Harman stove mode blew us out!!!!

[Tonyray]

hey all,
5 yr pellet burner here.P61A...have used room/auto/manual modes like many here..
auto during the day, manual when temps drop alot overnight.
[not concerned about saving the Ignitor as they are EZPZ to replace].
kind of like not using the car AC on 90 degree days to save gas.... but I digress................

Decided to mess with Stove mode auto/ or constant mode for a week or so..
used to use it a bit here/there but never concistant..or for long periods.. wanted to see how it handled running off the ESP and not the room probe....

Burning good softwoods, EazyBlaze super premos., feed rate 3/half/ #3 or 65 heat setting/ very low fan speed.maybe around 2.

Temperature must have dropped because woke up the other night and the 2nd floor was well over 70 degrees. usually it's around mid 60's which is what we like. came down stairs and wall thermostat across from stove was 83 degrees... next room was 79 degrees. waaaaaaaay to warm for us..and we didn't even have the stove at half attack force at best...

Anyways, turned the temp down etc.... I do believe we could easily reach 100 degrees if we opened up the P61 Beast.!! and might mention we have a poorly insulated 100 yr old house....
those Softwoods we're like a Dragons breath they were blowing some major heat!!

Couple things though I noticed though using Stove mode.:

#1 My glass always would get the famous harman teardrop brown stain on right side of glass.
even replaced the gasket last summer since it did not hold the dollar bill test to well on that side.
glass was super clean all week.....!! 1st time ever..

#2 any dark residue or sticky whatever on the inner walls was completly gone and turned into a grey powder.
same as when your Electric oven does the clean mode at high temp and only ash remains.

#3.. Warmest the house has stayed on a steady 24 hrs. since we got the stove..
room auto definitly gives up/down feel here. warm,cool down, warm, rinse/lather/repeat.
[this is mainly due to poor insulation value...

#4.. Does appear to use more pellets but I refuse to drop the feed rate down to #2 or #1..
I know lot of people will run stove temp on low feed rates but the Harman P61&68 have largest burnpots and don't think they need pellets burning down in the Auger Throat day after day.. I would be concerned about Weldment issues etc since it burns so friggin Hot!! .just.my 2cents on that issue anyways....could be wrong.

 

[Nitro-Fish]

Decided to mess with Stove mode auto/ or constant mode for a week or so...…
Burning good softwoods, EazyBlaze super premos., feed rate 3/half/ #3 or 65 heat setting/ very low fan speed.maybe around 2.

Harman P61 here manual light 20 years old; feed rate stays at 3.5 when using stove temp, stays on 4 when using room temp well insulated but not "air tight" home by any means. I only use heat (temp) setting of 3 when using stove temp if it's in the 20's here, fan setting depends on day (low) or night (high), otherwise its left on setting 1 or 2, stove runs 24/7.

Couple things though I noticed though using Stove mode.:

#1 My glass always would get the famous harman teardrop brown stain on right side of glass.
even replaced the gasket last summer since it did not hold the dollar bill test to well on that side.
glass was super clean all week.....!! 1st time ever..

Same results

#2 any dark residue or sticky whatever on the inner walls was completly gone and turned into a grey powder.
same as when your Electric oven does the clean mode at high temp and only ash remains.

Never experienced sticky residue, grey powder & ash normal

#3.. Warmest the house has stayed on a steady 24 hrs. since we got the stove..
room auto definitly gives up/down feel here. warm,cool down, warm, rinse/lather/repeat.
[this is mainly due to poor insulation value...

Probe in room temp mode is supposed to keep within 1 degree of set temp (1 degree high or 1 degree low for a 2 degree variance?), but I have found this to vary a bit more usually but not by much.

#4.. Does appear to use more pellets but I refuse to drop the feed rate down to #2 or #1..

I only change the feed rate as mentioned above, it's my understanding (and what I've seen with my stove the early P61 manual light) that the feed rate is just the max that the stove will feed based on the feed rate dial setting; the actual amount being fed is determined by the heat (temp) setting dial, it will only feed what it needs up to the maximum you have the feed dial set to (maybe I'm wrong here?).

I know lot of people will run stove temp on low feed rates but the Harman P61&68 have largest burnpots and don't think they need pellets burning down in the Auger Throat day after day.. I would be concerned about Weldment issues etc since it burns so friggin Hot!!

The attached picture is the result of burning as described above for the first 19 years (noticed a bit of smoke smell on start-up towards the end of the last burn season), I replaced the feeder weldment & auger this summer, had the stove down to nothing but pieces and it got a very thorough cleaning in the process, did it myself and total cost was right around $330 for everything, it looks like a new one and burns like a new one now, if I get another 19 years out of it before having to repair it again, I'll be tickled!

.just.my 2cents on that issue anyways....could be wrong.

I have had some occasions over the years where the temps have stayed in the single digits (or negative digits) for several days and of course that's when the stove gets turned up and rally shines, plenty of reserve for times like that! I'm sure others will chime in with their experiences, but I won't be to concerned about running at the lower settings mentioned above.

 

[Mt Bob]

I have had some occasions over the years where the temps have stayed in the single digits (or negative digits) for several days and of course that's when the stove gets turned up and rally shines, plenty of reserve for times like that! I'm sure others will chime in with their experiences, but I won't be to concerned about running at the lower settings mentioned above.


View attachment 237601

LOL you forgot to add \sar\

 

[Mt Bob]

I rarely use stove mode.I use it with a low setting,no room fan,when I only need a little continuous heat,or just want fireplace mode.And sometimes I use it to run the stove hot,right before I shut it down for cleaning.