I wonder if Harman went with cheaper heatsinks to save money? They should have made the heatsinks out of a thicker steel instead of aluminum or like you said thicker aluminum. Is there anyway to access the heatsinks? Thanks for the update. Stanley
Harman Accentra 52i - thermal expansion & contraction sounds
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Mrpelletburner
Minister of Fire
Not that I would do that, at least not now while under warranty. I'll have to see if I can find an "inside" view of the stove to see exactly where these heatsinks are located. I don't know if this is a piss poor design or just another way for the manufacturer to cut corners and try to save some money. These heatsinks are causing so much aggravation for a lot of people including cost and reputation against Harman. Just make a quality product and be done with it. Wow. Rant over.
Mrpelletburner
Minister of Fire
The dealer disassembled the whole stove, except for removing the pop rivets and still couldn't get to the heatsinks. Took the dealer 2 hrs to disassemble.
Wow. If he went that far you think he would have removed the pop rivets to get to the heatsink, assuming that's where the heatsink/s are located.
Thanks for your input, hopefully this will help others who have the annoying/popping sounds and maybe someone will find a solution to correcting this issue and post here. Stanley
wildbill
New Member
good to see harman stepped up and replaced those stoves, I bought my 52 this year built in 2015, I had some sounds the first couple fires and now its been running a lot more there's hardly any thermal expansion going on at all ( knock on wood ) hopefully it was something that was fixed for future stoves in the model range as its been a great stove that might get a bad mark to potential buyers, IMO, its the best insert on the market so far, , ,
Hello to all am new to pellet stoves and to the forum.
I just had my new Harman Accentra 52i installed over the weekend and have been running for a few days and am very frustrated to hear all the expansion and contraction sounds that others are witnessing. I had hoped all was remedied as mine was from new stock, I think. Sad thing is I called Harman today and they fluffed me off and told me to call my dealer who installed it. I said "you built the stove, not the dealer" and got silence. I did call my dealer and they are coming next week to witness the sounds for themselves as they called Harman today and they told tem there are no issues, yeah right. I'm so ticked off after spending this kind of hard earned money to hear all of this popping and banging during heat up and cool down as if someone was hitting the steel with a hammer.
Let's see what happens. Will keep you posted.
Thanks to all for any advice.
I just had my new Harman Accentra 52i installed over the weekend and have been running for a few days and am very frustrated to hear all the expansion and contraction sounds that others are witnessing. I had hoped all was remedied as mine was from new stock, I think. Sad thing is I called Harman today and they fluffed me off and told me to call my dealer who installed it. I said "you built the stove, not the dealer" and got silence. I did call my dealer and they are coming next week to witness the sounds for themselves as they called Harman today and they told tem there are no issues, yeah right. I'm so ticked off after spending this kind of hard earned money to hear all of this popping and banging during heat up and cool down as if someone was hitting the steel with a hammer.
Let's see what happens. Will keep you posted.
Thanks to all for any advice.
Meskhov, sorry that you are having this problem. Harman says on their Facebook page they aren't aware of any popping sounds, really? What a bunch of BS. I wish Harman would step up to the plate and just tell their customers where the "heatsinks" are located (assuming this is causing the popping/expansion sounds) and tell people how to remedy this problem.
Good Morning,
I had purchased a Harman Accentra 52I insert two years ago. I had experienced the expansion/contraction sounds referenced here from the beginning. The dealer has been in to observe the sounds, has recorded audio and video and stated that the sounds were excessive. Harman has replaced he stove twice. Both replacements started off quiet and the expansion noises would start after about 1 month of running would continually get worse. I have the dealer scheduled to come in this week to observe (again) he issue. On the last visit, I was told that all pellet stoves make expansion/contraction noises. I have a Harman Invincible pellet insert in my basement. It is about 18 years old and does not exhibit the same sounds as the new Accentra. I purchased this new unit based on my experiences with the old Invincible. If this unit made the same sounds, I would not have purchased the Accentra and certainly would not have paid top dollar for the unit. My wife wanted to get one of the cheaper models and I insisted that we go with the Harman as we had such good luck with the Invincible. I am in the "Dog house" at this point.
We will see what the dealer evaluation is at this point but I fear that it is not going to get any better.
I would not recommend this unit at this point.
Chris
I had purchased a Harman Accentra 52I insert two years ago. I had experienced the expansion/contraction sounds referenced here from the beginning. The dealer has been in to observe the sounds, has recorded audio and video and stated that the sounds were excessive. Harman has replaced he stove twice. Both replacements started off quiet and the expansion noises would start after about 1 month of running would continually get worse. I have the dealer scheduled to come in this week to observe (again) he issue. On the last visit, I was told that all pellet stoves make expansion/contraction noises. I have a Harman Invincible pellet insert in my basement. It is about 18 years old and does not exhibit the same sounds as the new Accentra. I purchased this new unit based on my experiences with the old Invincible. If this unit made the same sounds, I would not have purchased the Accentra and certainly would not have paid top dollar for the unit. My wife wanted to get one of the cheaper models and I insisted that we go with the Harman as we had such good luck with the Invincible. I am in the "Dog house" at this point.
We will see what the dealer evaluation is at this point but I fear that it is not going to get any better.
I would not recommend this unit at this point.
Chris
Peterfield
Minister of Fire
It's obvious that the company changed something in production or received a bad batch of aluminum heat-sink material. Either way, they certainly know it and it is so typical for companies not to admit there is a problem.
Husky
Feeling the Heat
I don't understand why some of these stove do it and some do not. I had my stove installed Aug. 2014 and do not get any popping sounds. The only noise I get is a faint clicking as the stove is getting up to temp. Once hot the only noise is the pellets being pushed into burn pot. They must of changed something in their manufacturing process or the parts. They should be able to figure it out. I agree that these stoves are very expensive and should be made right by Harman to anyone having a problem.
It seems like you have to go to FaceBook and visit Harman Stoves to get a reply from Harman. Apparently they don't like all the bad press on FB. Then fix the problem, it's that easy. Stanley
Hey guys,
I'm a new member, googled the 52i expansion noises and came across this forum. I also bought mine last Nov, had issues right off the bat. I am now on my 4th stove and it is slightly better than the first 3 but still continuously makes noise. Harman told me I was an isolated incident (which after 3 stoves I found hard to believe) and am now considering switching to a stand alone. It stinks because it will be considerably expensive to alter my current setup to accommodate one. Harman basically said after this one they're done. Obviously the level of quality they're producing is going down. I purchased harman because of their reputation, needless to say I'm sorely disappointed. Long story short, they haven't fixed the problem. Good luck guys.
Brock
I'm a new member, googled the 52i expansion noises and came across this forum. I also bought mine last Nov, had issues right off the bat. I am now on my 4th stove and it is slightly better than the first 3 but still continuously makes noise. Harman told me I was an isolated incident (which after 3 stoves I found hard to believe) and am now considering switching to a stand alone. It stinks because it will be considerably expensive to alter my current setup to accommodate one. Harman basically said after this one they're done. Obviously the level of quality they're producing is going down. I purchased harman because of their reputation, needless to say I'm sorely disappointed. Long story short, they haven't fixed the problem. Good luck guys.
Brock
Just an update the dealer came out today and saw and heard the popping sounds on heat up and cool down and told me that it was not normal.
They did video tape the unit running and making noises for about 30 minutes. They are going to contact Harman today and see what they are going to do for us. Let's see what happens. Again, based on reputation and peoples good luck with the unit we spent the extra money and went with the Harman. I hope after spending my hard earned money for the stove plus professional installation we can do something about the noises!
Will keep you posted!
Thanks!
Mrpelletburner
Minister of Fire
I see they recently (Aug) added a rules section to their FB page (https://www.facebook.com/HarmanStoves/?fref=nf).
Really wish Dan could buy the company back, get the quality into the stoves.
Really wish Dan could buy the company back, get the quality into the stoves.
Mrpelletburner
Minister of Fire
Mrpelletburner, so what do you think? When was that stove manufactured? Info should be located on the right side (near the top) when you open the little side door. Stanley
Mrpelletburner
Minister of Fire
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