Accentra smoke in hopper update
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Please post what Harmon tells you. I'd be interested to see if after being bought out fi their customer service has improved. Previously, they tell you to call your dealer and have refused to deal directly with the customer.
I have the Accentra FS pellet stove. Can anyone tell me where to look in the burn pot for the 5 extra holes. (per the mod)
Thanks John
Thanks John
I just got off the phone with the dealer's tech, He told me to look at the back of the stove on the feeder box below the auger and see if the #2 has be etched in the metal, If there is no number the modification has not been done , I am at work when I go home I will check this out and call him, I will post my results, The plot thickens. God I love this
!!
!!My Accentra FS has 5 holes in the burn pot. They are very close to the inside edge -- just in front of the auger. It has the normal holes up front, too. My Accentra is a Sept. 06 model. Dealer told me the other day that these holes help reduce the carbon build up. I'm not totally sure but I think the Accentra stoves started coming through like this around the time I bought mine.
Should hear from my tech today regarding service for the gummed up auger (and mod).
Should hear from my tech today regarding service for the gummed up auger (and mod).
Is this mod also for the Harman XXV; I just had one installed about 3 weeks ago and I am getting a lot of clinkers and at the bottom of burn pot chunks of carbon on the sides and in front of the auger. I am also getting a lot of ash on both sides inside of the fire box and the glass gets very dirty after 6 - 8 hours of burning. The dealer doesn't seem to be much help and they have a new owner that took over after I bought the stove.
I have attached a picture of my burn pot after burning for about 6 hours after scraping.
I have attached a picture of my burn pot after burning for about 6 hours after scraping.
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![[Hearth.com] Accentra smoke in hopper update](/talk/data/attachments/6/6543-28b2593180baf052b864446d2cdd6a1e.jpg?hash=1UWTkMltxa)
swalz said:
Hopefully the mod is not needed in the XXV but I cannot confirm.
The brand of pellets you are using can contribute to your issues.
I am switching back and forth between three different brands this season to find a favorite.
One of them creates alot of clinkers and makes a mess of the glass within hours.
When I switch back to the other brand, there is less ash and the glass stays clean for a couple of days.
Clinkers happen...swalz said:
the glass getting dirty is either a poor pellet or a draft problem,
was the stove draft tested? it looks like the flames are leaning towards the glass in the pic but hard to tell...
The XXV has NO need of anything we are discussing in this thread. Also, what is wrong with your picture? That is a GREAT FIRE! You have some folks who are not used to Harmans that are advocating scraping the burn pot 3 times a day, which is a total waste of time. Excessive cleaning will do nothing but push ash down on the igniter and fill up the intake air chamber. The underfire feed design pushes excess ash off as the fresh pellets are augered in. The owner's manual says clean the pot once a week. Western pellets are supposed to be "rocket fuel" (so I am told) and I throughly scrape every 2 weeks. I have abused stoves over very long periods and notice less than 20 degrees of differnce in the discharge air into the room. BTW, that is a GREAT way to compare stoves; just ask for a stack thermometer and compare stove that have been running full balst for 1/2 hour. The room is what you want hot, not the atmosphere!
SMK
SMK
GVA said:
No the stove was not draft tested and the flames do tend to go toward the glass. The dealer said the flame was fine and I asked if they did a draft test and they said that it was not needed. I am going to request that they do the draft test, sometimes the flame is perfect and other times it is all over the place. Seems that the right side has a lazy flame most of the time but the left seems ok, I will start a new post if needed.
Thanks for the help!
swalz I was having the same issue dirty glass after the mod. I increased the draft just a tad on my P38 and glass is staying nice and clean now. From what I saw they had drilled 10 extra holes in the burn pot and are very close to the auger also. My flame was not real active after the mod and the ash was just building up in the pot. I just tweaked the pot on the motherboard a little from 11:00 position to 11:45 position and all is well. If you get to much draft it will blow unburned pellets out of the pot. I adjusted mine just by looking at the burn and ash. I will have a friend check the draft for me soon but I bet I am real close...
I've had my XXV for 45 days now and am getting to know it better. I have "tested" three
different brands of pellets and am starting to understand the burn system/draft/ash accumulation/
window cleaning intervals. I am heating a 700 SF rectangular office with very poor insulation and
an under insulated drop ceiling into an open/ventilated attic. I have mine set to feed level 2.25/room
temp mode high/manual ignition/Honeywell thermostat/outdoor air kit. I set the XXV's thermostat to 80
degrees and use the Honeywell thermostat set to 68 degrees. It seems the Honeywell settles in on the temperature
more accurately. With this setup, I push, not scrape, the excess ash out of the burn pot each morning and usually
in the late afternoon. I have been doing a full cleaning about once a week, but this interval will change to every two to
three weeks. My glass does not so much soot up, but gets fly ash and fine ash coating (light tan color) which
I can wipe off very easily with a paper towel. If I have clients coming over I will wipe the glass lightly for 20 seconds
and it looks great. Most of the accumulation happens at the top of the glass. I eventually will have to wipe the glass
with a glass cleaner made for stoves about every two to three weeks. I did the install with draft test
and the draft I have is good. The stove burns about 40# of pellets per 24 hours.
different brands of pellets and am starting to understand the burn system/draft/ash accumulation/
window cleaning intervals. I am heating a 700 SF rectangular office with very poor insulation and
an under insulated drop ceiling into an open/ventilated attic. I have mine set to feed level 2.25/room
temp mode high/manual ignition/Honeywell thermostat/outdoor air kit. I set the XXV's thermostat to 80
degrees and use the Honeywell thermostat set to 68 degrees. It seems the Honeywell settles in on the temperature
more accurately. With this setup, I push, not scrape, the excess ash out of the burn pot each morning and usually
in the late afternoon. I have been doing a full cleaning about once a week, but this interval will change to every two to
three weeks. My glass does not so much soot up, but gets fly ash and fine ash coating (light tan color) which
I can wipe off very easily with a paper towel. If I have clients coming over I will wipe the glass lightly for 20 seconds
and it looks great. Most of the accumulation happens at the top of the glass. I eventually will have to wipe the glass
with a glass cleaner made for stoves about every two to three weeks. I did the install with draft test
and the draft I have is good. The stove burns about 40# of pellets per 24 hours.
Quick summary of today's service call.
The tech pulled the auger, cleaned it and the auger tube. Also did the mod -- drilled the .25" hole in the feeder body (removed slide plate and drilled through feeder body). This mod is a more recent mod than the 2 hole rear feeder body drill/add tube mod. This is not the first time these techs have drilled this hole.
Tech said auger tube had a lot of pellet resin build up and melted pellets stuck to the auger tube walls. But he said he's seen a lot worse build up in other Accentra FS stoves.
Stove was back running fine for a few hours. However, when I went to fill the hopper, the smoke was back, just like before. Techs are coming by tomorrow to check this out. I have to admit, they were very thorough and are definitely keeping on top of this situation. My concern is that will this smoke again cause the same resin buildup and will I have the same problem next year when the warranty is up? Is this a design flaw with this stove? Hopefully I will find out tomorrow. On a previous posting there was mention of residue on a couple of the auger rings and Harman said they wanted the stove returned. Before the tech cleaned the auger today, there was resin build up on the entire auger.
I'm convinced there is too much heat backing up the auger and somehow reacting with the pellets to cause this problem. This afternoon when the hopper was getting fairly low there was a lot of smoke back lurking in the hopper. Just not right.
At this point I think Harman should be advised. Will know much more tomorrow late afternoon after techs check it out again.
The tech pulled the auger, cleaned it and the auger tube. Also did the mod -- drilled the .25" hole in the feeder body (removed slide plate and drilled through feeder body). This mod is a more recent mod than the 2 hole rear feeder body drill/add tube mod. This is not the first time these techs have drilled this hole.
Tech said auger tube had a lot of pellet resin build up and melted pellets stuck to the auger tube walls. But he said he's seen a lot worse build up in other Accentra FS stoves.
Stove was back running fine for a few hours. However, when I went to fill the hopper, the smoke was back, just like before. Techs are coming by tomorrow to check this out. I have to admit, they were very thorough and are definitely keeping on top of this situation. My concern is that will this smoke again cause the same resin buildup and will I have the same problem next year when the warranty is up? Is this a design flaw with this stove? Hopefully I will find out tomorrow. On a previous posting there was mention of residue on a couple of the auger rings and Harman said they wanted the stove returned. Before the tech cleaned the auger today, there was resin build up on the entire auger.
I'm convinced there is too much heat backing up the auger and somehow reacting with the pellets to cause this problem. This afternoon when the hopper was getting fairly low there was a lot of smoke back lurking in the hopper. Just not right.
At this point I think Harman should be advised. Will know much more tomorrow late afternoon after techs check it out again.
I'll take a photo of the hole and post it. I don't want to get back into the stove until the techs look at it. They will be here this afternoon.
If I did not run the pellet level down I would probably not notice the smoke. It would not find its way up through the pellets quickly. But the resin build up would slowly continue out of site.
Last night when I shut it down smoke was pretty intense. When I shine a flashlight into the glass cover you can see it.
If I did not run the pellet level down I would probably not notice the smoke. It would not find its way up through the pellets quickly. But the resin build up would slowly continue out of site.
Last night when I shut it down smoke was pretty intense. When I shine a flashlight into the glass cover you can see it.
I think you should definately put something in writing advising Harman of the problem and keep a copy for yourself. I've had to do that before with products that had a problem that started while under warranty and was on going after the warranty expired. It made it possible for me to either get the problem fixed or get the item replaced by the manufactorer.
Good point about advising Harman. I have a feeling that after my meeting this afternoon I'll be doing that.
hh:As far as I know they drilled one hole in the feeder chamber wall. They removed the cover where the slide plate is and went in through there. Not the back of the stove.
OK on the reg. mail. hope I don't have to use it.
Accentra FS update -- tech came by early this afternoon. He's convinced that what ever smoke I'm getting now is from the residual buildup that he was not able to remove. He did spend a lot of time and very carefully I thought cleaning the auger tube and the auger. He burned off the build up which was deep into the chamber where the pellets drop (next to slide plate). But he could not get it all.
There is a new air flow in there now which could slow down the burn off process. This makes sence to me. I may not be correct about burn off -- could be just the heat from the stove that is sort of melting the resin. There is no fire backing into the auger.
Tech said to give it a few days and then let him know how it is working. Glad to hear that they follow up. He said they write up a detailed report and submit it to Harman. Of course serial number included!
So that's it for a few days. Then I'm going to shut it down, pull the feeder body cover and take a look at the slide plate and the surrounding area and see how clean it is. I'll get a photo of the hole!
One other note of interest -- the flame now seems to be more even than before. An earlier post said the stove should burn better with the mod. This afternoon I'm convinced it is burning better. Now if the residual smoke goes away I'm all set.
Accentra FS update -- tech came by early this afternoon. He's convinced that what ever smoke I'm getting now is from the residual buildup that he was not able to remove. He did spend a lot of time and very carefully I thought cleaning the auger tube and the auger. He burned off the build up which was deep into the chamber where the pellets drop (next to slide plate). But he could not get it all.
There is a new air flow in there now which could slow down the burn off process. This makes sence to me. I may not be correct about burn off -- could be just the heat from the stove that is sort of melting the resin. There is no fire backing into the auger.
Tech said to give it a few days and then let him know how it is working. Glad to hear that they follow up. He said they write up a detailed report and submit it to Harman. Of course serial number included!
So that's it for a few days. Then I'm going to shut it down, pull the feeder body cover and take a look at the slide plate and the surrounding area and see how clean it is. I'll get a photo of the hole!
One other note of interest -- the flame now seems to be more even than before. An earlier post said the stove should burn better with the mod. This afternoon I'm convinced it is burning better. Now if the residual smoke goes away I'm all set.
Does anyone unserstand this problem of smoke in the hopper?
1.The firebox and hopper have negative pressure. When I open my hopper door, it's obvioue there is suction there as noted by the change in the flame. How does smoke move against the neg pressure?
2. The auger is always moving pellets foward into the burn pot. How does the fire move backwards into the auger?
I don't get it.
1.The firebox and hopper have negative pressure. When I open my hopper door, it's obvioue there is suction there as noted by the change in the flame. How does smoke move against the neg pressure?
2. The auger is always moving pellets foward into the burn pot. How does the fire move backwards into the auger?
I don't get it.
Is it possible that there may be bad seals at the auger box and it's sucking in air through the tube and igniting the pellets in the tube?
Stove is going into second full day with no signs of any smoke or smoke smell in hopper.
The only thing I'm considering replacing is the clean out cap at the bottom of the exhaust tee pipe. At a cold start up there is some smoke that blows out around the bottom of the cap. Does not seem like it's coming from the twist lock area. Tech said that he's seen this before. Once the full draft and fire is going the smoke goes away. Seems like the cold air coming down the pipe is pushing some smoke back down the pipe. Stove exhaust shoot and pipe is clean. Vertical pipe run is 5 feet to 90 degree turn and out the wall through thimble.
I tried sealing up the bottom with high temp. metal tape -- did not help much.
Anybody seen this? If the low draft setting was way off would that contribute to this?
Thay bottom cap is Duravent 3PVP-CO, 3"
The only thing I'm considering replacing is the clean out cap at the bottom of the exhaust tee pipe. At a cold start up there is some smoke that blows out around the bottom of the cap. Does not seem like it's coming from the twist lock area. Tech said that he's seen this before. Once the full draft and fire is going the smoke goes away. Seems like the cold air coming down the pipe is pushing some smoke back down the pipe. Stove exhaust shoot and pipe is clean. Vertical pipe run is 5 feet to 90 degree turn and out the wall through thimble.
I tried sealing up the bottom with high temp. metal tape -- did not help much.
Anybody seen this? If the low draft setting was way off would that contribute to this?
Thay bottom cap is Duravent 3PVP-CO, 3"
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