valuable down-time...

 

OK...so I'm confident I've confirmed what I thought all along...a hotter burning flame creates more heat. I'm confident because last night was the first real cold night for me. When it gets really cold my furnace historically struggled to keep my 2,700sq/f home at the desired temp, usually dropping a few degrees as it struggles to keep that large volume warm. Last night I saw the same as I've been running my furnace with the flame others have suggested make the most usable heat. Well, I decided to test that theory and open my damper a bit (1.5 turns on the screw stop). This of course resulted in a more white hot flame. Normally on a cold night I override the thermostat and don't allow it to drop down as it can't recover the lost temps. Last night, I decided to let it drop and see what would happen. With the lazier flame my temp reader would average 127 degrees (every time I would refill I'd check and at #5 that would be the normal temp). So I wake up this morning fully expecting the temp to be lower than normal as I'd let the temps drop overnight...curiously that wasn't the case. Better yet, the temps were just 1 degree shy of my wake-up temp meaning that not only did the furnace keep the lower temp it managed to almost fully recover to the wake-up temp (4 degrees difference). So I head to the basement and what a surprise...my temp reader was showing 131 degrees on #5. That's just turning my almost fully closed damper 1.5 turns! Now...I don't think I need to run the furnace that hot all the time, but it's good to know that when the temps drop outside I can actually turn my furnace output up inside...

 

With my cold nights and worried on my furnace keeping up so I threw a little corn in the mix but the temps didn't improve any. T-stat operation on #5 and premium pellet setting and it's holding up.
I get temps of 160-170 at 27" up the 10" duct. Where's about is your temp probe or are you using the infrared gun?

 

My probe is about 18" up in the 10" tube. I'd be very curious what folks are running for pellets to generate 170 degrees...I'd also like to know what probe you are using. I'm running LGs for a pellet...and I know they are not very high on the BTU food chain ...only true way to get apples to apples comparison is to ensure similar operating conditions...

Also...when are you taking the "reading" (blower on/off)? And what is your blower switch setting on (all VERY important considerations)...

Thx

 

I started monitoring last year because my house was not as warm as previous years. I use a Nicety DT 1312 K Type Digital Thermometer. I have a tiny wire probe that gets inserted 8" above stove. I average 144 degrees Fahrenheit on level 3 and have closed down my damper box. Now my 130 year old farmhouse is averaging 70 plus degrees. We had 8 degrees above zero this week in WI and only dropped to 69 degrees.

 

This is the probe I use;
Burning Spruce Pointe's swd

 

ok...So I did a whole lotta things this weekend. First I confirmed that a 1/4" SS pot is definitely the way to go. Yanked it after pushing well over a ton and there is zero signs of wear...especially in the all important igniter area...see picks. Also confirmed my door/pusher/re-light plate are also showing virtually no wear.

Farted around with the fan limit switch to get the 170 degrees others are mentioning. So, in reality, measuring the duct temp doesn't really prove anything...

Also came up with what I believe to be the only true performance indicator of stove efficiency...still running test scenarios so stay tuned...ya need a stopwatch and a decent temp probe (I'm using a digital Maverick probe)...

 

I set my fan limits at 170 & 130...it takes about 2.5 minutes (consistently) to switch on and stops after about 13 minutes...and that folks, should be how we're tuning these stoves...I think that's the real way to measure performance...how fast (from any lower limit point) does the stove "heat up" on a given setting (let's say #5). It takes my fully heated stove 2.5 minutes to ramp up from 130 to 170 and can push 130+ degree temps for about 13 minutes (the key is consistency) before it needs to ramp up again. My flame is currently the lazy version. So once you have a baseline...testing pellets brands/airflow/design mods can now have something to compare too. I can easily change the vent temps (getting like 174 vs 127 just by changing the fan limit) so that's not a good indicator of performance...but measuring fixed point (temp range) over time is a perfect performance indicator! Of course there are other variables, but for me this is the best baseline I can think of...

I don't have different brands of pellets, so I'm going to play with airflow and baffle mods and see what heats up the fastest. I've already played with the airflow a bit and didn't see significant ramp-up time differences...but more testing is needed.

Always learning...

 

LBT the furnace and burning LG Maximum blend pellets. Cut back the inlet at 30% and the temps have risen to just over 140. Pellets do make a difference and sometimes alot
Edit; up to 150
.......: 159
And 161, that's all folks!

 

Dex, I read somewhere that you removed the exhaust plate to gain percentage of airflow capacity. Makes sense as we can cut back the air damper some more.

 

I most certainly agree pellet selection will have a significant impact...but I think to tune the furnace itself what I outline will work...

Dex - what pellet are you running...I believe the LGs I'm running are only considered "warm"

 

Not questioning your mods and tuning one bit. You're just fine tuning with a comb to the best of your knowledge just like rest of us. Trial and error (the less of) is what gives us satisfactory results
Regular LG's was working badly for me in my older Fahrenheit furnace but once I mix them with Okies Platinum (IIRC) it was a inferno of a difference
What other pellets do you have in your vicinity?