I own a Harman Accentra 52i pellet insert. I love the heat output of the stove but thermal expansion & contraction sounds from the stove make me worry. I can describe these sounds as metals cracking... or as if you drop a screw driver onto a sheet metal... some kind of a metal-metal impact. Being annoying and uncomortable is one thing but it makes me worry about the life of the stove too, if it is constantly being stressed that much.
I used a 20+ year old Earth stove for a year last year before investing into a brand new Harman 52i. We got the insert installed in early November. In a week I realized the sounds one would expect to hear during thermal expansion and contraction (mostly contraction) were very frequent and loud. It was almost like there is a thermal-structural sweet spot of the stove which corresponds to my set room temp and every time temperature swings the stove made these sounds. I went back to the dealer and told him about the stove. He kept saying 'that's normal' but I insisted that 'it is too often & loud to be normal'. So he ended up calling Harman. After a quick serial number check Harman said 'there are some improperly welded stoves' and agreed to replace my stove. Dealer was also surprised he kept saying he has never heard anything like this before...
After using the first stove less than a month they replaced it. Now the second one is running in my living room. I still hear the thermal expansion & contraction sounds, definitely not as annoying as the previous one but I don't know what is normal and what is not. During the day stove runs at room temp mode ~72F and manual, the temperature is more steady, there is more noise around so the cracking is not as appearant and annoying. When I dial it down to ~65F during the night it starts to make these cracking sounds when initially cooling down. But it doesn't end there; temperature swings are greater during the night (not quite sure why) which also results more than usual thermal contraction sounds.
I wonder what other people's experiences are with 2014 Harman Accentra 52i. Do you hear these kind of sounds? How frequently? Could it be another 'improperly welded stove' or an installation issue?
I used a 20+ year old Earth stove for a year last year before investing into a brand new Harman 52i. We got the insert installed in early November. In a week I realized the sounds one would expect to hear during thermal expansion and contraction (mostly contraction) were very frequent and loud. It was almost like there is a thermal-structural sweet spot of the stove which corresponds to my set room temp and every time temperature swings the stove made these sounds. I went back to the dealer and told him about the stove. He kept saying 'that's normal' but I insisted that 'it is too often & loud to be normal'. So he ended up calling Harman. After a quick serial number check Harman said 'there are some improperly welded stoves' and agreed to replace my stove. Dealer was also surprised he kept saying he has never heard anything like this before...
After using the first stove less than a month they replaced it. Now the second one is running in my living room. I still hear the thermal expansion & contraction sounds, definitely not as annoying as the previous one but I don't know what is normal and what is not. During the day stove runs at room temp mode ~72F and manual, the temperature is more steady, there is more noise around so the cracking is not as appearant and annoying. When I dial it down to ~65F during the night it starts to make these cracking sounds when initially cooling down. But it doesn't end there; temperature swings are greater during the night (not quite sure why) which also results more than usual thermal contraction sounds.
I wonder what other people's experiences are with 2014 Harman Accentra 52i. Do you hear these kind of sounds? How frequently? Could it be another 'improperly welded stove' or an installation issue?