A few notes to help others on the L53 sytem

[blackhawk]

I just finished building my first kiln using the L53 unit from Nyle.  I learned several things that I thought I would share to others that are going to use the L53.  First off, customer service from K-Guy (Stan) and Byron were top notch.  Every email and phone call was returned in a couple of hours, usually in under an hour.  Every question I had was answered accurately and quickly.  Many thanks to Stan and Byron.

1) The L53 runs on a 120 volt, 15 amp circuit.  The amperage isn't called out in the manual.
2) The power vent which is the exhaust for your kiln should be mounted on the same wall as the DH unit. It should be mounted low on the wall.  This is shown in the L53 manual but the plan drawings have "intake" and "exhaust" reversed on the vent labels, so it is confusing.
3) The power vent is wired directly from the control unit.  So, you have to run separate wires from the control unit, through the wall and to the power vent.  
4) The heater in the DH unit does not run when the compressor is on because that would overload the 15 amp circuit.  You can wire in auxiliary heat to the control unit via a relay so that the auxiliary heat can run while the compressor is on.  This is what I did with Stan's help.
5) The compressor has a 5 minute delay from the time that you see "ON" in the display before it actually starts.  This is to keep the compressor from being cycled off and on too quickly.  
6) The size of the control panel has changed from what it used to be in all the YouTube videos that I watched.  It is wider at about 15 inches, see pic below.  I used a truck tool box outside my kiln to house it and it would only fit turned sidewise, but it worked OK.



 

[blackhawk]

I ended up changing the power vent configuration quite a bit.  The way it comes, it is to be mounted with the fan side against the inside wall.  Then the louvers are mounted facing the lumber stack.  So, when the fan comes on, it is pulling the louvers open.  The entire power vent assembly sticks out from the inside wall several inches if mounted in this fashion.  You will also have an open hole through your outside wall that you would have to line with something and IMO you would need another louver or screen on the outside wall to keep out rain and critters.  Pic below is how it comes shipped for this configuration:



My change was that I flipped the fan around inside the sheet metal housing.  Then I turned the connection box 90 degrees and mounted it as close to the fan end as possible.  I took off the flanges on the side opposite the fan and then inserted the sheet metal box into the wall from the inside until the connection box hit the wall.  Like this:





So, now the fan pushes the louvers open which are now mounted on the outside wall.  Per the instructions that came with the louvers, they are designed to be pushed open.  Here is what it looks like on the outside of the kiln:



 

With my 2x4 wall and 2" foam insulation, the sheet metal housing extended perfectly right up to the exterior sheathing.  The louver on the outside makes a very neat installation and saves a knee banger on the inside.  I added the little piece of aluminum at the top to help shed the rain.  It has worked perfect for me in this configuration.
 

[blackhawk]

One last thing on the louvers.  I saw a couple of YouTube videos where they had trouble with the louvers opening or closing and they were using bungees to assist.  I found that if the louvers are too tight or loose, all you have to do is adjust the screws in the corners that I show in the pic below:


 

[trimguy]

Thanks for this write up.

[Southside]

Nice job, but how did you cut that T-111 siding on your mill? 

[K-Guy]

I ended up changing the power vent configuration quite a bit

Yes you did. The power vent is installed backwards, it is supposed to blow out of the kiln not into it.

[blackhawk]

I ended up changing the power vent configuration quite a bit

Yes you did. The power vent is installed backwards, it is supposed to blow out of the kiln not into it.

The fan is blowing out of the kiln.  I flipped the fan inside the sheet metal housing so that it blows in the opposite direction from the way that it was shipped.  This allowed me to put the louvers on the outside of the kiln. 

[blackhawk]

I monitored my power usage on my first load and just got my power bill.  I used 567 kwh of electricity over 15 days.  Average temperature over that period was 40°F with some nights getting close to the low 20s.  The 567 kwh increased my power bill by roughly $80.  So, if I used the kiln non-stop over an entire month, I'm looking at roughly $160 of electricity cost at this time of the year.  I only ran for two weeks because all my lumber was air dried to 15% or less when it went into the kiln.

[trimguy]

How many board feet did you put in the kiln ?

[blackhawk]

How many board feet did you put in the kiln ?

About 500 bf.

[trimguy]

Thanks.

[blackhawk]

I am on my third load now and I noticed that my compressor was running a lot after my lumber got below 20% MC.  I added an hour meter to the compressor and it ran almost 11 hours with only 10 ounces of water coming out.  I put 3 different hygrometers in my kiln very close to the wet bulb sensor.  The hygrometers all read the relative humidity within 2% of each other.  The hygrometers were showing the relative humidity to be 10% less than what I was getting from the WB sensor.  I called Stan and he said that my wet bulb must be drying out too quickly, giving me a false reading on the wet bulb.  Stan gave me suggestions to move the WB sensor as close as possible to the reservoir and try adding some shielding around the WB sensor.  Stan said that too much air blowing across the WB sensor can dry it out.  I tried about 12 different shield combinations and did move the WB sensor closer.  After all that, I got the WB sensor to read within 5% RH to the 3 hygrometers.  This was the best that I could do.  I now keep a bluetooth Govee hygrometer hanging right over the WB sensor for comparison as you can see in the pic below.  I just cheat the WB temperature setting in the controller to match the Govee hygrometer.  One other thing that helped is that I put a wire tie loosely over the end of the wick so that air could not enter from the open end.  I cut off the wick once a week to get a fresh piece on the WB sensor.