Harman P61 Black marks on Fire Bricks in fire box?

Hello

A friend has a Harman P61 for 4 years and it just started making black marks on the fire bricks.
She gave the stove a deep cleaning today and after 10 mins it started making these black marks.
She tried different pellets and it still happens
Any ideas what may be causing this?
See pic below

 

I guess I would suggest looking at the flame guide (is it bent, or not seated correctly?), then check the burn pot gasket. While you're at it, take a draft reading.....hi and lo draft is...? Check intake damper as well )draft test will help ya pretty fast here). Looks to me like the fire is too close to the firebrick....cant tell well from the pic though. Has she changed brands of pellets?

 

I'm experiencing the same thing. I take care to make sure my guide seats properly but maybe it worn? The stove is 7 years old and it's an original guide.

 

time to replace that guide, swabbie! They are good for a couple years, then they deflect, don't meet the rear correctly, and the flame isn't disbursed right.......Ive not seen one that old that is still good.......

 

Mine is original since 2009, so its on its 7th winter burning about 4 ton per year. It appears to be fine and no flame issues or black fire brick.

 

I'll be on that tomorrow. I'll report back with any changes.

 

Same here, mine is 2008 and I have no problems with it.

 

Please do...I'm curious on this

But of course, now I am looking at the flame and thinking, what if it does need to be replaced.....

 

Yup, now you're thinking about it and won't be able to let it go.

FYI my buddy just replaced his flame guide because he was getting black scorch marks on the back wall of the stove too. The replacement guide did the trick.

 

I'm doing the same thing Accentra guide is old too prolly replace it for next season .

 

subsailor

Cheapest I have seen so far and Woodmans is only 30 minutes from here, I have been there a few times when looking at pellet grills. Wonder of the huge parts inventory is actually at the store location or somewhere else? For 21 bucks, might as well see if it makes a difference, they dont last forever.

Harman Stove Flame Guide

A friend may need a control board for their XXV and Woodmans was again the cheapest I saw for that too.

 

Thanks for the link G , those are some Great prices , pretty sure that Woodsman will be getting my business as I want to assemble a few spare parts as the stove starts to age

 

Picked up the new flame guide today, $30. The $21 price you saw is excellent. $30 was the cheapest I saw online doing a quick search. Anyway, I won't know for sure until I turn my firebricks around, but it seems that it's working a lot better. In addition to the black marks I had a lot ash build up on the bricks. I haven't had any buildup since I restarted the stove. I looked the old one over and didn't see any noticeable difference, but evidently there is. I asked my dealer how long they usually last and was told about 3 years. Mines been 7, so I guess it was due.

 

Same here , glad that all seems to be working better , that seals the deal for me , a new flame guide for next season . thanks for the up date sub

 

Shipping plus "handling and insurance" double the price. You did great at 30 bucks out the door.

At work we ship supplies to our customers so these places that tack on extra for "handling and insurance" are full of chit.

Handling and insurance is $4.50
Handling=put it in a box that might cost them no more than 40 cents if they have to buy them
Insurance-Bull chit since both UPS and Fedex include $100.00 insurance in their shipping charge

Shipping is $14.05-BS again, UPS or Fedex will charge about 8-9 bucks for this package and that includes insurance.

Dont advertise a low rate and then make up for it with BS charges after the fact. Just price it right to begin with. Here is to hoping that it can be picked up at the store AND at the online price.

 

Hello

Here is an Update. The P61 stove is approx 4 years old.
I went over and disconnected the OAK after cleaning the fire bricks in the back.
We checked the flame guide and flapper valve and they both seemed fine.
Then we started the stove and it still make the bricks black. See new pic below!
This happened only during startup when the burn pot was filling up and the fire was lighting up.
It seemed to happen when the there was alot of pellets in the pot.
After startup we wiped the fire bricks clean and they stayed clean.
However this is a problem because during every startup it makes the fire box blacker and blacker. :-(

Could it be the exhaust blower or circuit board? ? ?

 

How did you wipe them clean with the stove going?

 

Open the door and use a paint brush.