I sent a brief response and now I uploaded 2 pictures of the left and right side connections. Hope this helps.

gad

see the attached pics

I remember that too. Now that you brought it up, those bad distant memories just came back. lol

gad

Thanks for the feedback. Before I installed the conversion kit, I was getting smoke up the feed auger and eventually into the bin, which eventually came out in the basement. The bin lid isn't air tight. With this smoke came all the unpleasantries in the smoke. The pellets in the old copper feed tube became sticky and the bin auger froze several times. Leaving us w/o heat until it was discovered when I came home from work to a cold house. Not good. Even the feed tube had a gunk buildup at and right after the 90 degree connection. Yes I remember the pot auger kepping very hot. I had to shut everything down and clean out the feed auger and copper pipe. What a pain.

With the conversion, I have not had this problem.

Regarding the insurance issue, I do not know. But I would think the insurance company would be happy with the conversion since it solves a safety problem.
gad

Yes the kit came with the replacemnt motor. Yes it stays above the holes. when I first start to fire it up, I lift the 4 inch feed pipe from the bin at the rubber 4 inch to 2 inch reducer and add pellets up to the top of the 4 inch reducer. I do that afew times and it helps get the pellets up and keep them up past the holes. AFter that it maintains the level above the holes with no proble,.

gad

The conversion kit has worked great. Best $187 I ever spent. Didn't cleanout the 4-inch supply pipe from the feed bin all year.

See the attached photo. This photo is looking down onto the small blower. The blower used to be mounted on the left side of the unit and blow directly into the pot from the left (when facing the front of the unit). Now with the conversion kit, they T the connection and also bring air around the other side. Now you have air blowing into the pot from opposite directions. This has eliminated the smoke traveling up the feed auger and back into the bin which holds the pellets.

gad

The conversion kit helps with minimizing smoke back into the bin and prevents auger jamming from the feed bin to the pot auger. The kit include a T air conncetion with the fan added to one side going into the pot and the other end from the T wraps around the front and brings air to the other side of the unit. See the attached picture to see what the connection looks like. Also the feed line pipe from the pellet bin has been expanded to 4 inch diameter. The auger is the same but has a new motor. This new 4 inch PVC pipe takes all sizes of pellets including fines. I still sift my pellets though befire adding them to the hopper. The 4 inch line (see picture) has a 90 degree on the end and drops into a 4 inch to 2 inch diameter rubber boot reducer. The reducer fits onto the pot auger pipe. For approx $190 it has been great. I installed mine myself. Any other ques, let me know. Well worth the $$.

gad

Here is what the new concersion kit air connection looks like.

gad

My draft is usually reading right at 0.05. Thats where I like to keep it. My fan opening as I mentioned to Kevin is about 1/4 to 1/8 and its burning great.

Gad

I am running with the fan open maybe 1/4 to 1/8. Seems to be working great good luck. I have had my unit since 2008, what a cost savings vs propane.

gad

Regarding the settings, my new ones were mailed with the conversion kit 1 week ago from LDJ.

Kevin

The draft settings are the same irrespective of the BTU values. I am running straight pellets, that maybe the difference. Yes corn burns alot hotter when I tried it. My draft is set at 0.5.

The larger diameter PVC 3" pipe, which replaced the 2" copper pipe from the bin to the pot auger is because of the variability in pellet size. Also it allows the fines to drop to the bottom of the PVC and get pushed to the end w/o jamming the auger w/in the pipe. I also screen my pellets through an 1/8 screened box that I constructed. I was getting about 1/8 cup of fines per bag. This method (screening) eliminates that issue.

gad

Its a great furnance, especially with the new conversion kit installed. Just be careful with the instructions for installation, they tell you to put the motor in the wrong place. I found out the hard way. It relieves alot of the jamming problems and the smoke back into the bin. If he doesn't have the conversion kit I suggest that you buy it ($256).

As I mentioned, I am running straight pellets this year. In the past I ran a bag pellets to 1 small bucket corn. haven't gotten a hold of corn this year, plus the increased price. With the conversion kit, they sent me new Variable BTU output instructions. It lists both settings for corn and settings for pellets. It will be (BTU off/on). For corn its 165K 1.5/3, 132K 1.5/2, 100K 1.5/1, 90K 2.5/1, 80K 2/1, and 65K 3/1. For pellets its 151K 0/3, 125K 1.5/3, 100K 1.5/2, 90K 1.5/1, and 80K 1.5/1. There isn't a setting for pellets for 65K. From the original instructions when I purchased the unit, these settings above only changed for the 90K BTU values. In addition, the original BTU values for 165K and 132K have been reduced to 151K and 125K, respectively as noted above but the settings have remained the same. For the on/off low fire settings they have remained the same at 2 on and 6 off.

Thanks for getting back to me. Yes the directions came with the unit. I called LDJ and they knew what the problem was instantly. I followed the directions. The directions were so poorly written (I followed them instead of using logic) and put the slower motor in the pot auger vs. the bin auger. So the way I installed it, the bin auger was pushing them faster then the pot auger could push them into the pot. I changed them around as all is well. I have to say the air blowing in on both sides has caused no smoke back into the bin

I assume others have had this problem too.

I just installed the new conversion kit, with air flow now on both sides, different motor (3 rpm) for auger drop into second auger and new larger diameter feed (3") from bin to pot auger. It appears that the feed from the bin to the pot auger is way to much and its (the pellets) overflowing onto the floor.

With the kit they gave new settings for burning pellets. I am running at 90K BTU. For the variable input BTU I have the green arrow at 1.5 red arrow at 1. What are people using for the low fire/idle settings? I am at red 0.2 and green 0.6

Did I hook something up wrong? They gave no directions on assembly of the new 3inch diameter feed from the bin.

I am using the variable BTU LDJ. Works great. Have the air intake open about 1/4 and the flame appears to be high and it wafes over the metal plate. Is that too high? Also seems that I dont burn efficiently enough. Feed rate (factory settings) too high? Not enough air intake?

I got a great deal on pellets here in NJ this year. I paid $225/ton this year vs. $290/ton last year. I dont know why the big drop in price this year. I was thinking about getting a delivery from Lowe's or Home Depot but be careful of the brand. One brand I tried (just a few bags)the pellets were 2-3 inches long and a high percentage of fines, which caused auger jamming problems last year. Now I screen each bag before I add to the bin.

I have the variable LDJ. Works great and heats a 3,000 sq ft house just fine. Only running at 95K BTU. Had a problem with the augering out of the bin last year. I figured out that I was adding too much carbon per bin full. It was gumming up the auger, get stuck and pulled out the electrical and shutoff. Now I add 1 teaspoonful in every fouth bin full. I also am screening my pellets before I put them in the bin. More labor but it helps. I run a ratio of 40 lbs of pellets to afew buckets (gallon size) of corn. I have been using normal window screening and thats too fine. You would be amazed the amount of fines you get in a 40 lb bag of pellets. I take out about 1/8 cup every 2 bags. Watch the manufacturerers. Some of them are terrible with % of fines.