Harman XXV question

Hi all! I'm a long time reader of this forum and have learned so many bits of great info in regards to my stove and pellet stoves in general, so I figured it was high time I become a member. I'm a retired school teacher (32 years with 5th and 6th graders) living here in NW Pennsylvania, about 5 miles from the lake effect snow machine known as Lake Erie!

My question concerns my Harman XXV, which I had installed in December of 2011. It's been a great stove and am very satisfied with it. However, I've noticed over the past 3 weeks or so, I'm getting a very audible "clicking" sound directly after the pellets drop. It's not random, it happens every time. It's not affecting how the stove runs at all....still burning great.....just that clicking noise. I called my dealer and he mentioned the slide plate having something under it and just needing to work that obstruction out on its own, and that no damage was being done. Well, as I said, it's been about 3 weeks and it's still consistently making that noise. I clean the stove about every 10-12 days....scrape the burn pot, igniter area, heat exchangers, fines box, and this past Wednesday emptied the hopper and vacuumed it out, including the area around the slide plate. This helped for a few hours, but the clicking sound started right back up again. So, I decided to ask the experts on this forum and gather some ideas. Thanks in advance!

Defiant, thanks for the welcome and the suggestion! Do you mean to scrape the visible part of the auger showing at the opening to the burn pot? Can I do that without damaging the auger? Understand that I am mechanically challenged.....I'm still trying to gather the courage to take out the combustion fan to clean without screwing things up! This clicking noise sounds like it's happening around the slide plate area, but as I mentioned, I don't have much confidence in diagnosing mechanical problems.

Eric, would that be the fines box area? If so, I clean that every time I clean the stove.

Eric, this clicking noise is happening every time immediately after the tinkling sound of the pellets falling. It's like, tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, click.....tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, click.

Guys, my problem lies in the fact that I have no idea how to remove the slide plate to inspect it. However, I did notice that with the hopper empty and as I look down at the slide plate from a top view, there appears to be some scraping on the right side of the plate.

Eric, what angle is that picture taken from? Is it taken with the slide plate completely removed?

glenco322, LOL at the bathroom comment.....I had a mouthful of coffee when I read that and damn near lost it all over my monitor screen!

Guys, I've had that cover plate for the fines box off every time I've cleaned that area out....very tight quarters to work in. I guess what I don't understand or can't visualize is what to do once I get in there other than vacuum it out. I think what I have trouble with is understanding how the slide plate works and also how to get at it.

Delta_T.....hehe, I know....my son tells me that all the time! Makes me think in my youth, I should have paid more attention to watching my Dad work on mechanical things instead of playing sports and chasing girls!