Them little holes in the burn pot

SidecarFlip said:

IMO, extra holes don't hurt and most times help so long as you don't get carried away.....

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I'm planning on poking a few tomorrow in an attempt to aid the P68 in avoiding ash buildup in the front corners of the burn pot.

Just watch your hole size. 0.125 maximum or the diameter of a pellet.

Interesting. I will use a drill bit to clean the holes out...nice and easy with a cordless.

Increasing the hole size may allow more air volume through, but it may also decrease the velocity of that air. If your stove doesn't have a super strong blower and you increase the hole size, you might find that the ash doesn't leave the burn pot as quickly as it did. This might be a good thing, might not be. Depends on how good your blower is.

No blower is going to compress any air, so we're not talking a huge deal here,,,but some food for thought.

It's all dependent on if you can regulate the combustion fan speed. In my case, mine is very adjustable. I seriously doubt if a couple well placed holes in any burn pot would adversely impact air flow even if the CA fan wasn't adjustable and keep in mind, on any stove, as the feed rate increases (PPH), so does the CA fan speed. Thats built into the alogrithm in the control chip.

I see minimal impact so long as one don't get 'carried away' making holes.

elevenMracing said:

I'm planning on poking a few tomorrow in an attempt to aid the P68 in avoiding ash buildup in the front corners of the burn pot.

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Harman is one of the stoves that I would be leary of putting holes in burn pot.They have had pot upgrades,reccomend look at pictures of the latest one and compare to yours.

SidecarFlip said:

Just watch your hole size. 0.125 maximum or the diameter of a pellet.

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I didn't end up drilling out or drilling any new holes... yet. Current holes are already at approx .125 dia so I just cleaned them out by twisting a .125 drill bit with my fingers, I was plesantly suprised with how much carbon buildup I felt chipping off of the center holes when I did this. Don't know why I didn't think of it sooner, especially considering the stove is in a shop full of metal fabrication tooling. The hole pattern in my pot is not symmetrical though, as in there are a few holes in near one side that are not in the opposite side. I;m not sure if this has to do with the location of the ignitor and/or it's wiring or not. It's on my list of possible future projects, will likely be after heating season before I get to it though.

bob bare said:

Harman is one of the stoves that I would be leary of putting holes in burn pot.They have had pot upgrades,reccomend look at pictures of the latest one and compare to yours.

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Advice taken, I will look at the store display model nexxt time I stop at my local dealer also.

The ignitor in my stove is me and a wad of hand sanitizer...lol One less item to fail eventually.

SidecarFlip said:

The ignitor in my stove is me and a wad of hand sanitizer...lol One less item to fail eventually.

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Thanks for this post. I wondered if lighting gel was anything different than hand sanitizer!

Some hand sanitizers are a bit weak on the booze and sometimes pretty thin too. Lucked out two years ago and got the real stuff for $1 a quart from closeout at Wally World. Got the whole case and use on camping trips for those whose fire skills are poor and lighting the old Whit camp stove.

elevenMracing said:

I didn't end up drilling out or drilling any new holes... yet. Current holes are already at approx .125 dia so I just cleaned them out by twisting a .125 drill bit with my fingers, I was plesantly suprised with how much carbon buildup I felt chipping off of the center holes when I did this. Don't know why I didn't think of it sooner, especially considering the stove is in a shop full of metal fabrication tooling. The hole pattern in my pot is not symmetrical though, as in there are a few holes in near one side that are not in the opposite side. I;m not sure if this has to do with the location of the ignitor and/or it's wiring or not. It's on my list of possible future projects, will likely be after heating season before I get to it though.

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I just use an allan wrench to clean the holes out every time I shut down the stove.

I find it interesting that there are no holes on one side, are you sure they aren't covered with carbon? I usually have extra scraping to do toward the middle to find the holes, even after I think I have chipped it all off. A good thing about using an allan wrench is I can use it to scrape in the approximate location and it will catch the edge of the hole when I am over it.

Allan wrench? Crescent wrench? Neither are correct though both represent a particular brand. Allen is the manufacturer, 'Allen Tool and Machine' makes hex cap screw wrenches and Crescent Manufacturing makes adjustable open end wenches... 'Crescent wrench'.......

All about airflow.

Despite what some may think, the actual air flow through the fire pot is a careful balancing act.

It is amazing what just a little bit of restriction can due in the way of lousing up the efficient burn.

Turbulence is another issue, but that's another subject.

Some stoves are very fussy about airflow and others are pretty easy to please.

Too much air and the fire will act like a blow torch, or even get blown out, and too little and the flame is lazy and soot's up the glass quickly.

Some stoves have a booster fresh air blower that feeds the fire pot with a little adjustable gate on the opening to the squirrel cage to regulate the air flow.

This type of set up allows that balancing act to be less of an issue, and stoves can be tailored to most altitudes and conditions.

Stack type and height can really affect the draft and in turn the flow through the burn pot.

Just some thoughts

I agree to a point snowy however, combustion air flowing theough a pot needs to be throttled either with a primary damper or a slide damper or by varying the CA fan speed. IMO, any appliance that cannot throttle the CA flow is deficient in design.

No stove is plug and play and for any owner to assume it is, is just plain wrong. Every appliance needs to be 'fine tuned' for optimum burn and, of course needs to be vented properly. Most every facet is explained in the instructiomn manual wihich no one sees to read anymore...

I use a round file similar to this below to clean the holes in my burn pot. I think it works well. Going a bit at an angle with the file won't be as surprising as with a drill.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Nicholson-10-in-x-3-8-in-Bastard-Cut-Round-File-21854L/100208023

SidecarFlip said:

Allan wrench? Crescent wrench? Neither are correct though both represent a particular brand. Allen is the manufacturer, 'Allen Tool and Machine' makes hex cap screw wrenches and Crescent Manufacturing makes adjustable open end wenches... 'Crescent wrench'.......

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Excuse me for not knowing the real name of the tool. All my life I've been told it was a n allen wrench. Only use tools at home (and only lately since I became single), so I am just happy to be able to handle the damn thing without hurting something or someone

No problem and I'm trying to be a smart arse either. If one of my employees asks for an 'allen wrench', I give them a whatthehellisthat look. In a way it's neat that people refer to a brand of tool in reference to a required need. That gives that manufacturer recognition.

Just don't use a Crescent wrench on your scooter. Thats a no-no.

wazilian said:

I use a round file similar to this below to clean the holes in my burn pot. I think it works well. Going a bit at an angle with the file won't be as surprising as with a drill.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Nicholson-10-in-x-3-8-in-Bastard-Cut-Round-File-21854L/100208023

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Most burn pot holes are somewhere less than 0.125 (1/8") so a chainsaw file would work real well.

SidecarFlip said:

No problem and I'm trying to be a smart arse either. If one of my employees asks for an 'allen wrench', I give them a whatthehellisthat look. In a way it's neat that people refer to a brand of tool in reference to a required need. That gives that manufacturer recognition.

Just don't use a Crescent wrench on your scooter. Thats a no-no.

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Channel Locks is another one of those I hear. From what I hear marketing types say the real goal is to get your name to be a verb - like to xerox (to photocopy).

sstf.freeindeed said:

Thanks for this post. I wondered if lighting gel was anything different than hand sanitizer!

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Oddly it can be. I had a few bottles of a lighting gel called One Match. It was anything but that. I could never get the stove to light with it.

On a whim I tried hand sanitizer after reading on here about many using it. Boy did the fire take off! I was up and burning in no time.

Sidecar

Pretty much

Sadly though, not all stoves have easily adjustable air flow.

My large Whit has the damper rod

jp99 said:

Oddly it can be. I had a few bottles of a lighting gel called One Match. It was anything but that. I could never get the stove to light with it.

On a whim I tried hand sanitizer after reading on here about many using it. Boy did the fire take off! I was up and burning in no time.

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One Match is what I have and it doesn't work! And I paid $10 for a pint of the stuff. Glad to know an alternative!

sstf.freeindeed said:

One Match is what I have and it doesn't work! And I paid $10 for a pint of the stuff. Glad to know an alternative!

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I use Rutland One Match and it works fine. Never an issue though I prefer cheap hand sanitizer. Maybe your 'One Match' bottle got substituted in the store somehow.

Snowy Rivers said:

Sidecar

Pretty much

Sadly though, not all stoves have easily adjustable air flow.

My large Whit has the damper rod

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Keep in mind Snowy that you roast an 'alternative' fuel to what 99% of people on here roast.......

SidecarFlip said:

I use Rutland One Match and it works fine. Never an issue though I prefer cheap hand sanitizer. Maybe your 'One Match' bottle got substituted in the store somehow.

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I tried to follow instructions, but maybe I'm not using it right, because I'm new to the stuff. What is your process? How many pellets? How much gel? All at one spot or spread around? Door open or closed? Etc.