harman 300i help

[MishMouse]

If you have dry wood, a good draft, a good coal bed, and you burn 24-7 due to colder temps it will easily be able to keep the house warm.
My experience this year, when the temps are between 10-32 I am easily able to keep a 2000 sq ft house above 75 note I am heating the house from my block basement.
When the temps are between -20 and 0 I am able to keep it around 72
When the temps are between -40 and -21 I am able to keep it around 68
I can go around 6-10 hours without refilling using softwood, and 12-18 hours using hardwood (depending on how much heat I need)

A) If you have poorly seasoned wood and a good draft, you can with modifying your operating procedures get the low end on the burn times with enough heat to heat your home.
B) If you do not have a good draft but you do have seasoned wood <20%, you can with modifying your operating procedures get the low end on the burn times with enough heat to heat your home.
C) If you have poorly seasoned wood and a poor draft, you will not get those burn times, you will not get the heat, and you will gunk up your chimney.
D) If you have a good draft and seasoned wood -20%, on a good coal bed the high end burn times can be obtained.

My low end burn times were associated with A, my high end burn times were associated with D.
I had this stove for around 6 years.

 

[razerface]

go get some good wood and try it. I have never burned any of those blocks, so I am no help there. I heat 3200 sq ft , from the basement,, with no fans or electric needed.

The only bad part of the downdraft i have found is, it is not good for occasional fires. This is because you have to burn a regular fire until you get the bed of coals. I burn 24/7 where it excells! If you never let it go out,,,you never have to do that "first fire".

I had a problem with a gasket on my door,,,and now it is a simple matter to run this stove.

I run coals half way up the AB opening, and sometimes higher. For reloading, I throw wood on top the coals,,,step back, admire the stove, let flames catch for 2-3 minutes, hit 1200 deg on the flue probe,, slam the dampner shut,,walk away. Those hot coals will get the AB going by superheating the air coming down the door, thru the coals, into the AB. I also block the rear opening,,,but not completely. Those flat square bricks may be blocking the opening too completely! Let it breath.

There is AB air coming in to mix for the burn back there, which is uncontrolled by the operator. I often see flames coming out sideways in the back, or a bright glow back there when i have wood in the way of my vision.

Yes, the flames go away. They should go away,,,if the flames stay busy,, the wood burns too fast. The "dancing flames" you describe are perfect. They jump all over and are very entertaining! The object of a long burn is to get the load burning,,barely above a smolder,,,then the smoke goes in the AB to get burnt, producing your heat, while burning the wood slowly to produce more smoke. I do usually give more air until i get a hot flue on my digital probe, which tells me my AB is burning,,then turn it down to whatever I want that day.

I can get 12 hour burns with lots of coals for the next reload.

The worst reload for me is the "stuff it full" to the max reload. It lets the top temp go down for 1-2 hours,,,i guess because the heat is blocked from the wood being stuffed to the top. Once it gets all that wood going,,it will be a hot burner, and I have had to shut air off completely to get my flue under 1000 deg(500 outer pipe), and fire in the box gets aggressive. I have "big draft". On smaller or 2/3 loads,,it is perfectly behaved.

For me these stoves are perfect. I do not have your exact stove,,,just the downdraft system which should react similar.

 

[Devon]

Kinda hard to check flue temp on an insert... i can check about 9 ins of it till i have insulation... anyone know what temp i should be runnin around their... what air settings do u usually have it set at?

I was talking to a guy who sells harmans and he said u should have a fire in the firebox when u run it over 1/4 air setting anyone else have a regular fire in their down draft burners?

 

[Devon]

this year that I have my wood burner running. my cruising flue temps are between 400 and 470 on the second notch. what flue temps are you guys running and at what air setting? Thanks

 

[MishMouse]

What is your stove temp?
If your stove temp is between 450-500 and your pipe is clean than you are ok.
I typically run my stove at either 1 or 2 depending on how it is burning.

 

[Devon]

Stove top like 300 near the end of burn 500. Pipes always clean. Right now it is fully loaded flue temp is 441 at 10 inches stove top is 300. Air setting is 2 1/2 notch. One thing is hard to do is to stack it right to work right. Two weeks ago I cracked my shoe brick in half some how I know it wasn't over fired because I wired up a thermocouple and hooked up an alarm set at 545.

 

[MishMouse]

For me, I have issues doing the same thing. Currently on order shoe brick, and one of those back pieces.

 

[Devon]

Warrenty.is.Two years.right. another thing that sucks is when.u load it up to the max.then a peice of wood blocks the after burner.

 

[branchburner]

another thing that sucks is when.u load it up to the max.then a peice of wood blocks the after burner.

You have to come up with little tricks to keep this from happening too often, like angling the splits or standing up a small, short piece vertically in front of the AB, that bigger splits can lean against.

Flue temps seem to run high with these stoves, often well over 300f. Right now, in the middle of a burn cycle, the top is running about 450f and the flue 275f (about one foot up, single wall external temp). That is with the air about 1/4 open. But earlier in the burn cycle my flue temps run much higher, between 300-400f.

I am lucky with my stove that I can also see the temps on the back of the stove, so I know how well the AB is burning smoke. It's now around 500f. When I reload w/ bypass open, the flue temp will quickly spike towards 800f while the AB is around 300f. After I close the bypass, w/ air still over 1/2 open, the flue will drop to 400-500f while the AB rises up past 700f.

The stove top itself is much slower to change temps in this process, hanging around 500-600. As the burn progresses, all three temps will stabilize and then slowly fall. One thing I have noticed if the AB does not get a good secondary burn when I close the bypass: the flue temp will remain very high, and the stove will throw less heat even though the fire is burning really hot. So if the bypass is closed (OR opened) and the AB is not cranking, I seem to lose a LOT of heat up the flue... that's one of my issues with this stove.

I think the air setting on my Oakwood are different than yours, but your flue temps sound a bit high. When I cut back my air, quite often my flue temps drop and stove top temps rise, meaning less heat lost out the stack. But then, you also have to be careful not to stall the AB by reducing the air too soon.

Try running the stove with less air and see how the temps react. After all, even with primary air closed you get a ton of secondary air pouring into these stove. Since you can't measure the rear AB temps on an insert, probably the only way to make sure you are burning smoke is to look outside. Do you see visible smoke when the stove is cruising? Moist wood and/or too little air will stall my AB and give a smoky burn.

 

[bholler]

No this guys from port treverton... but yea ik what u mean. I understand how it works but i dont underdrand why it works for some and not for others its a big hassel

Dont take any advice from him we get some parts from him and honestly he is pretty clueless about how new stoves work. Where are you from?

 

[Devon]

Sunbury

Dont take any advice from him we get some parts from him and honestly he is pretty clueless about how new stoves work. Where are you from?

 

[Devon]

Sometimes I can.go.down.to one.notch but I don't.think my draft is.good enough to go any lower I only have a 13 foot chimney

 

[bholler]

Sunbury

we are from middleburg

 

[branchburner]

I only have a 13 foot chimney

Might be worth extending.

Do you get much visible smoke when burning?

 

[Devon]

Nope nothing at all just heat waves. My chimney is 13 feet but insulated makes a big difference. Works good tho. My chimney man said he didn't have to clean it.at all because their was nothing to clean just a little dust

 

[Devon]

My flue temps are anywhere.from 375 to sometimes 540 it likes.to bunch around a lot

 

[Devon]

Right now after burning a full load of oak for five hours my afterburner stoped wood is now charcoal half way up the glass stove top 550

 

[branchburner]

Right now after burning a full load of oak for five hours my afterburner stoped wood is now charcoal half way up the glass stove top 550

And so after 5 hrs, what is flue temp and where is the air setting to get 550 stove top?

 

[branchburner]

My chimney man said he didn't have to clean it.at all because their was nothing to clean just a little dust

That is certainly the benefit of having high flue temps. I get very little creosote as well, except in the spring and fall when I tend to do some lower, more smoldering burns so I don't cook myself out of the house.

 

[Devon]

Lol

 

[Devon]

Flue temp is 252

 

[Devon]

2 1/2 air setting

 

[Devon]

Coals

 

[branchburner]

Flue temp is 252

Not bad, with the stove still at 550. So sounds like me, you're only getting those really high flue temps early in the burn. Which isn't surprising if you consider the AB is probably at 700-800f with lots of combustion air getting pulled through!

 

[Devon]

It will stay at 450 550 for 2-4 hours.then go.down