Outdoor Wood Furnace Info
Outdoor Furnaces - Manufacturers with NON EPA-Certified Models Only => RidgeWood Stoves, defunct, support only => Topic started by: intensedrive on February 24, 2016, 10:54:46 PM
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Came home tonight snow is blowing high winds, boiler temp is low 138. Add some wood, snow blowed the driveway come back 45 minutes later aquastat is dark. The pump is still running I can hear it. They installed a light switch that controls the aquastat, try flipping the switch on and off nothing. At this point the switch failed or the aquastat failed. How do I trouble shoot this? Going to be a long night ..
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Went back outside the damper door is open, but the aquastat is dark.
Just wanted to note originally the damper was closed and aquastat was dark. This time aquastat is dark but the damper was open. Right now I turned off the heat to the house and I have a good judgment were the water level should be when it reaches 180. Going to see if the damper closes around 180 by water level. Hopefully I can limp through the night. Anyone know the model number of the aquastat used?
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Damper was still open near boil. Kicked on the heat. Seems no communication between aquastat and the damper. I had to replace this last year, seems premature, I caulked around every point since I lost it during the same storm last year. Moisture is making its way in some where. I suspect when the wind swirls enought under the siding moisture enters game over..
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I'm probably a bit late but do you have a voltage tester? If so start checking the terminals as the power comes on to the stove, it should all be wired in series starting with the high limit aqua stat or snap disc.
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Center boiler uses the same thing it's a love tcs
http://www.dwyer-inst.com/Product/Temperature/Switches/DigitalPanelMount/SeriesTCS/Ordering?gclid=CLenv8L7kssCFUwvgQodnoABwg
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Not sure how to trouble shoot your problem but check your conduit lines. On my stove they were rated for indoor use. I'm sure the same was used for most of their stoves.
Man I'm glad I got rid of that thing!
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My Ridgewood does not have overtemp protection on it. I assume they are all wired alike. That will eliminate some components to check. I had trouble with my controller last year. I called Ridgewood and got the part number, but they sent one also. It's a Love controller which is part of the Dwyer conglomerate. I'm at work now, but I can check part numbers when I get home. What I ended up finding was loose wires going to the back of the controller. If you decide to pull the controller, be careful, there's not much slack in the lines. If the controller display is dark and the damper door is pulled open, chances are the controller is toast. Something on the board inside the controller has shorted out allowing voltage to hold the output relay in the "energized" state. Or the relay contacts have welded. You might also want to check the wires where they enter the actual terminal on the back of the controller. If somebody carelessly jammed the stripped wires in the terminal, it's possible that a stray strand got pushed back and is making contact with the adjacent terminal. Hopefully this gives you something check..........
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Hi,
Thanks for all the good information and support. Staying up late I noticed if I cut power on and off to the aquastat via the switch on the back of the stove sometimes the aquastat would display something like a I OR L, obviously the stat is bad. My big concern is why am I loosing a stat back to back seasons, these things should last years. Like suggested I will check all connections, I replaced it myself last year looked pretty good. With 50MPH Winds and all the snow blowing I think moisture is making its way up into the stat somewhere, I will investigate further when I get my new Love Control. Called Ridgewood someone did answer and his name was Jeff, gave credit card shipping out tomorrow morning. The new stove is on its second season, little upset about loosing a controller back to back. I thought the moisture was coming up and around the stat, so I put a heavy bead all around that area, gonna be a pain to get the cover off. I hoped I fixed the the problem for years to come looks like I'm back to the drawing board.
For now I have a small board inserted to create some air to the firebox so I can get heat to my home and hope it doesn't boil over. As the outside temp rises I will jump increase the load demand by increasing the indoor temperature. What I figure for the next few days just a balancing act, watching the water levels and increasing load when needed to keep the water temp down.
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We had a lot of trouble with the love controls, it seems whenever a large amp draw like a solenoid sticking happened the love control would fry. Check the wiring to see if there is a short that happens when the wind blows or snow gets inside!
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I believe those Love controllers are available through Grainger also.
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Not familiar with a Love control, could it be swapped over to a Ranco?
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Yes Chicken farmer, they are available from Grainger but they are programmed for cooling, it will need to be reprogrammed, if anybody needs the step by step on that, PM me and I'll talk you through it.
Yes Marty, it can be changed to a different style, it won't be pretty but it can be done!
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So, I was just checking out that Ranco controller. It looks pretty nice and has the Nema 4X enclosure available. Maybe that is the way to go instead of building a control. Are the Ranco controllers pretty reliable?? Should be a pretty simple install.
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Was hoping for the part today, looks like monday. I turned the power back on to the controller it actually turned on and was in alarm, silenced the alarm and checked my r0 and r2 and looked right. Got the fire back to 180 damper didn't shut. Crap thought I was going to get lucky
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I checked out the Ranco controller as well, and it does look nice. I really should have a spare controller here just in case, and thinking about swapping out to the Ranco if they are reliable. With the problems you have had, Chicken farmer and intensedrive, and Slim saying that they have had a lot of problems with Love controls, I would be interested in swapping mine out. Anyone using a Ranco, or used one in the past??
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Used a Ranco for the high temp cutout on my waste oil boiler.
Easy to program and wire, seems like a popular controller.
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Heatmaster used a few Love controls and they were trouble. Switched back to Ranco on conventional units. Ranco is simpler and more reliable.
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So far, this year I haven't had any trouble with my Love controller, but last year I changed out 2 of them. I have a spare on the shelf as well as 2 spare solenoids (changed 1 this year). I'll be interested to hear what Slim has to say about the Ranco controller. Maybe that will be a good summer project. I'll be adding an over temp aquastat after this season also.
Link to Ranco controller with Nema 4X encolsure:
http://www.supplyhouse.com/Ranco-ETC-141000-000-Single-Stage-ETC-Temperature-Control-w-Sensor-120-240V-Input-Plastic-Enclosure
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I think the Ranco is a far better choice than the Love control, simpler to wire, I typically don't need my glasses to see the terminals.
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Sounds like a good summer project for me as well, install the Ranco and I have been thinking about installing an actuator in place of the solenoid.
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Sounds like a good summer project for me as well, install the Ranco and I have been thinking about installing an actuator in place of the solenoid.
Do you need a battery back up then like Natures Comfort uses on their GT6000 to close the actuator in case of power failure?
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Holly crap, tried replacing the love control tonight 10 degrees, wires were rigid as heck. Took me 2 hours as the wires kept popping out of the terminals, it is no lie ridgewood leaves you no slack, what a nightmare. Its in there and wired but not to my satisfaction waiting for the warmer weather next week to make it right. Made sure no wires were toughing one another, its close but should buy me some time for warmer temps. I must be a amateur... Towards the end No feeling in my hands.... Had to redo the process probably 10 times... Every time I went to place the controller back in and screw it down something popped loose. Good thing I had a jug of beer to keep me sane... Swearing all the way for natural gas tonight.
Damn near 2am... Got the beast up to 180 degrees damper kicked off. Did my job Family is warm, house is toasty, of course will not get a thank you.. its expected at this point. Would like a thank you.. Never is going to happen..
:o
Last four days Depending on temperature I have been adjusting the amount of sticks I put in the damper, colder I raise the damper with more sticks, day time less... Kids and wife looking at me as a mad man.... I navigated by water volume for 4 days. We had some hot days last weekend made some very small slivers to prevent overheating. If you are truly a boiler king you know temperature of boiler by water volume. I know my boiler water levels to almost exact level of the boiler temperature.
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You are now one with the boiler Grasshopper. :thumbup:
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They used THHN jacketed wire in these stoves. It's a very tough plastic that becomes extremely stiff when cold. If I do the Ranco install like has been kicked around on this thread, all that wiring will get changed out to MTW. MTW (machine tool wire) jacket stays flexible but the cross sectional size is larger.
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Do you need a battery back up then like Natures Comfort uses on their GT6000 to close the actuator in case of power failure?
I have an automatic whole house generator I installed when I bought the house so this is not an issue for me. I am definitely going to do the Ranco swap out and re wire the stove to relocate the controls on the left side of my stove which is on the east side and out of most of the wind and blowing snow.
Glad to here you got through it and got it fixed intensedrive.