Harmon Advance Pellet Stove Rattles

[OldSnipe]

I bought a new Harmon Advance pellet stove in February of 06. It works fine but has an annoying rattle that comes from the sheet metal baffles whenever it is taken apart for a thorough cleaning. (About every ton). After it gets a few hours on it the fly ash stops the noise. The stove is located om a ceramic pad on the wood floor of a framed house with a crawl space. Last year I got into the crawl space and shored up the area to no avail. All you have to do is walk by the stove and rattle, rattle, rattle! I last cleaned it this Spring, (that's June here in Oregon). The only thing louder than the rattle was my wife hollering about it so I pulled it apart again to wait till a fire is needed. The 4 baffles in question appear to be 10 gage sheet metal and fit in front of the accordion heat exchanger and behind a cast iron false brick back wall. Tried shimming them in with bits of asbestos but the back wall must slide down about 2 inches when inserting and that doesn't work.

Does any one else have this problem? Is there a fix? I was thinking about a high temperature duct tape or something to seal them in? The local dealer says if I come up with anything he wants to know what it is!

Thanks

 

[Bxpellet]

Mine Rattles the same way, I am not sure if it is the brick wall or the 4 plates that are behind the wall, any way when it does, I bent the tabs that hold the brick wall in place and shift it around until it is wedged tight in there, that usually stops the rattle.

 

[FredJ]

I had the same rattle. I got 2 small "L" shape pieces of metal apx the thickness of 2 quarters and 1/2" long and slide them in upside down above the "Brick" ( on each side of that thing you have to slide to the side to remove the plate)- Rattle gone - just take up the small gap on both sides, it seems to be the top 2 of the 4 plates on mine. I use the L shape to lift the piece back out when cleaning. Another rattle also occurs if the rear covers are not inserted into the slots on the back of the stove properly

 

[OldSnipe]

BXPellet,
I have tried that also. Sometimes it makes it better but I can never make it stop. It is the 4, 10 gage metal baffles that make the noise rattling against the cast brick wall. In the Winter just operating the stove a couple of days produces enough fly ash back there to make it stop. I had to take them out after cleaning this Spring to make it quiet. Now when we get the first cold snap this Fall I'm going to have quick like a bunny put the stove together again before I can fire it. Not a satisfactory solution! I'm going to look and see if I can find something like an asbestos gasket material to glue to the back of the steel brick wall? I'm hoping though that someone here already has a proven fix.
TT

 

[OldSnipe]

I had the same rattle. I got 2 small "L" shape pieces of metal apx the thickness of 2 quarters and 1/2" long and slide them in upside down above the "Brick" ( on each side of that thing you have to slide to the side to remove the plate)- Rattle gone - just take up the small gap on both sides, it seems to be the top 2 of the 4 plates on mine. I use the L shape to lift the piece back out when cleaning. Another rattle also occurs if the rear covers are not inserted into the slots on the back of the stove properly

Will give that a try mate, Sounds almost to cheap a fix to work.
TT

 

[Bxpellet]

FredJ I like your idea I will keep it mind when I fire up the stove in the fall.

 

[Alan]

I did this as well last year...it works!

 

[OldSnipe]

I had the same rattle. I got 2 small "L" shape pieces of metal apx the thickness of 2 quarters and 1/2" long and slide them in upside down above the "Brick" ( on each side of that thing you have to slide to the side to remove the plate)- Rattle gone - just take up the small gap on both sides, it seems to be the top 2 of the 4 plates on mine. I use the L shape to lift the piece back out when cleaning. Another rattle also occurs if the rear covers are not inserted into the slots on the back of the stove properly

Thanks for the fix. I found a length of .5 X .025 S/S shim stock in my tool box. Cut two pieces 2 inches long and bent a 90º 1/2 inch from the ends. Inserted them between the false brick and top baffles as you suggested and the noise stopped. Cheap fix!
I owe you a beer.

 

[FredJ]

Glad to help