# P68 Install - Beginning to end.



## TheMightyMoe (Aug 12, 2012)

Got my Harman P68 last night, and am beginning the ground work, and hopefully finishing the install Sunday night / Monday night. Figured, I learned a lot from here, so I'll post what I did.

Purchased Stove and piping from End of the Alcan in Delta, Alaska.

Stove 3,300$ (By far cheapest locally quality and price)
Venting 400$

Purchased hearth supplies from Lowes
40 6x6 tiles @ .30 cents each (Clearance) 12$
Backerboard 14$
Tile adhesive 20$ (I went with premix, only cost 4$ more)
Grout 14$ (Premixed was 40$)
Spacers 4$
Trim 20$
Liquid nails 7$

I had some fun times trying to fit a pellet stove in by the books. I have a sunken living room, so I can't go straight out and up, and the sides of the room come out, making it hard to fit anything perfectly. I am going with a 30x36 ceramic tile pad on concrete backer board. (Minimum for the P68 is 25x33). Also I will be tucking it right in the corner, using heat shields, to get in tight as possible. I have 4 pieces of felt under the pad, so if I need to perform maintenance, I can unhook venting, and slide it out.

The down side of doing it this way, is if I decide to move the pad from the room, I'll need to support it with a board first.

Also pulled apart a electrical J-box, running a 2x18 gauge wire to the crawl space for future wire run for thermostat.

Day 1:

1. Harman P68 - Woo woo.



2. Let the woman arrange tiles to her liking, then sized it. With 1/8 spacers came to 29 15/16" and 36".


3. Cut board, measure twice, cut once.


4. Fitted board, again measure twice, cut once.


5. Spread adhesive with trowel tile away


6. Slow and steady, do it square, and it will be square.


7. Enjoy the view, wait 6 hours to grout.


8. Angle shot, note the paper template I made before purchasing the stove to ensure it would fit to
code.


9. Recycle.



Will update as work continues.

Feel free to comment / trash talk / give advice.


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## Northwoodneil (Aug 12, 2012)

Looking good. Keep the pics coming. P68 is a power house should take the chill off those long Alaska nights. If you figure out where to mail that boxed cat to let me have the address.


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## mepellet (Aug 12, 2012)

Looks good! You will really enjoy the stove!  

What type of venting did you purchase and what is the plan for the vent routing?  Up and out? Out & up?  The P68 doesn't have a R value requirement for the hearth pad does it?  I don't think so but may be worth another look in the install manual. I know that P61A does and my dealer didn't know about it. 

Looking forward to the progress photos!


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## PJPellet (Aug 12, 2012)

Looks good.  The P68 will heat you and your neighbor


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## TheMightyMoe (Aug 12, 2012)

Duravent - My options were very limited.
Up and out - Stupid sunken living room.

I have read the manual, online manual (which is different), and the back of the unit. Minimum specifications for hearth were 20 gauge metal and 25"x33".


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## TheMightyMoe (Aug 12, 2012)

DAY 2:

1. Mix grout.


2. Wipe down area so tiles are slightly moist


3. Fill it in. After filling get as much extra grout off as possible with tool, without damaging fill.


4. Wipe down with sponge after 10 minutes.


5. Continue wiping down every 5 minutes until haze does not return.



TADA - Grout takes up to 24 hours to dry. Tommorow I will put on the trim and begin venting the stove.


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## Defiant (Aug 12, 2012)

Nice job!


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## tsmith (Aug 12, 2012)

Looks great, you will be toasty warm this winter.


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## Don2222 (Aug 12, 2012)

Very nice!

Are you going to add any rope light?


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## Defiant (Aug 12, 2012)

Don2222 said:


> Very nice!
> 
> Are you going to add any rope light?


Don disco is not in anymore


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## Don2222 (Aug 12, 2012)

T I T - That is why I did not get the 3 wire chaser rope light and the Disco Mirror ball for the basement install. Maybe I will for the shed install! Thanks for the good idea!

These newly designed LED Warm White 2-wire rope light that can be custom cut to 3' 3" increments. I needed 10 feet to go around all 3 sides of my hearth so 9'9" works fine!

So here is the site to order the rope light. > http://mengmengusainc.com/
I do recommend calling so the proper shipping can be calculated.
The prices and the kind knowledgable technical help was superb! Best I could find on the web!
It does not come with mounting clips which I did not need anyway.


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## smoke show (Aug 12, 2012)

can we get an unlike button???


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## TheMightyMoe (Aug 12, 2012)

Christmas lights are gross, it would take away and distract from the beauty that is... Fire.


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## Don2222 (Aug 12, 2012)

TheMightyMoe said:


> Christmas lights are gross, it would take away and distract from the beauty that is... Fire.


 
I do agree, plain simple warm white light to accent the fire is good. No flashy lights to distract from it!


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## Lousyweather (Aug 13, 2012)

oh! they make light for computers that brighten with noise!

http://www.xoxide.com/cocasoackit.html

imagine, as it gets colder, your combustion fan ramps up, and so does the cold cathode lighting you have ingeniously placed around your stove! kinda like you might imagine a small nuclear reactor ramping up.......heh.....


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## Don2222 (Aug 13, 2012)

Lousyweather said:


> oh! they make light for computers that brighten with noise!
> 
> http://www.xoxide.com/cocasoackit.html
> 
> imagine, as it gets colder, your combustion fan ramps up, and so does the cold cathode lighting you have ingeniously placed around your stove! kinda like you might imagine a small nuclear reactor ramping up.......heh.....


 
Cool! ! !

I was thinking of plugging the 120vac rope lights into the same connector as the Auger. So every time the Auger turned the rope lights would go on!
Then when the stove shuts down the light goes out!

Also
You could plug the 120vac rope lights into the same connector as the convection blower so when the stove heats up and the blower turns on you have heat and light at the same time! LOL
Then when the stove shuts down the light goes out!

With 2 rope lights you can do both of the above!


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## Lousyweather (Aug 13, 2012)

Don2222 said:


> Cool! ! !
> 
> I was thinking of plugging the 120vac rope lights into the same connector as the Auger. So every time the Auger turned the rope lights would go on!
> Then when the stove shuts down the light goes out!
> ...


Brilliant Don! I like the way you think! 

yea, those cold cathode lights are pretty amazing....try playing them with the puter speakers on! The possibilities are endless! You could even have a bi*chmeter for the significant other.....as he/she gets louder, so does the light! A quantitative way of telling them to be quiet! (uh....no wonder I am divorced!) Hooking lights to the auger would be pretty cool as well, but thats on/off......MUCH better since cold cathode can vary in intensity...good for something that automaticallly ramps up and down....imagine it hooked to a digital thermostat! wow!

*shiver*


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## TheMightyMoe (Aug 13, 2012)

Do you all sell light bulbs for a living? *_*


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## Lousyweather (Aug 13, 2012)

TheMightyMoe said:


> Do you all sell light bulbs for a living? *_*


 actually, no, Moe, I dont! Apologies though for derailing the thread....gadgets are my thing!


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## jtakeman (Aug 13, 2012)

Lousyweather said:


> actually, no, Moe, I dont! Apologies though for derailing the thread....gadgets are my thing!


 
Got that fella fooled dinin ya! 

OP, Nice lookin so far.

Don, you bored again?


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## imacman (Aug 13, 2012)

jtakeman said:


> Don, you bored again?


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## Don2222 (Aug 13, 2012)

imacman said:


>


 
No, just got a job doing my first central air conditioner servicing!  The 30 amp breaker kept tripping and the AC stopped cooling the house! I have all the tools just have to figure out what to do!
See > > https://www.hearth.com/talk/forums/diy-and-general-non-hearth-advice.12/

Anyway, I am over the hump now and just have to go back tomorrow and clean the Evaporator!

OP - Nice work, keep the pics coming!@


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## Eatonpcat (Aug 14, 2012)

Looks good...Can't wait to see the final pics!

Measure twice, cut once...PFFFFFTTT!  I prefer my method, Measure, cut, drive to store get another sheet of material and cut it right this time!


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## TheMightyMoe (Aug 14, 2012)

Day 3:

1. Assembled stack and painted.



2. Lined up stack (Stood on oven), traced hole, used dry wall saw to form a cross, and used razor to trace the circle.



3. Punch the pie slices, and clean up. Did the same for outside wall but with a hammer/chisel. To line up holes, I cut a starter hole in the center using the thimble as a trace.


4. Put in stack, and clean up! W00T W00T. I did install a OAK (Used a metal dryer vent for outside and a automotive flex tube with a metal hose clamp) No one carried OAK locally.



5. Siliconed around/all over inside thimble.

For termination, you notice how there is a little gap around the duravent, I was wondering if there is a not so red high temp silicone I can use to seal that. The gasket on the inside plate isn't doing the job. It's not that big of deal, but anytime you can stop a little -40 degree air from coming in, thats a good thing.




Today I am borrowing a manometer from work, picking up a black surge protector and will be breaking her in.


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## Defiant (Aug 14, 2012)

Nice work. Looks great


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## Don2222 (Aug 14, 2012)

Looks great! Nice Job!

*What is that T-Stat on the wall?*

If that is for your central heating system, then you may want to relocate it away from the stove.


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## TheMightyMoe (Aug 14, 2012)

Yes it is. I am still considering my options of where to put it, although, I'm really not worried about the downstairs freezing. (Kitchen has the utility closet with boiler in it AKA usually warm, boiler still needs to heat water / garage) System is glycoled, primarily concerned with domestic water.

I was worried about the insulated, unventilated crawl space though, so I am going put a thermostat down there, and wire it to all the zones (They all have a baseboard zone in the crawl space), and that will let me know the crawl space is getting too cold. Then I'll probably notch that down to one zone, once I know whats going on down there.


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## tsmith (Aug 14, 2012)

Very nice install. Feels great to do it yourself doesn't it. Enjoy the heat this winter.


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## corkman (Aug 14, 2012)

]
looking back thru the pics and i didnt see a clean out T.did you use a t or did you just use a 90 deg elbow off the back of the stove.


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## TheMightyMoe (Aug 14, 2012)

I did not use a clean out tee. I plan on going through the harman / leaf blower trick.


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## PJPellet (Aug 14, 2012)

Yes to the high temp silicone question.  There's clear, black, etc.  Looks awesome, it really does.  Good work!


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## TheMightyMoe (Aug 15, 2012)

Hmmm... I'm guessing I will have to hit up a auto store for some clear/black high temp sealant.

Hooked up a manometer, draft high was -.75" and low was -.50", lowered to -.60" and -.35".

Set it up, works great, I will do a 2 hour burn tonight, since it's suppose to be colder.
*Durvent with rubber gaskets.*
I'm thinking I will go through the duravent venting, and seal all the piping. I just have a lack of confidence in the gaskets, and at start up there was some "wood burning smell".  After unit was running, there were no odors / obvious leaks. There was no visible smoke. With a OAK / sealed venting. I did use high temp sealant @ the stove connection. 

I do have a CO detector, before anyone asks.

*Thermistor placement* - I'm having issues deciding where to place it. Ideally I assume you don't want it in the path of the blower, near the stove's radiant heat, or close to a window. I am almost thinking of placing it in the stair well on closer to the first floor, this will maybe give a good average temperature for up and down stairs.
The stairwell is open to the living room.

Opinions? Thanks.


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## Eatonpcat (Aug 15, 2012)

That's PUUUURTEEE!


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## TheMightyMoe (Aug 18, 2012)

Update: So after the 3 hour curing period, ran the unit again, noticed I could smell gases of combustion. Tried taping the seams not in view, and black caulking the visible seams. The odor remained.

Just got done taking apart all the duravent pro (It was all turned correctly) and re-sealed using high temp sealant. If this solves the problem, I would highly suggest everyone seal in the first place.

Wish me luck =/ I'm hoping it's not a bad 90*, because thats a lot of sealing.

I don't think I will do anything with thermistor placement until it is heating season.


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## johnsgunworks (Aug 18, 2012)

Very nice!  I hope you can find the source of the smell.


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## DexterDay (Aug 19, 2012)

Looks awesome...

Most of the time, the appliance adapter is the culprit. The 1st piece that attaches to the stoves exhaust collar.

Thats a lot of BTU'S thats gonna make a LOT of Smiles this Winter


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## TheMightyMoe (Aug 19, 2012)

It was caulked and taped, only part I did per instructions.


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## silverfox103 (Aug 19, 2012)

I can tell you from experience, when I first started my P68 5 years ago, I swore there was something leaking.  Called the dealer, he said it happens to new stoves, a burn-in smell.  He said it would be gone within a week and it was.

Tom C.


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## tsmith (Aug 19, 2012)

silverfox103 said:


> I can tell you from experience, when I first started my P68 5 years ago, I swore there was something leaking. Called the dealer, he said it happens to new stoves, a burn-in smell. He said it would be gone within a week and it was.
> 
> Tom C.


Yea, I agree, there is a new stove smell that needs to burn off, Give it some time before you drive yourself nuts trying to find the exhaust leak, it may not be a leak.


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## TheMightyMoe (Aug 19, 2012)

Thanks, I will keep it in mind, and wait till heating season. Now it is defintly as sealed as it gets now. =p


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## jtakeman (Aug 19, 2012)

Very nice!


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## letsblaze (Aug 19, 2012)

TheMightyMoe said:


> Day 3:
> 
> 1. Assembled stack and painted.
> View attachment 71959
> ...


 I ran a bit of clear around mine just to make sure no bugs or rain could find it's way in.

dangit, now I have to paint my inside pipes.


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## DexterDay (Aug 19, 2012)

letsblaze said:


> I ran a bit of clear around mine just to make sure no bugs or rain could find it's way in.
> 
> dangit, now I have to paint my inside pipes.



Absolutely seal the gap between the thimble and the pipe... No air infiltration


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## TheMightyMoe (Aug 19, 2012)

DexterDay said:


> Absolutely seal the gap between the thimble and the pipe... No air infiltration


I did caulk around it, outside with clear, inside with black. The dura vent thimble gasket is a joke, in my opinion.


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