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[mf40diesel]

Granted I've only been running my g200 one week.., and the wood I've been burning hasn't been my best (saving that for the colder weather ahead) and the temps have been really warm here.... but my buddy runs his gasser ( central) with a 10 deg differential. Seems that it would keep the coals alive better and I wouldn't think it would use any more wood. More frequent burns, but each one is quicker.

Thinking about adjusting it in the morning. What's people's thoughts?

[mlappin]

Haven’t had any issues with keeping the coal alive with my G400, it does have a built in timer function, if after x amount of time goes by with no call for heat it starts up and runs for 3 minutes, then every 30 minutes after that till it drops to the cut in temp.

Think the larger differential is for a longer run time as well to help avoid the stops and starts that tend to happen with tighter differentials.

[schoppy]

Can the differential setting be changed by the home owner or does a dealer have to do that? The stated efficiency is steady state (when it is running) so shortening the run cycles may lower the efficiency some?

I believe the cycling during no calls for heat is reprogrammable also for longer durations and shorter times between them. Not sure if the dealer has to do it or if the owner can.

I was wondering if anyone has been running their G series in this warmer weather and if they have had problems keeping it going?

[mlappin]

The later models are more programmable by the owner while 2015’s need a chip to unlock the module,

[hondaracer2oo4]

Longer burn cycles equal greater efficiency. If you cycle more often the wood will breakdown more quickly to wood gas which is wasted by making its way out of the chimney in between cycles. Not sure if you had a conventional before this but you would know how much less wood you are consuming in comparison if you were. Also crappy soft wood is going to breakdown quickly while sitting on a coal bed. There is a minimum amout of wood that needs to be burned to keep te boiler at temp and the coal bed alive this time of year. You will see when it gets colder that you will use a minimum amount more wood over what you are using now in comparison to how cold it gets. I wouldn't bother screwing wht any if the settings, I've been running for a year now with my g200. I bumped the diff to 165-185 which causes te high limit snap disc to trip at 190 not allowing the unit to run until it hit 140 again. That caused my coal bed to die and boiler to go out. I'm back to 160-180. I also bumped the low temp cut out up to 140 to save my coal bed if the boiler ran out of wood. The problem there is that if you go above 140 and the snap disc pops off then it won't restart automatically, it will trip low temp cut out as soon as the snap disc repowers the boiler at 140.

[mf40diesel]

Well, I changed it back to 20 deg differential. So far so good. I guess it's just a learning curve. Hopefully it went out because of the wood that I chose.   Seems on these warmer days that we have been having the unit will got nearly all day without firing.

Last night it was 28 out, filled it pretty much to just below the door, this morning there was not much at all left in there. I can't wait till I get to my bigger wood.

[hondaracer2oo4]

Bigger wood? How big is that? What wood species and moisture content are you burning now? The key to the gasser is a good 2-3 inch coal bed at all times. Yes the heat load this time of year can be low enough to only run a 160-180 burn cycle 1-2 times per day. That's what the every 45 mins for 3 mins run time is for.

[BIG AL]

I run my g-200 at the factory 160-180 on\off temps. Only change I made was I reset my cycle times to burn for 5 min every 30. I ran my boiler all the way until Memorial Day last year before it was warm enough outside that it was not burning enough cycles to keep it lit. It has been running for the last couple weeks even with daytime temps up in the 60's and nights in the 40's been running fine. wanted to get rid of some old wood I had around , doesn't run well on crappy wood either.

[schoppy]

Were you able to change the cycle times yourself? My G200 has gone out twice and I am sure it is because the temps are so mild and light loads. Have you had any problems over heating with the different cycle times?

[mf40diesel]

All of my good wood is a mix of red oak, ash, beech, birch and maple. About 3 cords are cut 14" long which was cut for our little jotul.  The wood I cut this summer is all 22", same species.  That's what I'm looking forward to, is the longer pieces. 

I also have some old white pine that I am adding in as well, trying to save the best hardwood for winter.

[hondaracer2oo4]

The drier the better too. Anything under 25 burns well like it should, not eating the coal bed up just trying to dry out the wood.

[BIG AL]

Slim was able to get get me into the controller then it wasn't hard to change my settings. With 5 min on every 30 I've never even seen it rise in temp at all but it seems to keep enough coals on warmer days. Nice dry wood seems to be better as well as Hondaracer said too.

[hondaracer2oo4]

My interval is still 3 mins Every 45 and I am burning two year old maple. I grab one degree ussually when it does the timer burn for three mins.

[mlappin]

All of my good wood is a mix of red oak, ash, beech, birch and maple. About 3 cords are cut 14" long which was cut for our little jotul.  The wood I cut this summer is all 22", same species.  That's what I'm looking forward to, is the longer pieces. 

I also have some old white pine that I am adding in as well, trying to save the best hardwood for winter.

Kinda the same issue I have with my G400, I have access to a firewood processor, had it set for average of 17” pieces. Placed those two deep in the G400, issue is the fire burns up the center first, so then I started stacking another row on top over the middle. Works a lot better, works best with 33-36” pieces though. I think I’m going to try setting the processor at maximum length of 24” and see what happens, just stack it in the center. Still thinking about stepping down a size. Rest of the windows in the house are changed out and I tightened the shop up considerably trying to keep mosquitos out after the 13” of rain we had over 48 hours in August. If I go with a G200 24” ought to work really well.

[mf40diesel]

So right before I left for work,  I set the run time to 4 min every 30.  Seems to be working good.

I do have a question for anyone that might answer.  The wife went out a couple nights ago to add wood before she went to bed and let me know that the boiler, while dormant (probably just finished firing), had crept up to 185.  I had seen it before get to 183, maybe it was 184, I can't really remember.  Still a long ways away from 212, however I thought someone on here had talked about some "snap disk," being triggered when the stove hits 185 which then shuts the stove  down until it resets at 140.  That clearly didn't happen in this case, as it is still trucking along.

185 isnt all that far away from the set point of 180...  I would hate to have this snap disk go off and leave the wife and kids dealing with that when I am at work.