Crouzet Millenium 3 Programmable Logic Controllers?

Anyone consider upgrading the controls for the DF520 with a PLC? The Crouzet's Millenium 3 Programmable Logic Controller looks nice. This might be a good substitute at least for the timer.

Dave

The M3, is a good little PLC, and could be made to control an EFM or any other boiler, its just a matter of writing the software for the particular boiler, and then test, test and test some more. You also need an analog temperature sensor for the PLC to read the actual boiler water temperature.

I've done it for my Harman VF3K, but I would not assume that what works for a bed type stoker would automatically work for the EFM. Could it be made to work, sure, how much coal would it save?, hard for me to say since I've never seen an EFM in person. If temps tend to overshoot the setpoint by quite a bit then it might be a good candidate for some electronics.

The contacts on the M3 are rated at 8 amps and might be a little light for the stoker motor on this boiler also.

Highlander,

Do you have any recommendations for an analog temperature sensor that can be used in a well for the EFM?

Thanks,

Dave

Dave

The sensor that I use, is also from Crouzet, its a 89750153 part #, here is a link http://www.crouzet-usa.com/catalog/_tempm2.shtml
I could not find them online, Newark Electroncis shows the wrong part when you put this number in.

What you want is a temperature transmitter that will give you a variable signal between 0 and 10V. Most industrial controls are 4-20 ma, or current loop, since that is more noise resistant in industrial environments. Current loop sensors can be converted to voltage by putting a resistor across the input, usually around 500 ohms.

Ebay is a good place to look, there are lots of used industrial electronics there.

Another option would be to use the Johnson controls analog controller, A350PS-2C, which is similar to the control that ships with the Harman VF3K boiler, the difference being that its output is a variable voltage as opposed to a contact closure. Both these sensors are in the $100+ price range.

Hope this helps

Bill A.