Harman Hoppers

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AccentraRRT

AccentraRRT

Burning Hunk
Mar 1, 2014
169
Massachusetts
I have an accentra and was wondering if anyone else has this issue, accentra owners or other Harman owners with similar style hoppers...
Why hopper never seems to feed all the pellets down to the auger. There has been times the stove has shut down and there has been, what I would estimate, 5lbs of pellets left in the hopper that look like they are cascading down from the sides but the feed into the auger is empty.
So typically I will check every so often and reconstitute the pellets downward.. This is a problem over night though. I have woke up at 630 am and found the stove powering down with 5lbd of pellets in it that should have made it run another hour or so..
Yeah I know, I get it, just keep filling it as it gets low and make sure it's full before going to bed.. But that should not be the point.. Anyone else have this issue??
 
My Accentra 52i does the same thing. I find myself always pushing the pellets towards the auger when ever I walk by the stove. It is a pain but I think they pushed the limits in making the hopper as big as possible. The down fall is the angle inside is not steep enough to give you a complete emptying of the hopper. Mine is rated to hold 65 lbs but in reality if I fill and don't touch it will only use about 60-55 lbs of pellets before it shuts down. Another example of a company working the system to promote max size of hopper to make a sale. This is one of the things people look at when making a decision on a new stove, I know I did. We all want to get max burn time in between reloading. Don't get me wrong though, I love my stove and would not trade it for another.
 
AccentraRRT said:
I have an accentra and was wondering if anyone else has this issue, accentra owners or other Harman owners with similar style hoppers...
Why hopper never seems to feed all the pellets down to the auger. There has been times the stove has shut down and there has been, what I would estimate, 5lbs of pellets left in the hopper that look like they are cascading down from the sides but the feed into the auger is empty.
So typically I will check every so often and reconstitute the pellets downward.. This is a problem over night though. I have woke up at 630 am and found the stove powering down with 5lbd of pellets in it that should have made it run another hour or so..
Yeah I know, I get it, just keep filling it as it gets low and make sure it's full before going to bed.. But that should not be the point.. Anyone else have this issue??
Click to expand...
Someone posted something somewhere about Sanding and waxing (At least I THINK it was waxing. Some sort of coating.) The hopper to get those last few pelletts down. I fill mine before going to bed. Make sure it's packed well, and have never had a problem. Never had five pounds left either, or are you going by volume perhaps?
 
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I don't have that problem with mine. The pellets always empty completely into the auger.
 
F4jock said:
Someone posted something somewhere about Sanding and waxing (At least I THINK it was waxing. Some sort of coating.) The hopper to get those last few pelletts down. I fill mine before going to bed. Make sure it's packed well, and have never had a problem. Never had five pounds left either, or are you going by volume perhaps?
Click to expand...
Yeah, I am estimating the amount of volume left in the hopper. Haha I have never actually removed the remaining contents and weighed them.
I had been told by the installer that I would take some "wear in time" but I am about 3 tons through it now. I always fill it before going to bed and fill if needed in the AM.. It is just more of a pain when doing the burn out/shut down when preparing for a cleaning and then having to empty the remaining pellets from the hopper to clean that out
 
AccentraRRT said:
Yeah, I am estimating the amount of volume left in the hopper. Haha I have never actually removed the remaining contents and weighed them.
I had been told by the installer that I would take some "wear in time" but I am about 3 tons through it now. I always fill it before going to bed and fill if needed in the AM.. It is just more of a pain when doing the burn out/shut down when preparing for a cleaning and then having to empty the remaining pellets from the hopper to clean that out
Click to expand...
I must be missing something. Haven't fully emptied the hopper in years, even for cleaning.
 
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I have that both with the Harman and the St. Croix. I got an extension for the Harman so I don't have to fill it as often since it is the one that does the heavy lifting in my house. I saw one stove with the hopper exit to the auger clear over on the left side so that 3 sides were almost entirely vertical. when I commented on it, the salesman stated that it was to help keep the pellets moving as they would only have the one side at an angle. Don't remember what brand it was, but it certainly looked like it should work in helping get most of the pellets where they are supposed to end up.
 
Same problem with an Accentra FS. I find that the volume of remaining pellets varies by brand. Maines choice is an example of a pellet that tends to slide while maine woods tends get hung up. Still prefer maine woods though.
 
Ive used about 4 different kinds of pellets. With all four kinds when the stove runs out there is maybe 3 cups that hasnt slide into the auger.
 
I have a Harman Accentra 52i, and I can say that it doesn't completely feed until *entirely* empty - maybe a pound left? Not much. I've never had it shut off at night, etc....and the only reason I push the pellets to the middle sometimes is just because I like messing with it. They go there eventually...
 
AccentraRRT said:
I have an accentra and was wondering if anyone else has this issue, accentra owners or other Harman owners with similar style hoppers...
Why hopper never seems to feed all the pellets down to the auger. There has been times the stove has shut down and there has been, what I would estimate, 5lbs of pellets left in the hopper that look like they are cascading down from the sides but the feed into the auger is empty.
So typically I will check every so often and reconstitute the pellets downward.. This is a problem over night though. I have woke up at 630 am and found the stove powering down with 5lbd of pellets in it that should have made it run another hour or so..
Yeah I know, I get it, just keep filling it as it gets low and make sure it's full before going to bed.. But that should not be the point.. Anyone else have this issue??
Click to expand...
The manufacturers get to spec that their hopper holds 5 more pounds, even if the augur can't reach it without a little help.
 
I would Clean the hopper well and spray 3 or 4 coats of any kind of dry film lubricant in the areas it hangs, I used it on an auger last week and it lasted about a week augering, probably last a very long time in a hopper.
 
AccentraRRT said:
I have an accentra and was wondering if anyone else has this issue, accentra owners or other Harman owners with similar style hoppers...
Why hopper never seems to feed all the pellets down to the auger. There has been times the stove has shut down and there has been, what I would estimate, 5lbs of pellets left in the hopper that look like they are cascading down from the sides but the feed into the auger is empty.
So typically I will check every so often and reconstitute the pellets downward.. This is a problem over night though. I have woke up at 630 am and found the stove powering down with 5lbd of pellets in it that should have made it run another hour or so..
Yeah I know, I get it, just keep filling it as it gets low and make sure it's full before going to bed.. But that should not be the point.. Anyone else have this issue??
Click to expand...
Same issue here . I have a p35i and woke up to stove being off but pellets lined up on sides of hopper and none in auger sounds like design issue
 
Same here I have a p35i and had stove off when I woke up to find pellets clinging to side . Sounds like design issue
 
Common problem.
The painting as mentioned above is one fix, believe i read some used graphite paint. Mine collected in the corners at the bottom of the hopper, i used aluminum tape. works well, no sticking since.
 
johninwi said:
Common problem.
The painting as mentioned above is one fix, believe i read some used graphite paint. Mine collected in the corners at the bottom of the hopper, i used aluminum tape. works well, no sticking since.
Click to expand...
I will try it thanks for he info
 
I used spray on Teflon on my Hopper and it alleviated the problem. Now I just get a small handful that don't make it. No way to make the rivets slippery enough...

I put on three coats. Just be sure you do it with the stove off!
 
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I solved the problem of not all the pellets Sliding down the Hopper by dumping the next bag of pellets into the hopper.>>
Now I didn't say that to be smartass but am I missing something here?
or do many of you wait till the hopper is empty before filling it there by having issues with not all the pellets sliding down?
 
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Tonyray,

It could be how the hopper sides are made/formed in the different stoves. The angle could be steeper in your stove then in the posters stove. Different size hoppers also play into it.

Neither of my stoves will empty completely and they are two different brands. Maybe others have their stoves turned up higher then you during the night and end up using more pellets. Lots of different possibilities out there.

I have read about spraying on the Teflon, waxing, and also just rubbing powdered graphite onto the metal as help for this issue.
 
Pellets can make a difference. I am burning exclusively Blazers now, and notice that they do not slide down completely as well as other pellets I have used. So I tend to monitor more and add another bag a little sooner than before. I love the Blazers, and this does not discourage me from using them.
 
I guess the thing that is "being missed" I may have not fully told the story.. Didn't think it was really necessary but.. I work 12 hour shifts, over an hour drive from home. so in a typical work day/night I could be gone for 14+ hours, usually longer.. I normally dial back the stove and can get about 16-18hours a bag but when it gets overly cold my stove will chew through the pellets.. It's a little aggravating when you get home and the stove is basically out but there is still 5lbs of pellets stuck to the side of the hopper.. Just asking if anyone else had this issue and how they fixed it.
Haha it's not like I dump a bag in and sit around the house waiting for itt I be empty before I refill.
 
AccentraRRT said:
I guess the thing that is "being missed" I may have not fully told the story.. Didn't think it was really necessary but.. I work 12 hour shifts, over an hour drive from home. so in a typical work day/night I could be gone for 14+ hours, usually longer.. I normally dial back the stove and can get about 16-18hours a bag but when it gets overly cold my stove will chew through the pellets.. It's a little aggravating when you get home and the stove is basically out but there is still 5lbs of pellets stuck to the side of the hopper.. Just asking if anyone else had this issue and how they fixed it.
Haha it's not like I dump a bag in and sit around the house waiting for itt I be empty before I refill.
Click to expand...

The easiest way would be to buy a hopper extension for it. or make one. If the hopper and hopper lid is the same as on the PC45 they sell a extension that fits perfect on top of the original hopper and has its own sealed lid. I will probably get flamed for suggesting this but being it is a option for the stove you can be sure the company has researched and approved it.
 
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AccentraRRT said:
I guess the thing that is "being missed" I may have not fully told the story.. Didn't think it was really necessary but.. I work 12 hour shifts, over an hour drive from home. so in a typical work day/night I could be gone for 14+ hours, usually longer.. I normally dial back the stove and can get about 16-18hours a bag but when it gets overly cold my stove will chew through the pellets.. It's a little aggravating when you get home and the stove is basically out but there is still 5lbs of pellets stuck to the side of the hopper.. Just asking if anyone else had this issue and how they fixed it.
Haha it's not like I dump a bag in and sit around the house waiting for itt I be empty before I refill.
Click to expand...
glad u explained that....
thought it was an OCD thing which has been know to run rampid around this forum..!!!
 
AccentraRRT said:
Haha I have a touch of that too
Click to expand...
When you said you "dial back" the stove what are you adjusting? Have you tried cutting the feed down to, say, 1 to 1.5 when you're away? That way you'll top limit the max feed per minute to 10 to 15 Seconds. Before doing that I'd time my feed under normal operation with the feed rate set to 4. If, for example, you get 18 seconds per minute, cutting the top end to 1 (10 seconds) will knock your consumption almost in half. Only limiting factor will be the temperature which may be too low for you. The other way to run would be in room temp and cut back to 60f or so but that would not be pellet-limiting.
 
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