Pellet heads!! What's up today?

How long can or do you Harman owners go before scraping the burn pot? It looks like you can scrap the burn pot without shutting the stove down? That seems to be a nice option.

 

I will swipe out the ash "mustache" at the front of the pot once a day on my living room stove - just because I see it. I scrape the pot a couple times a week. On the basement stove, I swipe the mustache every time I add pellets and scrape the pot about once per week. Yes, you can do the scraping while the stove is burning although I tend to do it while at the tail end of a shut down. 99% of the time I run my stoves in room temp mode of thermostats so the stoves cycle on and off. It is only during certain conditions that I need them to run continuously (extreme cold and/or wind).

I do a basic clean of the stoves every 3-4 weeks. I burn middling pellets that produce more ash than if I burned the higher quality pellets, so clean more often than some people. Every couple of months I do an entire cleaning of the stoves.

 

Thanks, I didn't realize those stoves have that little maintenance compared to mine.

So if you run the stove continuously, (not sure what that mode is called?) will it or can your house become to warm? Is there a feature that the stove will ramp up or down based off the temp needed? Not sure, thought I seen somewhere that you could have a fire but no heat, it would redirect the heat out the vent?

 

Hannaford brand coffee just went up. You guessed it, about 25%.

 

They are rather forgiving in the maint dept as well as what they will burn which is almost anything.

 

That is Stove Temp mode where the stove will monitor itself to keep a constant temperature of the stove. This uses the ESP (Exhaust Sensor Probe) to tell the stove's temp. It can idle down to almost no flame and stay in maintenance burn and ramp back up when needed, it wont shut down. This is good for cold snaps when you dont want a lot of shut down/restarts. Or someone like me who burns from below in an unfinished basement and just lets the stove run 24/7 once the cold weather sets in late Dec or so until shoulder season in the spring.

When in room temp and auto, it will start and stop altogether using the room temp probe (wire/temp sensor attached to the stove telling it the room temp) and will shut down completely/restart when it gets cool enough in the room. You can also switch to Room Temp manual mode where it will idle burn instead of shutting down.

 

Almost sounds slightly complicated and confusing, my current stove has almost no buttons or options.

Thanks for the information. We only get junk pellets mostly anyhow. If anyone has information or tips feel free to add them.

Still not sure if you can have a fire with no heat coming out?

 

It does sound confusing but its just the opposite.

Once you use it, its not difficult.

Maybe someone else can explain it simpler than I did. My noggin doesnt fire on all cylinders at times since treatment.

 

I'm sure after using it some, it will make sense. I'm just use to a simple stove.

 

It can be confusing at first, but it is actually simple once you get used to the jargon.

There is room temp mode. Where the stove turns itself on and off according to heat calls.

There is room temp mode with the ignitor switch set to "off" so that the stove will not actually shut down, but ramp the flame up and down according to heat calls

There is stove temp mode (also called constant burn mode) where you set the unit where you want it, the stove will use a constant amount of pellets. It adjusts the room fan speed to keep the room temp constant and blows any excess heat out the exhaust. The flame will never go out unless you run out of pellets. Here, the auto ignitor switch allows for auto lighting at the beginning but that is all it does.

There is a way to set it at stove temp mode where it has a "fireplace' effect, by setting the temp dial below a certain setting.

I've included an older manual for my P61a (everything would be the same for a P43). Look at the pictures on page 18 first. Then go back to page 17 and read the description of the modes (it runs into page 18)

 

I will read through that. I'm looking at buying used. I'm going to try and pick something up this summer. I've already found 2 different xxv for 2k. I noticed the newer xxv have a digital controller, not sure if those last or not.

 

I looked over the manuals, maybe I missed it. Can't you hook up a regular thermostat? I would probably try and get one that could be programmed and wifi.

 

If you are looking at wireless, some of them work from what I've heard.

I have a wired thermostats on my stoves that I hooked up in-line with the room temp probes. There are other, maybe better ways, but you would have to go to another forum to find those directions (I'm assuming they are still there).

 

If you have a thermostat hooked up do you lose any features, like the stove throttling up or down?

 

I have a Skytech wireless remote connected to our P43, hooks up in series on the room temp probe wire. You lose no functions of the stove. I just set the stove temp dial to 85 just in case the Skytech would fail so you wouldn't have it just keep burning.

We run the P43 in room temp/manual, set the Skytech to a swing range of 2 degrees. So if the temp on the Skytech is set to 72, when it calls for heat it ramps up the stove from the maintenance burn to full, drops back when Skytech reaches 74 degrees. Kicks on at 70.

Sam

 

Elliot Hospital in Manchester called yesterday and my back MRI got moved up to May 13th from June 9. Still in a lot of pain, left leg still affected. Had to stop taking Advil, developed peptic ulcers from taking it every night. As my docs haven't offered anything for pain or sleep,Tylenol and OTC sleep aids do nothing, I'm reduced to BenGay and heating pad for any relief. Get maybe 3+ hours of sleep but that's in spurts over a 8 hour period.

sam

 

That sounds like it would work great. Nice option to turn the thermostat off and let the probe do it's thing.

 

My dad has been having the same issues. He slipped on some ice about 3 months ago. Took 2 weeks to get a doctor's appointment, then 5 weeks for a MRI. Tore his rotator cuff. 3 weeks to meet with the surgeon that said he can't do it and needs a different specialist surgeon. No surgery scheduled and still has 2 more weeks for his consult. Also zero pain meds offered or giving.

 

Most of the timeI run my stoves in room temp / auto so they turn themselves on/off per the thermostat. I believe my thermostat is +/- 1.5*. My set point is 68 or 69 when I am in the office all day, then it is 68 or 67 at night.

I could run them in stove temp during the coldest days, but due to my particular circumstances, I find that I like using the feed rate better (and I hate the thought of "extra" heat being pushed out the exhaust ). I'll set my thermostat at 72*, then set the feed rate at a really low number so that it is chasing my set temp, but can't actually hit it unless it warms up outside and/or the wind stops howling. If/when it does actually get too warm for me, I know it is time to reduce the thermostat's set temp, raise the feed rate back up to normal and let the stove power on/off as needed.

 

medical care for the average person in the US has really changed over the last 25 years. And not for the better. My PCP is basically useless. My ortho doc said they're not going to push me aside, that he will work to find out what's going on and try to get me better. So far it's the only positive thing going on.

Most days I feel like a zombie. Took me 2 days to do the rear brakes on Lori's Rav4. Feeling it today, the rain ain't helping.

sam