New Harman XXV, Lots of Ash

[SmokeyTheBear]

Some houses have a voltage that is lower or higher than 120 volts, this must be a measured in order to know for certain.

I am not talking about voltage fluctuations at all, however you should at least have a surge protector for that stove.

 

[chris288]

Sure the XXV will get gunked up after only a day or so of burn time and it doen't have auto-clean but it doesn't need it either. Thats the beauty of the XXV design, the " gunkyness " seems to only get so bad and then it will pretty much run for weeks without doing anyting except to scrape the pot every few days, even the glass stays relatively clean enought to see the fire for a week, just gets the upside down hockey stick design from the lower rigth hand corner. I've emptied my ash pan twice since november, ~ 60 bags, both times it was only half full, so yes in my case 1 ton before it would have been completely full. But that is misleading because the design of the XXV also produces a lot of fly ash and only about 60% of my ash winds up in the pan, the other 40% all over the bottom and up the sides a bit. Having to empty the pan after only 7 bags is not right, and from the looks of the 3rd pic. on the right, seems like the pellets got wet or something and are not burning completely and produce much more ash than usual.

The draft / voltage trim pot won't do much to change the burn characteristics of the XXV it's just used to help set the correct draft and voltage, and even then it doesn't do much at all.

From the Harman Manual:


These units are pre-tested at the factory with exactly
1 0 Volts A.C., 60 Hz. They are checked and adjusted
for firebox tightness, gasket leakage, motor operation
and igniter operation. The XXV is then factory set at a
mid-point adjustment and in most cases will not need any
adjustments. nOte: the factory low draft setting may
not be correct for the unit's permanent installation
conditions.
The control board on the XXV is equipped with a low
draft adjustment port. Located on the control face just
to the left of the igniter light. This voltage adjustment
is provided to allow the unit to be adjusted for the
household voltage where the unit is going to be in
permanent operation. nOte: the line voltage varies
from area to area and often home to home.
The low draft voltage should be adjusted to achieve
the most efficient burn on low burn or "maintenance".
This voltage adjustment allows the installer to change
the low voltage set point approximately 10 volts. This
adjustment should be done by the installer during set
up because a draft meter reading is required to insure
proper set up.
If the unit is not adjusted properly, it does not cause
a safety concern. If the unit is adjusted too high, only
effiency is lost. If the unit is adjusted too low, the low
draft pressure switch will not allow the feed motor or the
igniter to operate.
A simple draft test should be performed after
completing the flue pipe installation. To record the results
for future reference:
Combustion
Motor Speed
Control
Low draft
only set
point.
The small
straight
screwdriver
slot is plastic;
therefore, the
unit can be
adjusted while
in operation.
Fig.29
1. Plug unit into a 1 0VAC, 60 HZ outlet.
. Close the hopper lid, front view door, and the ash pan.
Neither pellets or a fire are required for this test.
. With the mode selector in the "OFF" position, turn
the feed adjuster to "TEST".
4. Record the high draft_____in W.C. (Normal is -.50
to -.60) The control will be on the High Draft for a total
of minutes.
5. After minutes, the combustion motor will go down to
low draft and the distribution blower will go on high. Allow
approximately 15 seconds to pass for the combustion
motor to slow before checking the low draft.
6. If the low draft is between -. 5 and -.45, record the
reading _____ in W.C. If the reading is higher, slowly
turn the set screw counter-clockwise until the draft
lowers. If the reading is lower, very slowly turn the set
screw clockwise until the draft increases.
nOte: the test mode alternates from high to low
draft every 60 seconds. if more time is needed
for draft adjustment, wait until the next low draft
cycle.
nOte: in some cases, the draft may not go as low
as -.35 to -.45 even with the set screw completely
counter-clockwise, ideally, you should just set it as
low as possible.
low draft Voltage adjustment
low draft Voltage adjustment
Draft Meter bolt hole location
is just behind the left front
leg, near the top of the ash
pan area.
Draft Meter
Fig.30

 

[Rokal]

Some houses have a voltage that is lower or higher than 120 volts, this must be a measured in order to know for certain.

I am not talking about voltage fluctuations at all, however you should at least have a surge protector for that stove.

I just pugged in my Kill-a-Watt meter and confirmed I am at 120 volts.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

There you can cross that off the list.

 

[Rokal]

After burning 7 bags of Stove Chow, my ash pan was about 1/4 full and overall the stove appears to be a lot less messy. I did not weigh the ashes yet.

Upon closer inspection of my stash of Okanagan's, I noticed that one of the bags has clearly been exposed to water. The pellets were swollen and basically expanded back into sawdust.

The 7 bags of pellets that I burned initially did not have any obvious signs of moisture.

If pellets look normal in shape/size, does this mean that they have not taken on any additional moisture?

Is there an easy way to check pellets for moisture content?

I want to make sure my ash problem is not related to moisture.

Thanks.

 

[tgordo49]

First, don't forget that depending on your venting setup, a fair amount of fine fly ash may be going right out the flue, so volumes in the pan can vary a lot from one installation to another even for the same stove & pellets.

Second, at my house, the voltage is 119 at night, and 128 during the day. Same time every morning a plant somewhere comes on line, and it kicks right up, with the lights giving a little flicker and fans speeding up a bit. Love ya, N*Star...

Third, my Harman P61A at 8 years old does NOT like Okies, too much pitch in them I think, it gets creosoted up pretty fast, have to clean every half ton or so which is every week. Try a hardwood pellet; less heat, but cleaner burn.

Finally, looking at that glass, I'll bet you've got an air leak somewhere, one of the door gaskets ain't tight so the glass wash has about zip getting pulled through it. That'd explain the dirty burn too. Use the ol' pinch-the-strip-of-paper-in-the-gasket test all around both doors next time she's cool. If they are sealing tightly, then try lighting some incense or punk and (before the distribution blower comes on!) see if it gets sucked in anywhere around the stove besides the combustion air intake of course. Fix any leaks, of course.

And let us know, eh? Curious...

 

[Rokal]

Upon closer inspection of my stash of Okanagan's, I noticed that one of the bags has clearly been exposed to water. The pellets were swollen and basically expanded back into sawdust.

The 7 bags of pellets that I burned initially did not have any obvious signs of moisture.

If pellets look normal in shape/size, does this mean that they have not taken on any additional moisture?

Is there an easy way to check pellets for moisture content?

I want to make sure my ash problem is not related to moisture.

Thanks.

I performed the moisture test located here:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/64462/

The batch of Okanagan pellets I tested didn't have any moisture condensing on the top of the saucer lid. After a minute in the microwave, all I noticed was that the pellets were a little softer. This is a good sign!

I have since been trying to tweak my feed rate. I've dialed back from 4 to 3 and it seems to have helped. After one day, there seems to be less ash and the glass is cleaner.