I've been having a problem with my stove for over a year and I can't find the problem. The ash in my stove is black. The whole inside of my stove is black. Obviously an air issue. The stove runs good, not blowing any black smoke or anything like that. The flame isn't lazy. I thought it was the door gasket and I had it changed last summer, no change in the ash. I didn't do the glass gasket, dealer said it didn't need it. The stove has been cleaned and recleaned and no change. Tore the venting apart again today and cleaned it, but it wasn't dirty to begin with. No change. I've run it with the OAK, without the OAK, no change. At this point I'm thinking my combustion blower is just getting tired. Dealer says the don't usually slow down, they just fail. I'm at a loss. Any suggestions?
This is the Harman? Correct? Can you take pics of the inside of the firebox? Burn pot? Inside of door? Inside of ash pan?
Black is usually a rich condition. I'd lean more towards pellet feed. Could be the ESP or a flacky trim pot. If it is a weak blower, It should have a squeak or squeal to it. Some will rumble. I'd check amp draw or rpms to rule it out JIC.
MWP blend and soft, FSU, Stove Chow, Greene Team, 5 bags of Northeast, 4 bags of La Crete during the last cold spell. The La Crete's had a much fluffier ash than the other's.
I can't hear certain frequencies, so I wouldn't hear it if it was making noise. Nobody else has mentioned I so I don't think it's doing that.
I can't hear well either. Clamp on amp meter helps. If the amp draw is normal its usually OK. High amp draw is a clue to a failing blower Have you tried moving the feed pot? Sometimes it helps a flaky pot if you move them up and down a few times.
Subby, if checking the above mentioned items doesn't result in any improvement, you might send the above requested pics, and make a phone call to Eric at Kinsman Stoves. He sells Harman, and is a certified Harman repair tech. Might give you some other things to check out.
You're asking a lot of me Dexter. Yes, it's the Harman. Everything is covered in black ash. The air wash on the glass is doing it's job as the glass doesn't get covered. Other than that, the entire inside of the stove is black. The firebricks are black when the stove is running at a low heat setting. When the stove is running at a higher temp with a larger flame, a lot of it gets blown off. The first 3 1/2 years I owned this stove I never wore gloves when I cleaned it. If I didn't now, I'd never get my hands clean. I had a thought today that maybe some of the holes in the burnpot might be plugged. I plan on checking that when I clean it tomorrow. If that was the case, though, I should get increased air from the holes that weren't plugged. What's baffling about tis is the stove isn't running that bad. It's not exhausting black smoke or anything like that. It's driving me crazy.
