Creosote

[wantageNJryan]

Wow good point mr. Gray! The wall kit i used was designed specifically to collect outside air from above the flu as it exits the house. The flu pipe extends 2' from the intake on the outside. In the past 2 days now ive finally not had to scrape and scrape and whine and scrape! I'm so happy im gettin closer to the correct temp but im still a bit off. The last pic i posted is still representative of today. Looks identical. Hasnt gotten worse but i havent burned up the tar! Its no longer dripping but i believe it is still forming a weee bit. My exhaust fan however this time was finally just dusty and not coated in tar either! That was a relief to see!!
Good idea with the powder for leaks! Ive already resealed all of the doors and im confident if i had any leaks they should be gone! I actually debated using my work nitrogen machine to smoke test my PB just like we do on car fuel systems It hasnt resorted to that yet but might do it.....

So to get this far ive removed the 3" corrogated intake tune fromm the intake neck where that gravity flap is on the intake. This simple step has turned my unit from terd to burn! I was studying this flap valve today and i can physically change my draft by .1" just by holding the flap open with a screw driver
The flap is not corroded or dirty. I was debating making a new flap from aluminum but i shouldnt have to mod out a brand new unit!! The only thing that i can think of that is causing my "rich" condition is that my atmospheric is different from intended design height??? Im at 800' above sea level. Could i be that much off??? I know from carbs if u go 100' u should be compensating so does that play into affect???

The other thing i noticed is that the white porcelain thing aboce the burn pot is flaking away? I know i may have hit it once or twice while cleaning but this thing looks like someone poored acid on it!?

Note that the pic was taken on saturday morn with tar present so excuse the mess.....

I think i may groan to my dealer too about the burn pot too because my unit is brand new and i see my burn pot is not like the ones theyre posting in other chats.... Youd think that if a change was made theyd automatically update all sold I units?!....hmmm....

 

[Pellet_Dog]

I agree with gray, the second picture of the flame looks lazy and dirty, like there isn't enough air being pulled through the burnpot. There is a burnpot gasket on the inside of the boiler, where the burnpot bolts to the feeder weldment (check the parts schematic in the manual, no. 25 in the Aug. rev.) that may be letting air around the outside of the burnpot and not through it? When I cold start my boiler after it's been off for a few days it sweats on the inside and drips water down the walls until it gets up to temperature but then dries out fine with no cresote. The white porcelin thing flaking away is normal, it is a ceramic insulator. Just be careful when cleaning you don't touch it as it is very fragile. On receiving the old style burn pot, well it's unfortunate but they need to get rid of them somehow! I was pretty upset when I bought my boiler in 2010 but received an older styler one with cartridge ignition and not the new pressure style!

 

[wantageNJryan]

Ok will do....the local dealer is coming out tomorrow so ill stop tinkering till he sees it. I just dont understand how i still may not have enough flow unless the flue pipe they put in sucks.... It has a 90* flat turn at the top as it exits the house.... Im making an aluminum flapper door to get that extra bit of air in too. I feel like i almost need to port and polish out the intake Wish it were that simple.

Real question....does anyone here monitor their exhaust temp religiously??? I can aim my mixture based off of exhaust temp. Mine was running at 210*f read from the diag tool...

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

The wall kit i used was designed specifically to collect outside air from above the flu as it exits the house.

The Harman installation instructions warn not to install the intake collector point above the flue. From the photos, I'm not sure you actually did that, but I thot I'd mention.

 

[wantageNJryan]

So.....the answer is......they replaced the mother board! The harman diag tool said the auger was not running and it was. I was overfueling the burn pot but not enough to overflow pellets into the ash tray.....

I still dont think im flowing the correct amount of air tho. I called and spoke with harman themselves and requested to get a CFM value the unit is designed to handle. The gent i spoke with didnt know but he called me back in 20min with an answer. The motor itself flows 95cfm. Im getting 70-78 cfm measured accurately with a DAFM3 meter. Im going to experiment with different exhaust pipes and will post my results. The biggest issue i see is the straight 90* from up to out. Thats gotta go! I bet i get another 5-10 cfm with a properly curved 90* pipe opposed to the straight clean out T that i have fitted!!....
Thanks to all for being patient with and i hope i can help someone out in the future with the knowledge i gained.....stay tuned for my cfm readings!
Finally burning away tar!

 

[maple1]

Always nice to read about progress!

 

[Gasifier]

Glad to hear that wantageNJryan. Keep us posted. What type of pellets are you burning in that boiler? I may have missed that. Sorry if I did.

 

[wantageNJryan]

Hammer hot ones ultra premium. Turned down my feed rate to 2.5 too and that seemed to help with a higher temp. Smells better too outside no more plastic like smell. Im going to play with exhaust pipe tomorrow to see if i can get a few more cfm out of it!