Can't figure out what is making a grinding/whining noise (Harman Invincible Insert)?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.
Oct 27, 2013
27
Effort, PA
Harman Invincible insert, manual ignition, control board and esp probe change approx. 4 months ago. Stove has been operating without issue since November. Cleaned out the inside, including burn pot (done weekly) and started the stove without issue. A little more that 12 hours later woke up to the stove sounding louder than normal. Noise sounded like grinding/whining/bad bearing sound from behind the trim panel. Turned the stove off since we were leaving for the day. When we relit the stove a day later there was no noise upon start up. Approx. 30 minutes into running stove started making the noise again, adjust distribution blower a couple of time to see if it made a difference- no related change in noise. After about 20-25 minutes the sound stopped on its own. Continued to run fine, no lack in heat output/change in flame height/feed issue. About 2 1/2 hours later the noise started again. Have since bench tested all components individually. The only one that seemed to make an unusual noise was the combustion blower- slightly slow to start up with a growl to it. Ran component for approx. 20 minute with no other unusual noise. At a loss as to what could be making the noise and don't want to throw a bunch of money into unnecessary parts. Any additional tests we can run??? Any suggestions, etc would be appreciated!
 
Probably got ash inside the combustion motor itself,or the bushings are very dry.Fan should spin by hand very free,make no noise on start.Heat will affect it,close tolerances.Blow motor out with compressed air and lube bushings.
 
On that model you probably have to squrit or spray along the shafts,some have oil holes,do not know on your model.search on this site bound to find as it is almost a harman site==c
 
Did you take off the motor from the bottom of the insert and we're the gromets in good shape? Are the blower cages in good shape on the dist., and convection blowers? If it sounds like a air noise when was the last time you took off the side, inside, panels, and chased or cleaned out the inverted u shaped channels. I'm just trying to cover anything that MIGHT be causing your issue. Things that come and go are tough to figure out. Your positive it's not coming from the auger system? Has the air chamber under the burn pot been cleaned, emptied, recently? I'm thinking you have an obstruction of some type somewhere that changes with air harmonics.
 
The stove gets shut down and entire interior gets cleaned including the burn pot air chamber. After relighting the stove yesterday it did not make a single unusual noise? Ran for at least 12 hours with nothing out of the ordinary?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.