Ok, day 2 of my first pellet stove, a Harman P61A and I'm thinking something is wrong, a lot of buildup on the burnpot, adding a pic of what it looks like this morning, suggestions please as we have no clue what to do. It is on a feed rate of 3 and Low Room Temperature mode, set to about 65. I don't know if the airflow is wrong or if there is a seal leak or what else to check, my dealer is closed Mondays so no help there. Does anyone know a good way to check the seal? Does anyone even think that's what it could be? Anyone know of another post on here that may help? it's hard because we don't know what to search for, any help is greatly appreciated!!
newbie w/Harman not burning right
- Thread starter sheranjem
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sheranjem said:
Other than lot of buildup in the burnpot what is wrong? It does look ok to me with the one picture. Are you familiar with the way Harmans work? I tried to look for a video on the operation of the stove but I can not find one. I will keep looking.
Eric
when i had my p68 that is how it looked all the time, the bottom feed operation is as advertised.
make sure your burn chute is clean and the holes are free of creosote.
make sure your burn chute is clean and the holes are free of creosote.
I thought that the buildup was not good? Isn't that supposed to mean something isn't right? Like it isn't burning the right way? A guy I work with said the buildup isn't good and I need to change something, but I thought maybe as long as we clean it, it might be ok. I was trying to look for pictures of other Harman stoves to compare, maybe there isn't a problem and I'm just paranoid. Every time I ever saw one burning I don't think I ever really took notice of what it was supposed to look like...
sheranjem said:
Unless you are there every 3-4 minutes you will get a buildup on a bottom feeding stove. Did you dealer explain this to you? Did he not show you how the stove works? When the stove was installed did the installer run the stove and show you everything to expect with the stove (good fire vs. bad fire)?
If not what did you pay for other than a nice end table?
Eric
Why would you think it is not burning correctly? The ash in your pic
looks normal to me too. The ash will get pushed into the ash pan when
more pellets are fed through.
Don't let your friend freak you out. Read your owner's manual and
when you are done, read it again to help you become more familiar
with your stove and how to clean it.
Poke around and search the forums as some of your questions may already
have been asked by someone else. Also, check out the cleaning videos
on youtube for the Harman stoves too.
BTW, welcome
looks normal to me too. The ash will get pushed into the ash pan when
more pellets are fed through.
Don't let your friend freak you out. Read your owner's manual and
when you are done, read it again to help you become more familiar
with your stove and how to clean it.
Poke around and search the forums as some of your questions may already
have been asked by someone else. Also, check out the cleaning videos
on youtube for the Harman stoves too.
BTW, welcome
That burn pot is actually very clean. I let mine go 2-3 days before I scrape.
Your burnpot will fill with ashes that will be pushed out by incoming pellets and will fall into the ash pan.
Your burnpot will fill with ashes that will be pushed out by incoming pellets and will fall into the ash pan.
It looks normal to me too. In fact, I wish my burn pot looked like that after burning a certain brand of pellet I am trying to use up.
To be honest my dealer didn't do anything, basically "there you go, have fun" so we are pretty much winging it. I did read the manual but it doesn't describe or picture normal or good/bad fire, just how to install, start, and clean it, and even those instructions leave something to be desired. I will definitely check for those videos on YouTube. Sorry I seem to have troubled you all with this for no reason since the general concensus is that this is burning just fine. It's just that these things aren't cheap and the point of this was to save money (we have oil heat) and we want to make sure we take care of it and operate it properly. BUT on a side note, they really are quite nice to look at too, we are very pleased, just a little nervous. Thanks for all the input!
sheranjem said:
No it is not a bother to answer questions. All this could have been avoided by a dealer explaining the basics to you. Yes there are a lot of people that buy without a dealer and in a large way it hurts the pellet stove field. The reason I say this is before you found the board and asked questions I am sure you told friends and co workers how you felt about the stove. They in turn have gotten a negative impression on your experience and the pellet stove field. Yes I am sure you spent a large amount of money on a product that in your eyes was not doing what it should. This could have been avoided with a dealer spending 20-30 minutes longer with you.
Please ask if you have more questions.
Welcome aboard
Eric
I guess I'll put in my 2 cents.
It looks normal to me also. I burn my Harman on low settings and see the same type of ash build up. Since on low, the pellets never really fill up the burn pot enough to push the ashes out. Usually by the time there is enough build up to push themselves out of the pot, I have already taken the scraper and scraped them forward in to the ash pan.
Don't feel bad about being nervous and wanting to do things right. I am the same way. The investment was significant IMO, so I want to treat my stove carefully also. Just read the the manual (several times), keep on the forum, and it will all get much easier. Understanding exactly how your stove works goes along way in troubleshooting.
It looks normal to me also. I burn my Harman on low settings and see the same type of ash build up. Since on low, the pellets never really fill up the burn pot enough to push the ashes out. Usually by the time there is enough build up to push themselves out of the pot, I have already taken the scraper and scraped them forward in to the ash pan.
Don't feel bad about being nervous and wanting to do things right. I am the same way. The investment was significant IMO, so I want to treat my stove carefully also. Just read the the manual (several times), keep on the forum, and it will all get much easier. Understanding exactly how your stove works goes along way in troubleshooting.
i too am new to the forum, and new to pellet stoves. Bought my P-68 in June before the 'rush' and have been running it about 16+/- hours a day since October 23rd. My burnpot looks like that also when i run on low. I must say though, that the stove is awesome and i love having 2 sources of heat to choose from. I put my stove in basement, which i have walled off, insulated, and am finishing as a family room. i also put vents in my floor and ceiling fans located near them to help the hot air move up. i heat my family room(400sq.ft.) to about 78 and the first floor of my cape(900sq.ft.) to about 72. my bedrooms on the second floor are on a separate zone off the oil boiler and run minimal oil heat for them. my first winter with the stove so we'll see how it goes and make improvements as needed. just wanted to finally chime in after reading these forums for ideas and suggestions for the last 3 months.lol. great website and a really good community of people it seems.
Check out this thread that I started last week:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/29304/
similar issue. I knew there was supposed to be ash there; it just seemed like it was building to the point of squeezing in on the flame. But no...all is well.
different stove, but same burn pot/feed mechanism.
I get the impression that the top-feeders don't see any ash right IN the burnpot, because the blowers move it outta there as its created...all there is to see is burning pellets.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/29304/
similar issue. I knew there was supposed to be ash there; it just seemed like it was building to the point of squeezing in on the flame. But no...all is well.
different stove, but same burn pot/feed mechanism.
I get the impression that the top-feeders don't see any ash right IN the burnpot, because the blowers move it outta there as its created...all there is to see is burning pellets.
cac4 said:
If a stove is running right a top feeder should have very little ash/clinkers in the burn pot. You still need to scrape a top feeder or have some type of agitator system.
Eric
Take a look at the tech tips... gives a good explanation of cleaning your burn pot.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/29997/
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/29997/
nice info. did not know to scrape the pot while the stove was hot or even on still. i always did it 'soon' after i shut her down because i figured the warmer the buildup was the easier it would be. all makes sense, thanks krooser
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I also am pretty new to pellets having just burned my first ton in my P61. I've been afraid to leave my burn pot looking like the one pictured above (three day burn) so I've been scraping forward into the ash pot every 12 hours at least. Are you all saying it is OK to leave it looking like it will smother the fire? If this is the case it would make my situation infinitely easier. Also, I read that bulletin and tried it last night. It seemed to work pretty well, but I don't understand the point to flipping the toggle from auto to manual before scraping. Wouldn't turning the stove or room temp down be enough?
My p68 will leave a residue similar to yours when it is burning on low because it does not have the efficiency to completely burn the pellets on low but when on medium to high it burns cleaner and more completely. Don't worry everything is running normally.
please302 said:
something doesn't sound right with your P68 because mine will burn the pellets on low no problem..right to ashes everytime..my settings are feed-2 stove temp-2
the burn,i admit is lower in the pot and it may seem like its gonna be overtaken by the ashes but it NEVER has yet...the auger just keeps pushing the pellets up and the ashes out..
good luck
The fire looks just fine to me and is exactly like my Harman burns at #3.
I scrape every 2-3 days and (maybe could go longer) I do not tun the stove off. The flame usually goes out before I`m finished scraping but it always re-ignites immediately after closing the door. This works really neat since I don`t have an auto start feature .
The one thing I do that is different and works better is that I turn up the fuel rate to maximum just before I open the door to scrape. This causes more draft to remove the smoke and dust from scraping and with the door open no pellets get fed into the burnpot. I also turn off the stove blower just in case any smoke or dust (from scraping the burnpot) escapes does not get blown about the room.
Harmans might well be the easiest stove to maintain. Like any other pellet stove you tend to get in tune with your own over time and can usually tell exactly what`s wrong and what you need to do just from the appearence and sound of it.
I scrape every 2-3 days and (maybe could go longer) I do not tun the stove off. The flame usually goes out before I`m finished scraping but it always re-ignites immediately after closing the door. This works really neat since I don`t have an auto start feature .
The one thing I do that is different and works better is that I turn up the fuel rate to maximum just before I open the door to scrape. This causes more draft to remove the smoke and dust from scraping and with the door open no pellets get fed into the burnpot. I also turn off the stove blower just in case any smoke or dust (from scraping the burnpot) escapes does not get blown about the room.
Harmans might well be the easiest stove to maintain. Like any other pellet stove you tend to get in tune with your own over time and can usually tell exactly what`s wrong and what you need to do just from the appearence and sound of it.
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