Have a Harman PB105? Lets Compare
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What kind of brush do you scrape the heating tubes with? How often do you scrape them with a brush?
Another problem, today i went into the basement and smelled this odd smokey smell, didnt see any smoke, cleaned the boiler, and later wet back to check on it and smelled the smell stronger, I opened the door and inside the boiler smelled the same and there was still a little smoke inside. Boiler wasnt running at the time and the blower had stopped. It also appears b ased on pelelt usage that it didnt run a whole lot today, it was a warm day.
What could be my issue?
What could be my issue?
ok woke u0p this morning, dont really notice much of the smoke smell anymore but there are unburned pellets in the ashpan. I just dont get it
My settings are:
Max Temp 185 Min Temp 150
Auto Ignite, Old style Cartridge Ignition w/ 6 RPM feed motor
Feed Rate 4
Dip Switches : off on off
How many pellets are you burning a day?
1-2 bags a day, depends on outdoor temp. and wind speed
What size is your home?
2500 ft^2 set at 70 degrees
Do you have out door sensor hooked up? If not why? no
Do you have outside air kit installed? no
How long have you owned your PB105: 3 Years
Problems? slight bump forming in burnpot (still original)
Venting: directly into chimney
"Another issue i seem to have is the temp guage on the pellet boiler seems to be off. I have max set at 170 but it didnt shut off until about 185"
Do you have the aquastat in the top of the boiler or in the back of the DHW coil? Make sure the tip of the thermocouple is making direct contact with the bottom of the aquastat well, if there is an air gap between the thermocouple and metal the operation will be off. My gauge was off a little bit too, I "calibrated" it by unscrewing the plastic cover and moving the needle with my finger, over-traveling it in the direction it needed to go until it sprung back to where it was supposed to be. Now it works perfectly. It is really a cheap gauge I wish Harman would have included a higher quality piece.
"What kind of brush do you scrape the heating tubes with? How often do you scrape them with a brush?"
I found a "bottle brush" in the hardware store that works well and gets way up in between the tubes. I clean the tubes at least every ton when I do a full cold shut down and clean. I clean it a little more often now when I shut the boiler down because it gets to 60 deg + outside and am using a lower quality "shoulder pellet" now. Here is a pic of what the brush looks like:
![[Hearth.com] Have a Harman PB105? Lets Compare](/talk/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.containerstore.com%2Fcatalogimages%2F161519%2FSmartScrubBottleBrush100597G_x.jpg&hash=59cf58097b37a4c3d7b76c91a463f321 "[Hearth.com] Have a Harman PB105? Lets Compare")
Max Temp 185 Min Temp 150
Auto Ignite, Old style Cartridge Ignition w/ 6 RPM feed motor
Feed Rate 4
Dip Switches : off on off
How many pellets are you burning a day?
1-2 bags a day, depends on outdoor temp. and wind speed
What size is your home?
2500 ft^2 set at 70 degrees
Do you have out door sensor hooked up? If not why? no
Do you have outside air kit installed? no
How long have you owned your PB105: 3 Years
Problems? slight bump forming in burnpot (still original)
Venting: directly into chimney
"Another issue i seem to have is the temp guage on the pellet boiler seems to be off. I have max set at 170 but it didnt shut off until about 185"
Do you have the aquastat in the top of the boiler or in the back of the DHW coil? Make sure the tip of the thermocouple is making direct contact with the bottom of the aquastat well, if there is an air gap between the thermocouple and metal the operation will be off. My gauge was off a little bit too, I "calibrated" it by unscrewing the plastic cover and moving the needle with my finger, over-traveling it in the direction it needed to go until it sprung back to where it was supposed to be. Now it works perfectly. It is really a cheap gauge I wish Harman would have included a higher quality piece.
"What kind of brush do you scrape the heating tubes with? How often do you scrape them with a brush?"
I found a "bottle brush" in the hardware store that works well and gets way up in between the tubes. I clean the tubes at least every ton when I do a full cold shut down and clean. I clean it a little more often now when I shut the boiler down because it gets to 60 deg + outside and am using a lower quality "shoulder pellet" now. Here is a pic of what the brush looks like:
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I also have a slight bump forming in my burnpot. Right over the ignitor. It's not cracked so they won't replace it. Not bad for 5 years I guess.
Pellets in the ash pan is from a failed ignition. You could have some smoldering in the ash pan which might be what you're smelling after the fan shuts off.
Try checking/cleaning your ESP. Mine came with the black wire probe and my dealer replaced it when the boiler was new because it wasn't getting to the correct temperature. That didn't fix the problem. It's the cheapo gauge that was the problem.
I have the red wire ESP now and there's a dip switch setting difference between the red and black wire versions.
Pellets in the ash pan is from a failed ignition. You could have some smoldering in the ash pan which might be what you're smelling after the fan shuts off.
Try checking/cleaning your ESP. Mine came with the black wire probe and my dealer replaced it when the boiler was new because it wasn't getting to the correct temperature. That didn't fix the problem. It's the cheapo gauge that was the problem.
I have the red wire ESP now and there's a dip switch setting difference between the red and black wire versions.
i have the red wire esp, how do you go about checking it? Isnt it attached to the inside of the pipe? They have it just above the blower
KROCK5115
New Member
Hello...I am new to the Forum..I actually joined because of you feed back on the PB105. I am looking at putting in a Pellet Boiler system..I was wondering if you put in water storage since putting in your system.. In reading they say that this a great way to store the heat. Your sqft dies that inc. your basement? I have a log home with 6000 sqft inc basement. So not sure BTU output of PB105 would do the trick..I am told it will but highly recommend water storage. I am looking at either going with Harman PB105 or Viadrus Hercules ECO. Any feed back or comments would be appreciated...thanks...KenMy settings are:
Max Temp 185 Min Temp 150
Auto Ignite, Old style Cartridge Ignition w/ 6 RPM feed motor
Feed Rate 4
Dip Switches : off on off
How many pellets are you burning a day?
1-2 bags a day, depends on outdoor temp. and wind speed
What size is your home?
2500 ft^2 set at 70 degrees
Do you have out door sensor hooked up? If not why? no
Do you have outside air kit installed? no
How long have you owned your PB105: 3 Years
Problems? slight bump forming in burnpot (still original)
Venting: directly into chimney
"Another issue i seem to have is the temp guage on the pellet boiler seems to be off. I have max set at 170 but it didnt shut off until about 185"
Do you have the aquastat in the top of the boiler or in the back of the DHW coil? Make sure the tip of the thermocouple is making direct contact with the bottom of the aquastat well, if there is an air gap between the thermocouple and metal the operation will be off. My gauge was off a little bit too, I "calibrated" it by unscrewing the plastic cover and moving the needle with my finger, over-traveling it in the direction it needed to go until it sprung back to where it was supposed to be. Now it works perfectly. It is really a cheap gauge I wish Harman would have included a higher quality piece.
"What kind of brush do you scrape the heating tubes with? How often do you scrape them with a brush?"
I found a "bottle brush" in the hardware store that works well and gets way up in between the tubes. I clean the tubes at least every ton when I do a full cold shut down and clean. I clean it a little more often now when I shut the boiler down because it gets to 60 deg + outside and am using a lower quality "shoulder pellet" now. Here is a pic of what the brush looks like:
Have you looked at the Pinnacle/Traeger PB150? I wouldn't think you would need storage with that, and there are dealers in Ontario.
(broken link removed)
There should be 1 screw on the outside holding the ESP in. You just shut off power to the stove, remove the fan cover, take out that screw, and slide out the ESP. Then you just clean it off with a damp cloth or paper towel then a dry one and re-install.
Mr._Graybeard
Feeling the Heat
I don't see any point in storage because fuel is controlled so closely in a pellet boiler. When water temps approach the maximum the fuel feed tapers off. A wood gasifier doesn't have that kind of control, so thermal storage there is useful.
Others may disagree...
I have a hard time believing you would not be able to heat 6000sq/ft assuming its setup properly and your house is fairly modern. If you have a microzones you may consider a storage tank it also would help a little bit if it were -10F outside it may get you through a colder night being able to maintain a higher setpoint if your close to the units max btu output. A manual J calc or your old fuel bills should tell you if its big enough.
I don't have water storage but think it would be a good way to cut down on the inefficiencies of running the boiler in start/stop mode all the time. If mine shuts off and the water is about 200 the air handler can run once and pulls the temp down to about 160 then the next heat cycle the boiler will have to restart. I have the thermostat set to 2 cycles per hour (CPH). With storage you would be running the boiler full blast at max efficiency for a good amount of time to heat up the storage then shut it down until your storage needs re-heated. I think insulation of the storage is the key to minimizing losses. My sq ft doesn't include the basement but that is where the boiler is and radiant heat from the boiler keeps it warmer than without it and also heats the floors of the first floor noticeably especially on the one slate floor.
Mr._Graybeard
Feeling the Heat
SmokeEater
Feeling the Heat
This will be my second full winter with the PB105. First fire was in February 2012. I'm heating 3000 sq. ft on 2 to 3 bags a day. The temps have to get down into the teens to have burned 3 bags. I have the boiler feed set at about 4.5, hi limit to the max at 185 and the low limit at 160. No sign of any burn pot bubble. I shut it down and clean the burn pot on Saturday mornings. It takes about 10 minutes to scrap the carbon down and vacuum. Wipe the sight glass off and restart it. What's nice is that I have a 100 gallon buffer tank that is potable water and also the heat storage for the house. That really cuts down on the cycling and the 105 rarely shuts completely down. It does idle some but when it's cold, the house calls for heat the the 105 will run at a moderate fire to maintain the tank. The OB is also plumbed into the buffer and the buffer's thermostat is what signals the OB if the 105 is not operating. No hot water is pumped through the OB as there are gate valves in place to prevent it.
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PassionForFire&Water
Minister of Fire
I recommend to have a closer look at fully automated pellet boilers like: Kedel, Windhager BioWIN, Oköfen, Fröling P4.
A 6,000 SF feet residence is quite a space. You want a heating appliance that can take care of this, not something where you possibly could become a slave of.
A carefully designed hydronic heating system with modulating pellet boiler should not need thermal storage.
Also, pellet consumption of above mentioned pellet boilers will be significant less.
Keep this in mind: "The bitterness of poor quality remains long after low pricing is forgotten!" - Leon Cautillo
Check out some discussions on pellet boilers in the "boiler room".
Disclosure: I'm the Windhager BioWIN importer
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I took out the esp it was fairly black. I scrubbed it clean and put it back on we will see if there continues to be unburned pellets.
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KROCK5115
New Member
Very happy with the Thermal Mass "storage " my home has. thanks for pointing that out.
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