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Author Topic: Having trouble picking a controller for my homemade gassifer.  (Read 4205 times)

Jeremy.flaugh

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Having trouble picking a controller for my homemade gassifer.
« on: January 27, 2015, 07:39:55 PM »

I'm almost done building a gassifer and I'm having trouble picking a controller/aquastat.

I'm looking at the RK-2001AT2 controller "that's for the eko and attack boilers" including the water temp and exhaust probe so that's over $300 I had some questions for the vendor about the controller which I have emailed and called but have not been able to answer if the controller can be switched to Deg F.
My question is this controller worth it and is there something better?
The thing I like about it the most is if the controller calls for heat and starts the fan and then if the exhaust temp does not rise in X period of time it will cut the fan so it does not cool the boiler and if set send a signal to activate a backup heat source light a lamp to reload ect.

here is the manual
http://www.newhorizoncorp.com/PDF/RK-2001AT2-ENG_AC22.pdf

Thanks
Jeremy
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mlappin

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Re: Having trouble picking a controller for my homemade gassifer.
« Reply #1 on: January 27, 2015, 09:08:41 PM »

I'm betting a Fahrenheit function isn't available from two pieces of information I gleaned from the manual.

1: This is strictly a european model given the 230 volt, 50 hertz input. Most likely it will work with 240 volt input but the timer functions may be off with a 60 hertz input.

2: The country code in the phone number is for Poland.

Not a bad price though, I planned on spending around $400 for numerous pid controllers for mine. One for water temp which would control a VFD for fan speed, one for exhaust temp and another to monitor a oxygen sensor to always have the secondary air adjusted correctly.
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slimjim

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Re: Having trouble picking a controller for my homemade gassifer.
« Reply #2 on: January 28, 2015, 01:58:52 AM »

Good Post Marty :thumbup:
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Jeremy.flaugh

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Re: Having trouble picking a controller for my homemade gassifer.
« Reply #3 on: February 04, 2015, 08:41:24 PM »

Hey thanks for the reply's and sorry for this late reply I've been welding away in the garage.

The RK-2001AT2 from new horizon is a little sketchy with the display in C and the 240Vac I contacted new horizon and the guy I emailed would not fully answer my questions and when I called them the guy that answered was not very friendly so that's out of the question. 

I found a similar controller on Ecomfort but it does not have the exhaust temp senor however it does use the water temp sensor to detect a low fuel situation and shutdown the blower and then activate a circuit just like the AT2.

http://ecomfort.com/rk-2001ua-solid-fuel-fired-boiler-temperature-controller-3902.html
http://ecomfort.com/PDF_files/New_Horizon_Boilers/Accessories/RK-2001_operation_manual.pdf
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Bondo

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Re: Having trouble picking a controller for my homemade gassifer.
« Reply #4 on: February 15, 2015, 09:51:46 AM »

Ayuh,....    What sorta controls ya lookin' for,....

I used nothin' but aqua-stats, 'n my own wirin' for my boiler build,....

One controls the draft, 'n blower, when I turn the blower on,...
'n a 2nd runs the pumps,....
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Jeremy.flaugh

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Re: Having trouble picking a controller for my homemade gassifer.
« Reply #5 on: February 24, 2015, 10:50:28 AM »

Ayuh,....    What sorta controls ya lookin' for,....

I used nothin' but aqua-stats, 'n my own wirin' for my boiler build,....

One controls the draft, 'n blower, when I turn the blower on,...
'n a 2nd runs the pumps,....

What happens to the blower when the fire goes out does it continue to run and chill the heat out of the water in the jacket?
I'm looking for a controller that stops the blower if the water temp does not rise during a set period of time and turn the blower off. This is a big deal especially since my boiler has over 300Gal of water in it.

I ordered this controller and it's scheduled for delivery today. http://www.dwyer-inst.com/Products/Product.cfm?Group_ID=20021#ordering
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Bondo

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Re: Having trouble picking a controller for my homemade gassifer.
« Reply #6 on: February 25, 2015, 09:17:15 AM »

Ayuh,....    What sorta controls ya lookin' for,....

I used nothin' but aqua-stats, 'n my own wirin' for my boiler build,....

One controls the draft, 'n blower, when I turn the blower on,...
'n a 2nd runs the pumps,....

What happens to the blower when the fire goes out does it continue to run and chill the heat out of the water in the jacket?
I'm looking for a controller that stops the blower if the water temp does not rise during a set period of time and turn the blower off. This is a big deal especially since my boiler has over 300Gal of water in it.

I ordered this controller and it's scheduled for delivery today. http://www.dwyer-inst.com/Products/Product.cfm?Group_ID=20021#ordering

Ayuh,....    In all the years I've been runnin' my homemade chunk wood boiler, which is directly tied into the house hydronic system, pressurized to 12lb, not vented,...
The fire has Never gone out from September til May of each year,.....

It's also a natural draft system, which I added a blower to in the 2nd or 3rd season,...
I leave the blower, Off, except when temps drop below, 'bout -10°,...
With the recent temps of down to -37°, I had to leave the blower, on, just to make enough btus to keep the house warm,....
The blower also helps alot, if I allow the bed of coals to burn too long,...

I piggy-backed the blower to the draft door motor, which is powered by an aqua-stat, through a toggle switch, so I can use the blower, or not,....
When the switch is On, the blower blows whenever the draft door is open, 'n of course, shuts off when the draft door closes,....

I understand yer frustration at findin' controllers that do things not normally found in other heatin' systems,....
I want to add a powered Damper in the smoke pipe, 'n tie it to the blower/ draft controller,....
I need a self-resettin' adjustable count-down timer,...
Ideally,...
When the aqua-stat clicks On, the power would open the draft door, start the blower, 'n open the smokepipe damper,....
After say in 10 to 30 minutes, the start up smoke will have disappeared, 'n the blower would turn off, 'n the smokepipe damper would close,.....
Once the aqua-stat is satisfied, the draft door would close, 'n everything would reset for the next cycle,...
Between cycles, both the draft door, 'n smokepipe damper would be closed,...

'bout the closest things I've found, I'd need to use relays to do opposite of what the count-down timers would think they're doin',.....
That would be usin' delayed start up switches(HVAC) to instead power up, then shut off,...

Anyways,....
Another aqua-stat could be set up as a low limit switch, to shut Everything Off in yer case,.....
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