# Harman hopper smoke



## freebird77 (Feb 21, 2008)

I let my P61 get low on pellets yesterday, not completly out,but  when I opened the lid there was some smoke, and of course smell inside. Is this normal, or should I be concerned? Thank you. Doug


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## toastyinri (Feb 21, 2008)

Call your dealer and tell him.  I've had the same problem with my Harman Advance.  You'll only see the smoke when your hopper is about 1/3 down in pellets.  You won't see smoke when it's filled, but you'll smell it.  If possible, it's best to get your dealer there while the unit is smoking so he can actually see it.  Pull your slide plate and see if there is any buildup of sticky gunk or charred material on it.  Also run your auger after unit is shut down and see if any charred pellets come out from the back of the auger tube.  

If you have your dealer there while it's smoking and he's scratching his head....have him call his Harman rep while he's at your house.


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## freebird77 (Feb 21, 2008)

Thanks
What did they tell you? Also, slide plate? Help please, Im very new to this, and thank you.


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## toastyinri (Feb 22, 2008)

freebird77 said:
			
		

> Thanks
> What did they tell you? Also, slide plate? Help please, Im very new to this, and thank you.



I never got a definative answer other than it might be caused by "backburn".  My dealer thought it could have been caused by a faulty seal or weld in the back of the unit and was sucking in air into the auger area.  My first Harman Advance was replaced after two seasons of burning.  It came to a complete standstill with the auger and tube encrusted with charred burned material and along the edges of the pellet chute that feeds into the tube.  

If you pull the slide plate and find that it has charred material on the bottom edge, it may mean things are getting too hot in the chute and auger and your pellets may be smoldering in there.  If it just started smoking now, you still have a long way to go until you get enough buildup to cause the auger to grind.

There could be other reasons why it happens, but the above is what seemed to have happened to mine.

I'm not familiar with your Harman model, so I'm assuming the basic internal design is almost the same as mine.  The slide plate is the mechanism that opens and closes to release and push your pellets into the chute.  It's the plate you see when you look down into your empty hopper.  It's attached to a rocker arm on the side of the unit...again, I don't know if your model's is located in the same place as mine.  Check your instruction booklet.  

Best thing to do is to get your dealer out there and have him check it and document it with him and Harman.  If your stove needs to be replaced sometime down the road before the warranty runs out you'll have a better record of when and what went wrong. 

I'm sure someone with your model Harman in this forum will jump in and  be able to give you more ideas or a solution.

If you look through the posts you'll find a topic called Harman Advance Changes.  I posted a picture of my slideplate there and what it looked like when I pulled it.


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## freebird77 (Feb 22, 2008)

Thanks Toasty. I really didnt se eany slide plate there or how to get it off. The P61 manual is not very helpfull especially nothing like this in there. Any other Harman owners have other ideas, or how do I check this slide plate? Thanks


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## toastyinri (Feb 22, 2008)

freebird77 said:
			
		

> Thanks Toasty. I really didnt se eany slide plate there or how to get it off. The P61 manual is not very helpfull especially nothing like this in there. Any other Harman owners have other ideas, or how do I check this slide plate? Thanks



Here is a link to Harmanstoves.com with additional cleaning information for the p61:

http://harmanstoves.com/maintenance/P38&P61CleaningGuide;.htm

scroll down to the section where it says "Other things to check and clean at the end of the heating season" 
below the header is a picture of the fine box and feed mechanism...the slide plate is directly on top of the box, it has a slot that fits into the rocker arm.
to get it out the rocker arm must be in the open position.  you may have to turn your stove on for a few seconds until it completes one revolution.  at that point just lift the plate up and pull it out.


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## toastyinri (Feb 22, 2008)

I should have added that the auger must be turning.  Put your stove on test mode and watch the arm pull the slide plate back and forth.  I usually have to pull the plug on my stove to have it stop in the middle position.  It is difficult to remove if it is in the closed or full open positon...at midway, with the stove OFF, just pull up on the plate and slide it towards you. The rocker arm will swing freely once you take the plate off.  it goes back on the same way, with the seam side up....slide it into its opening and positon the rocker arm so the slot in the plate fits into the top of it.  turn on test mode and make sure it is sliding back and forth.

If there is crude on the plate, check to see if it's sticky or encrusted.  just scrape the crud off.  

I was "new" to pellet stoves a couple of years ago too.  the best thing I did to learn how this thing operated was to take off the doors on the sides and the back and "watch" how the thing operated.  Its a machine with moving parts.

After seeing the cleaning instructions for the p-61 I realized your model is set up the same as my Advance.

If it's still a mystery you can email me at debbie4244@aol.com .  I'm very interested in what your dealer has to say about the smoke in the hopper .


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## freebird77 (Feb 22, 2008)

Hey, thanks very much. I think I have the cleaning instructions in my favorites, but dont remember seeing that, Ill definetly look at it over the weekend. Appreciate the help. Might here from me later. Stay warm, Doug


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## freebird77 (Feb 23, 2008)

What do I have to do to get at this slide plate? Do I need to remove the back covers? I had them off once this year just to see if I needed to clean anything, but dont remember seeing that fines box shown in the pic.  My stove is in the corner and its not real easy to get back in there either.


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## toastyinri (Feb 23, 2008)

freebird77 said:
			
		

> What do I have to do to get at this slide plate? Do I need to remove the back covers? I had them off once this year just to see if I needed to clean anything, but dont remember seeing that fines box shown in the pic.  My stove is in the corner and its not real easy to get back in there either.



Fine box is located on the right side behind the cover on my Advance.  I assume yours will also be in the same place,,on the side of the unit, not the back.
Its rectangular box with a cover and a wingnut attached that attaches it.


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## GVA (Feb 23, 2008)

Empty the hopper before pulling the slide plate....


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## freebird77 (Feb 23, 2008)

Thanks to you both.  Where did you get the cool diagram of the stove?


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## freebird77 (Feb 23, 2008)

Just looking at the stove and my P61 has cover plates on the back, top and bottom. Must be back behind there somewhere, because i dont see a side cover anyplace on it


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## toastyinri (Feb 23, 2008)

freebird77 said:
			
		

> Thanks to you both.  Where did you get the cool diagram of the stove?



can be found on harmanstoves.com  under support.  Here's the link.

http://harmanstoves.com/support.asp


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## freebird77 (Feb 25, 2008)

Going to call them when I get home tonight. Any  other Harman owners experience this?


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## GVA (Feb 25, 2008)

http://harmanstoves.com/maintenance/p38&p61cleaninginstructions;.pdf
page 8 shows the slide plate cover.....  looks like the right side of the stove.
Is the smoke in the hopper a consistant thing???????
Or could it have been a blowback(windy day), or leaky hopper gasket?


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## toastyinri (Feb 26, 2008)

*smokin.....................*


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## freebird77 (Feb 26, 2008)

GVA ITs only noticable when its very low on pellets which I try and not let happen too often. I wipe of the gasket daily, cant see that its bad, and the stove is only one season old. I called dealer last night but no answer. Ill keep you all updated on this. Oh, and no it wasnt an unusually windy day.


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## freebird77 (Feb 26, 2008)

Hey Toasti, Read your other post on Advance changes. When you had the smoke was the hopper almost empty, or could you see/ smell it all the time? Doug


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## toastyinri (Feb 26, 2008)

freebird77 said:
			
		

> Hey Toasti, Read your other post on Advance changes. When you had the smoke was the hopper almost empty, or could you see/ smell it all the time? Doug



Yes it was always 1/3 or more empty, but I can't say that it smoked ALL the time when the level of pellets got that low because I had to "catch" it at the point it smoked.  If I opened the hopper door just a crack the smoke would get sucked down slowly through the chute at the bottom of the hopper and disapate.  The picture I posted of the smoke billowing out was to show what a full hopper of smoke looked like (with pellets low in hopper) That much smoke coming out would set off my fire/carbon monixide alarm that is mounted near the stove.  I only kept the hopper door up long enough to take the picture....as part of my documentation package for my dealers and Harman. 

The unit was probably still smoking even with the hopper full, but could not be seen because the pellets probably acted like a filter.  The full hopper pellets would have a smoky smell though.

Did you purchase your P-61 new?  If you still have all of your paperwork,,,,look in the plastic bag and find the "inspection" slip.  It's got a check list made by the inspecter and the date that the unit was inspected.  I'd be interested in knowing what month & year your model was made.  

Some of the things I noticed and took note of when I got smoke:

1. stove was in maintanance mode after hitting required temp with low but active flame with no smoke in the burn pot area with fans running at lower speed.
2. pellets in hopper low
3. outside air temps higher than 30-40 deg.
4. charred gunky stuff on slide plate
5. usually not windy outside
6. would usually have smoke in the morning or late afternoone...sometimes both in the same day.

My cleaning schedual exceeds what Harman recommends.

If your dealer wants to inspect your stove, have him pull the auger out and inspect for build up of charred stuff molded on your auger, in the auger tube and the bottom opening of your pellet chute.  
My first stove was loaded with charred encrusted stuff at the back of the auger tube and auger itself and my dealer had a hard time pulling the auger out because of the build up resistance.

It took the first stove two seasons of burning (nov-march 2005 & 2006) to get to that point,,,so your's might not be in that state yet,,,when it gets that bad, your auger chain will start to jump it's sprockets, and you'll hear the "thud" noice it makes, you'll hear an auger grinding noise...eventually the chain will jump the sprockets and fall off.  ( at least thats what happened to me)


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## KJF470 (Feb 27, 2008)

I have a Harman P68 and mine just started this hopper smoking three weeks ago. Dealer was no help at all when I called about the smoke in the hopper. Everything the dealer asked was about cleaning and maintenance items that I feel I meet or exceed listed in the manual. Same as what others here experience, hopper level about 1/3 full. However; mine started a couple days after switching pellet brands. I got what I thought was a good deal on some Future Fuels pellets from Walmart. Near gagged when I sliced the top off the first bag to add to the hopper. Really a lot of dust in these pellets, I wonder if  the dust fines are some how smoldering in the auger and smoking in the hopper. My auger moans and groans and squeals like a son-of-a-gun, never heard or experienced this before these pellets. I scrape the burn pot once a day now to try and knock down the char build up. What kind of pellets are you others burning that are getting the smoking hopper? Till this happened I have had tremendous luck with this Harman stove, I burn 24/7 for 2 weeks then shut down for a thorough cleaning and start back up again for another 2 week run. I've did this routine for the 3rd season with this stove and I wonder if it isn't from too much dust and fines in the pellets!


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## freebird77 (Feb 27, 2008)

Im burning Armstrong softwood premium pellets. Scrape pot every day and do the cleaning as recommended after every ton burned. Still havent got ah old of the dealer yet. I cant believe yours wouldnt be more responsive to what could be a potential fire hazard. I hope I have better luck when I do get in touch. I dont notice any bad smells from my pellets smell kind of sweet actually,and Ill keep you all posted on this.


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## toastyinri (Feb 27, 2008)

KJF470 said:
			
		

> I have a Harman P68 and mine just started this hopper smoking three weeks ago. Dealer was no help at all when I called about the smoke in the hopper. Everything the dealer asked was about cleaning and maintenance items that I feel I meet or exceed listed in the manual. Same as what others here experience, hopper level about 1/3 full. However; mine started a couple days after switching pellet brands. I got what I thought was a good deal on some Future Fuels pellets from Walmart. Near gagged when I sliced the top off the first bag to add to the hopper. Really a lot of dust in these pellets, I wonder if  the dust fines are some how smoldering in the auger and smoking in the hopper. My auger moans and groans and squeals like a son-of-a-gun, never heard or experienced this before these pellets. I scrape the burn pot once a day now to try and knock down the char build up. What kind of pellets are you others burning that are getting the smoking hopper? Till this happened I have had tremendous luck with this Harman stove, I burn 24/7 for 2 weeks then shut down for a thorough cleaning and start back up again for another 2 week run. I've did this routine for the 3rd season with this stove and I wonder if it isn't from too much dust and fines in the pellets!




I burn Fireside Ultras and Pennington.  Since my replaced stove was installed, I don't let a bag of pellets go into it without sifting.  The firesides have been very consistant so far, as have the Penningtons.  I can say with confidance that my own smoking problem is not due to an excess of fines with this stove.  It was something I wanted to rule out on the 2nd stove after the experiance with stove number 1.  

If your auger is moaning and groaning, have your dealer get out there and pull the auger and check the whole area for crusty buildup.  

It could be the dust and fines, but I've got to tell you, because I sift all the bags, I've found "things" that shouldn't be in them...not often...but every now and then....I found a nail, a piece of stone or concrete and small chunks of unpellitized wood...about the size of a triple fat toothpick.   

I'm also thinking that pulling the auger and scraping the auger tube should be part of an end of burning season maintainance.


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## freebird77 (Feb 27, 2008)

I havent sifted the bags and there doesnt seem to be a lot of dust in them, and I havent seen any unusual stuff in there so I dont think its that. I called the dealer tonight and he said hed call Harman and let me know. But he did mention to check the slide plate. I dont really mind, but I paid a lot and if it comes to that they should come out and check it for me, dont you think?


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## toastyinri (Feb 28, 2008)

freebird77 said:
			
		

> I havent sifted the bags and there doesnt seem to be a lot of dust in them, and I havent seen any unusual stuff in there so I dont think its that. I called the dealer tonight and he said hed call Harman and let me know. But he did mention to check the slide plate. I dont really mind, but I paid a lot and if it comes to that they should come out and check it for me, dont you think?



I most certainly DO think your dealer should come out and check it for you since there are no instructions in "the user manual" Harman supplies about removing the slide plate for inspection,,,at least not in my manual for the Advance. I had to figure that out on my own.  Depending on how many other calls your dealer has received for service, don't be surprised if he tells you he'll be there in a week or more.  Hopefully you'll hear from him today, but if you don't , keep on calling him and push the issue...as you said...."I paid a lot".  Try sifting a bag of pellets.....you may be surprised at the amount of dust and fines,,,then times that by 50 bags or 150 bags,,,whatever you're using for a season.  Most of that stuff should fall into the fines box, but if your slide plate is restricting them from falling into it,,,theres only one other place they can go...and thats down the chute with the pellets.  

I can't say this enough....make sure he pulls the auger out and inspects the auger, auger tube and bottom of chute for burned charred material.  It's a pain in the butt to do because he'll have to detach the venting and turn the stove around to get at it.  If he has a hard time pulling the auger out,,,you can bet that some burning is going on back there and leaving deposits like the kind you find in your burn pot....the kind you have to chip off.


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## Delta-T (Feb 28, 2008)

Freebird, I have seen this situation on a very small percentage of stoves but always with the fresh air intake hooked up. Do you happen to have this? I have never found anything connecting the pellets or sawdust or foreign objects to this. This is an issue your dealer CAN and SHOULD be able to help you with. The retrofit of the air intake will reduce the vaccuum pressure inside the hopper. On all machines that I've seen modified the problem immediately stops.


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## freebird77 (Feb 28, 2008)

Thank you both. I havent been called back yet. Ill wait another day and call them back. 
Delta- T Thats something I hadnt thought of either. Ill keep it in mind and see what comes of my call, and if I can get them out here bring it to there attention.
Toasti, your right the manual is very vauge. But with three years parts and labor warrenty, Ill be damned if I should have to mess with this.
Its only been a day Ill wait and if I dont here from them by Sat. will call them back.


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## freebird77 (Feb 28, 2008)

Oh and yes it has a fresh air hook up.


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## Dougsey (Feb 29, 2008)

Does anyone have a theory as to why the outside air kit would make a difference?


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## KJF470 (Feb 29, 2008)

Dealer called me back today after speaking with Harman. Dealer said to remove sift plate from hopper and if there is soot on the plate Harman instructed dealer to give me a new stove as the stove is defective and cannot be fixed. If there is no soot on the plate dealer will add a fresh air intake tube. Dealer has did this to two other Harmans already. Looks like my Saturday will be spent on the sift plate and if the plate is clean I'll remove the auger to clean and lubricate it! Harman reps are in Atlanta for a home show for the next couple days.


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## toastyinri (Feb 29, 2008)

KJF470 said:
			
		

> Dealer called me back today after speaking with Harman. Dealer said to remove sift plate from hopper and if there is soot on the plate Harman instructed dealer to give me a new stove as the stove is defective and cannot be fixed. If there is no soot on the plate dealer will add a fresh air intake tube. Dealer has did this to two other Harmans already. Looks like my Saturday will be spent on the sift plate and if the plate is clean I'll remove the auger to clean and lubricate it! Harman reps are in Atlanta for a home show for the next couple days.



  If I were you I would demand a replacement straight from the factory WITH the factory modification as I will be doing with mine.  You've had smoke in your hopper......even IF your slide plate is clean ( maybe it hasn't had enough burn time to accumulate soot)......the "defect" is still there.  

Let me know if your slide plate looked like this.


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## freebird77 (Feb 29, 2008)

Why should we even half to be pulling these things apart? I would think that they should come out and look at them rather then suggesting what we do. There is a three year warrenty on these stoves, am I right?
I dont really mind having to mess with mine if I have to, but like I mentioned earlier, Ive, weve, all shelled out some hard earned $$$ and with that, should be service.


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## toastyinri (Feb 29, 2008)

freebird77 said:
			
		

> Why should we even half to be pulling these things apart? I would think that they should come out and look at them rather then suggesting what we do. There is a three year warrenty on these stoves, am I right?
> I dont really mind having to mess with mine if I have to, but like I mentioned earlier, Ive, weve, all shelled out some hard earned $$$ and with that, should be service.



I agree with you and yes, 3 years on parts and labor, 5 years on workmanship and when you place a call to the dealer during normal business hours one should get a call back from them in a reasonable amount of time (like the same day)and an appointment made for service and not be left hanging for days with no call back and the customer having to track them down.  

I think one of the problems  the dealers  have is that they get many calls with problems that relate to user error or routine maintainance with simple fixes and they try to save a service call by having the customer try this or that.  When you're on the other side of the phone, with 10 degree temps outside and a stove not working or doing strange things, at least in my case,,,,you tend to pull out the tools and try to solve it yourself.  My own dealer, who is very good at trouble shooting, has told me a few stories about his own service calls, which I won't go into here on a puplic forum.  The dealers don't have a fleet of service men to send out, like the oil & gas companys...it's usually just them or one other guy.  With that being said in defense of dealers,,,here's my gripe.  The dealers are right there when you go in to buy the stove, they deliver and install it, hand you the plastic bag with your users manual and a scraping tool, if you're lucky they'll stay long enough to fire up the stove to see if it's working,they might even answer some questions....then they shove off,,,and when you're having a problem and "think" you should be able to call Harman directly for tech support, you're referred to the dealer who probably told you to call him for service first anyway, but failed to mention it could be days before you hear from him.  Lucky for me I live in the smallest state and my dealer is never more than a few miles away on a service call...and he's always been on a service call the few times I've called.  The three times he's been here in the past 2 1/2 years his cell rang every 5 minutes,,sometimes he'd look at the incoming number and answer it sometimes he just shook his head and didn't.  My personal opinion is that a pellet stove is not for everyone.  It does require that we get our hands dirty, it does require us to become our own servicemen at times,,,,but there is a point when the dealer HAS to be more responsive....like when you've got smoke billowing out of your hopper, grinding noises, fans screaming or stopping,,,,and your manual is vague and not detailed enough,,,,and the stove is only in it's first season of burning.   Those hard earned $$$'s we all shelled out deserve some respect. Once again, in defense of dealers, from what I've been told the profit margin on their sale isn't too much, and factoring in the price of gas  and time to make a service call and what Harman pays them for those warranty calls is laughable.  BUT, and thats a BIG BUT....if the dealer chose to sell the model based on the companys reputation ...he has to BACK IT with prompt , resonable service and communication with the customer.  I blame Harman for not having a department to field customer calls when the customer has has an unresponsive dealer.  

I'm wondering what happens when the warranty has expired and the warranty service calls become paid service calls.   Will we get better service?  I don't know. 

Big thanks that this forum exists with many problem solving end users who are willing to roll up their sleeves and help others.


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## freebird77 (Mar 1, 2008)

KJF,
Please let us know how you make out. What stove do you have?


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## freebird77 (Mar 1, 2008)

Sorry, its early here, I see its a P68


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## KJF470 (Mar 4, 2008)

No computer at home so I have to wait till I get here to work to reply! I pulled the slide plate on Saturday, no excessive build up as shown in the picture, but there was discoloration on the edge of the plate. I called my dealer and he said he'd come out Friday to put on an intake tube along with the one that is currently on the stove. The first 1/4'' of the slide plate had build up but it appeared more like tarnish so I scotch brited it off and put it back together. I also pulled my auger and cleaned it and the auger bore, had a build up of hard creosote near the burn pot so I cleaned it up and gave the stove my normal cleaning and put it back together and lit it up. I'll burn it till Thursday nite and shut it down when I get home from work. Only takes a couple minutes to pull the slide plate so I'll ask my dealer Friday to check it to see if it warrants the new stove!


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## freebird77 (Mar 4, 2008)

KJF, How hard was it to pull the slide plate? Whats involved?  Is your stove in a corner like mine?


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## freebird77 (Mar 4, 2008)

Had to call dealer back as this is about the third time he hasnt returned my calls. He left me a message saying we,d set up a time to come out, that there was some sort of upgrade/ modification to the stove they could do. Of course, when I called back to set this up had to leave him another message to call me and, guess what, no call. Ill keep you all posted


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## KJF470 (Mar 4, 2008)

Sorry bout not staying up with this thread, only computer I can use is here at work.First thing is to shut stove down and let it cool. Second thing is to make sure the hopper is completely empty, I shop vacc'd out the dust and fines that remained. Very easy to pull the slide plate and the auger. As you face the stove, door glass in front of you, circuit board on the right, air intake on your left, (mine is in a corner of the room) remove the rear sheet metal at the back of the stove, should be a piece on each side plus a center piece, think it takes a 5/16" socket,(1/4" drive is good), I took the screws all the way out from the side pieces, center piece loose enough to slide sheet metal over the screws, sheet metal is slotted for this. On the air intake side of the P68 there is enough room to turn the auger motor drive shaft to the left side of the stove, think it takes a 7/16" socket with extension to get to the bolt, unscrew the bolt bout 3/4 of the way out. The auger motor will slide easily of the shaft, lay the auger motor on the air intake pipe and secure with tape or a wire coat hanger somehow. With the motor off this frees up the arm that drives the slide plate. Now to the right side of the stove by the control board remove the wing nut and plate directly behind the control board, good time to vac out the dust, rotate the arm  by the auger shaft over to the control board and the slide plate will come with it, plate is slotted which accepts the tab of the arm. Pull the tab either staight out or down at an angle BEING CREFUL NOT TO CATCH THE CONTROL BOARD WIRES. I laid down on the floor and took my time and worked slow to not wreck anything.  Don't have my manual with me now so can't give you the technical names of the parts!


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## freebird77 (Mar 5, 2008)

Hey, great help. While Im hoping I dont have to do this right now, Im going to print out your instructions and put with my paperwork in case I have to do this in the future after the warrenty is up. Doug


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## KJF470 (Mar 5, 2008)

Sorry about this part! There is also 2 bolts that hold the auger motor on that will need to come off. These bolts go into barrel nuts, so make sure to keep track of the barrel nuts if they fall out! Sorry for any confusion, but once you start looking things over it will all make sense. I kept the manual handy for reference also.


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## freebird77 (Mar 5, 2008)

I got a hold of the dealer today at lunch, and they are supposed to come out next Tuesday. Something about drilling a couple holes and putting in a tube to draw the smoke away fromthe hoper. I asked him if its benn a problem with the P61 and he said no, but woth another harman model.


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## freebird77 (Mar 6, 2008)

Please excuse the spelling errors. I was drinking


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## toastyinri (Mar 6, 2008)

freebird77 said:
			
		

> I got a hold of the dealer today at lunch, and they are supposed to come out next Tuesday. Something about drilling a couple holes and putting in a tube to draw the smoke away fromthe hoper. I asked him if its benn a problem with the P61 and he said no, but woth another harman model.



The other model he's talking about is the Harman Advance.

My own Harman Advance problem has been resolved....Harman is replacing my stove...counting my original stove this will be my 3rd.  I would not accept an inhome modification from the company because the original "defect" that caused the stove to smoke would still be present.  I also specified that the "new" stove would have to come off the Harman manufactuing line with the factory modification being made there with a manufactoring date of either late 2007(whenever they began modifications) or 2008,,,or delivery would not be accepted.  They had no problem with my reasoning or demands.


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## freebird77 (Mar 6, 2008)

Hey Toasti, Good for you! And good luck.


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## freebird77 (Mar 11, 2008)

Tech guy just left, and did the little tube mod. Have to wait and see but so far it seems ok. He said that there was a little discoloration on the slider plate and cleaned it up. Said that He wasnt supposed to say anything but as some of you mentioned, if it turned out there were more problems and it was due to the slider they would replace the stove, and actually have done so in the past. the Accentra has had similar problems I guess also, but he said that mine was the first P61. Ill keep you all posted on this. Thanks for all the advice. Doug


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## Bxpellet (Mar 11, 2008)

Did he drill two holes one under the auger then one in the fresh air intake and insert the tube in both holes?


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## freebird77 (Mar 11, 2008)

Best I could understand and see, yes


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## Bxpellet (Mar 11, 2008)

It was done to my Advance 2 months ago, I haven't had  any smoke in the hopper, flame seams to burn higher and wider, I was told this is the repair for this problem


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## toastyinri (Mar 11, 2008)

freebird77 said:
			
		

> Tech guy just left, and did the little tube mod. Have to wait and see but so far it seems ok. He said that there was a little discoloration on the slider plate and cleaned it up. Said that He wasnt supposed to say anything but as some of you mentioned, if it turned out there were more problems and it was due to the slider they would replace the stove, and actually have done so in the past. the Accentra has had similar problems I guess also, but he said that mine was the first P61. Ill keep you all posted on this. Thanks for all the advice. Doug



Did he show you how to remove the slide plate to check it in the future?  Was it removed from the right side or back?


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## Bxpellet (Mar 12, 2008)

On the Advance the slide plate is on the left when you look at the back of the stove, when you remove the cover that has a wing nut and the fines collect in there, turn the stove on then shut it off when the slide plate opens with a screw driver easily pry the plate out, I pulled mine after burning 24/7 starting in Sept it was clean a little discolored, but the modification worked and I never got any smoke again, and I let the hopper go low on purpose, So far so good.


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## freebird77 (Mar 12, 2008)

Toasti
He showed me. Its in the back on the right side. I think the fellow that worked on the stove was very professional and cleaned it all up layed a rug down where he worked and even took his shoes off when he came in. Not many service people of any kind do that any more. When the hopper gets low ll know for sure how the mod worked.


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## freebird77 (Mar 15, 2008)

I think the smoke problem is solved. Thanks to all for the advice and good luck with your own stoves. Doug


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## Bxpellet (Mar 15, 2008)

Good luck!


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## toastyinri (Mar 15, 2008)

freebird77 said:
			
		

> I think the smoke problem is solved. Thanks to all for the advice and good luck with your own stoves. Doug



good to hear problem is solved.  good luck.


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## toastyinri (Apr 10, 2008)

update on replacement of harman advance:

new dealer called last week telling me Harman would be shipping out a new stove to me this week fresh off the harman line with modifications made at the factory.  one of the top guys at harman called me in late february to go over the details and problems with my two previous stoves.  i had sent pictures and all documentation, including my home phone number and was very surprised that within a half hour of sending the package out via email that he contacted me.

won't be able to report how the new stove is working until October.

Hope everyone has a fantastic summer.


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## freebird77 (Apr 14, 2008)

Look foward to hearing how the new one works out.


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