Holy chit! Trouble with my Harman

There really aren't "hidden" places in any stove if you take the time and read the manual or watch the dvd, or ask the dealer....there's only the places that get "missed".....

 

X2, I opened a bag of new pellets once and they smelled bad and they did not burn good either!!

 

HOLY CR@P!

To the original poster, my suggestion would be to clean the living sh1t out of your stove. Everything, everywhere. Start by removing the plate on the underside of the burn pot, vacuum it out and make sure the igniter is in good shape. Once the side covers are removed, you'll see a stainless steel box where the cover is held on by wing nuts. Open it up and it may be full of fines. clean it out. pull the ash pan and clean the exhaust fan blades. Sweep the pellet pipe from stem to stern. Check for door gasket leaks. Empty the hopper and vacuum it out. I seem to remember that there was rubber gasket around the hopper lid. Check that to see if it is leaking. When the complete cleanout and inspection is done, try another brand of pellets.

 

The dude is coming out the second week of April. It's pretty clean but on a tip, I tapped the flue inside chimney and it was a waterfall of ash. Big clue. But my chimney guy doesn't come out to clean until after the season and my friend checked up top on the roof and said the pellet stove flue build up was pretty bad while the wood stove hardly had anything. I have the sweep guy coming out as well to remove my woodstove for some remodeling. I want him to see the evidence. So Harman guy comes out for courtesy call in April to confirm health of auger. Chimney guy comes in June. I am most likely shutting it down for the season. My soapstone is kicking azz so I am just burning wood from here on out.

 

Yeah. In all honesty the stove looks pretty darn clean... including exhaust and pellet chamber. But I tapped the flue and chit fell out all over the place. Not just once or twice but like 3 - 4 times.

 

It's not my pellets.

 

Yeah, I'm surprised everytime someone else is surprised to find out about the ash traps on some St. Croix stoves. True, the manual for the Hastings (which I found online since I bought the 12 YO stove used) is vague on where the 3rd ash trap is, but very specific on where the two under the feed drop are. I wasn't even a true pellet head then, and don't claim to be very smart or even very handy, but I can and do read directions (whether I follow them or not may be a different story )

 

Holy crap that is unbelievable brings new meaning to Dirtyburg what the locals call Fitchburg
that is insane !

 

yea, there has not been an issue with the 52i augers.....same auger that's in every other Harman.....for years. There were burnpot issues and combustion fan cover issues, but they were really only in the first year of production or so.
The one problem with liner is it can hold ash in the crenulations. Also, and I'm sure it isn't you, when folks aren't diligent in cleaning the ash pan out before it overflows, a lot of that ash ends up in the pipe.
FWIW, if your draft reading was fine, there wouldn't be that muddy mess in your stove. It would be decreased by a lot of ash in the liner, a clogged spark arrestor, etc.

 

Toilet paper?

 

Honestly, my ash pan seldom gets full. I usually empty it about half full. The issue (at least one) is I need a sweep. I would fess up if I thought I was negligent in my cleaning duties. It's been 1 year and about 3 1/2 tons of pellets burned w/o a sweep. That's probably my sole problem. But... more frequent grinding noises from auger.

 

Yeah, those are some good ideas. I guess I've gone through nearly 3.5 tons since I bought this stove a year ago without a chimney sweep. I love the pellet stove -- I use it like a furnace. I used to burn it daily until I got my wood stove installed upstairs and now I use that more. I have a bunch of free wood I split over the winter and it'll be ready to burn next fall. Using a combo of my pellet stove and wood stove -- I'm able to heat my home for about $700 annually. This year will be less than that.

By the way, I love my Harman. The only single complaint I have about it is the insert model is it's a tough design. You have to buy a separate rail kit or make your own to service it... which is expensive and a drag. But I can live with that as it heats my whole house. My wood stove is upstairs and is limited to heating on that level only... where we spend most of our time anyway.

Friend has a flue cleaning brush w/ attachment that will reach way down. I want my chimney guy to come out and adjust the draft if necessary and clean it first before I start taking over.

 

WAY, WAY, WAY longer than most of us would let it go. Just sayin.

 

And just a tad longer than the manual states too .

 

ohhhh.....I missed the fact your burning a wood stove UPSTAIRS! Remind me, are you pulling in outside air for the pellet stove? You're issue could very well be the stack effect of your home! You've got two appliances running, all pulling air into the home through cracks and crevices in your place.....if your home is tight, even worse. Now, as air rises, it creates a vacuum in the basement, causing even less air that you would normally have. Whats happening is your stove is starving for air, causing incomplete combustion, which causes all the tars and crap (all the products of incomplete combustion), to deposit themselves wherever they can......

The solution would be to bring in outside air for your insert.....not too hard to do.

Problem solved.....send accolades! A stove fixed from across the country! IM DA MAN! lol
There really needs to be a mike drop emoticon

 

There are, but I forget who to send this link to to get it into the forum:

mic drop emoticon - Google Search

jtakeman , you around?