Stupid question :-(

Hello
What make and model stove do you have?

I had the same trepidation in the beginning too. Yes, I open the door and clean the burn pot with the fire going. I put on a pair of flame proof gloves to prevent any burns. It is easier to scrape out the pot when hot.

Eeps24 said:

I have build up ash in the burn pot.. The unit is on and flame is high.. Do I just open the door to clean out the ash? Or do I close the unit until the flame goes out then Clean?

Installers told me to just open the door when the unit is on is fine and the flame would go down .. I opened it slightly but the flame was strong and didmt go down so i closed it back.

What do I do :-(

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Open it all the way.... flames will go down..

Eeps24 said:

Thank you.. I will try it again in a few.. I also ordered gloves from Amazon ... That insert is blazin hot!

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You can ALSO wait a bit till flames start to ramp down and then open it up...
either way, flames will drop..

Try turning the stove down for a few minutes before trying to tend the fire.

Recommendations above are on point and many here with Harmans open the door daily and scrape with the fire going. Something not mentioned and will help is a longer and better pot scraper. Like a cheap long chiseled pry bar available everywhere on the cheap. Search pot scrapers in the search bar as this has been discussed many times. Any decent leather gloves will do but welders gloves are great and cover most of you forearms also. Harbor Frieght sells the pry bars and welding gloves cheap if you have one nearby. Looks like you have gloves on the way so a better scraper would still be on my quick to get list.

These alternative pot scraping tools (many styles and options) are a much better solution than that mid-evil hunk of junk Harman includes with your stove and refers to it as a pot scraper. That thing is a waste of time for anything other than using the flat T side edge to remove loose ash and the pointed part is somewhat useful when scraping the heat exchanger but other tools do that way better too.

Harmans are great stoves but the "pot scrapers" leave much to be desired. Maybe a door stop in the shop or something

When the flame is high I usually crack the hopper lid which trips the vac switch causing the auger to stop feeding. Wait till the flame goes down open and scrape. Note close hopper lid before opening door to prevent ash from flying out.

I just turn my distribution blower down to low, then open the door and rake the ashes out then scrape the pot. I then close the door and turn the blower back up. No gloves for me. Iturn the blower down just to keep from blowing smoke in the house.

Eeps24 said:

Thanks jackman...

I have a harman 52i

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I have the same stove. Open the door and within a few minutes, the flames will subside and you can to a scrape out of the burn pot. If you have trouble finding wood stove gloves, welder's gloves work great.

I use the tool Harman provides to take the loose ash then give a scrape with one of these.. You can buy as a set (10.99) or single (3.99) don't forget the 20% coupon!
http://m.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/pry-bars/4-pc-heavy-duty-pry-bar-set-69281.html

I have regular gardeners leather gloves. I open the door and scrape period. High flame low flame, it is more comfortable on a lower flame for sure but I never got burned either. The Harman videos cover this well actually, they say to turn the stove down, let the flame die down, scrape, then tap the burn pot with the tool to shake ash off the igniter.. I do the scraping and tapping but nix the turning down part.

This video is to the free standing stove but the burn pot scraping is the same for all Harman stoves:
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3BSApxQin5o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

bags said:

These alternative pot scraping tools (many styles and options) are a much better solution than that mid-evil hunk of junk Harman includes with your stove and refers to it as a pot scraper. That thing is a waste of time for anything other than using the flat T side edge to remove loose ash and the pointed part is somewhat useful when scraping the heat exchanger but other tools do that way better too.

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Bags - is that the same as medieval?

OP - Turn down the temp dial a couple minutes before opening the door to allow the flames to die down a bit naturally. You don't have to though - as others have said, just open the door an inch or so, hold for about a second or two (allows the air currents to settle a bit), then open the rest of the way. The flame will die down a bit and you can scrape away. At the beginning, I was like you and wanted the flame out, then I gradually got to where I'll open the P61 any time . The P43 has a shorter distance between the pot and the door, so for safety's sake, I don't scrape when the stove is going full bore - but I'm a spaz and act accordingly .

bogieb said:

Bags - is that the same as medieval?

OP - Turn down the temp dial a couple minutes before opening the door to allow the flames to die down a bit naturally. You don't have to though - as others have said, just open the door an inch or so, hold for about a second or two (allows the air currents to settle a bit), then open the rest of the way. The flame will die down a bit and you can scrape away. At the beginning, I was like you and wanted the flame out, then I gradually got to where I'll open the P61 any time . The P43 has a shorter distance between the pot and the door, so for safety's sake, I don't scrape when the stove is going full bore - but I'm a spaz and act accordingly .

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Somehow i never imagined you as a spaz ! That would be my youngest daughters role, at least growing up anyway. one might say, spaz and also free spirited LOL ! But we made it.

Avtek said:

When the flame is high I usually crack the hopper lid which trips the vac switch causing the auger to stop feeding. Wait till the flame goes down open and scrape. Note close hopper lid before opening door to prevent ash from flying out.

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I think the Auger stops turning when the door is opened also. [picks up a vacuum leak in the stove.]

bogieb said:

Bags - is that the same as medieval?

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Some what, but a bit more mentally challenged and pissed. Just like the challenge of scraping anything with that metal Fischer Price toy scraper and the frustration almost immediately felt as soon as the carbon bumps start talking to you, laughing in your face, and snickering' "Good Luck jack azz!"

Cave man technology requires cave man hunt and peck key board skills. I was trying the "pot scraper" out as a key board assist device and as you can see it is useless there as well. I thought it had a spell check but....... It is all that damn useless scrapers fault. My story and I'm sticking to it.....

And just for some clarification Little Missy, Mid-Evil was a period right after the Medieval Times about 20 - 30 some years ago when Harman mastered metal works and graced the world with the multi tool Mid-Evil ash spork, also serves as a dull back scratcher, and a slippery door stopper. This thing is a Cupid shot at the Brink's truck with his arrow metallurgy master piece. Is it not? Not sure what Swiss Army Knife and Leather Man were thinking taking that huge marketing and financial risk when Harman all ready had it all figured out and the market pretty much monopolized. Hold onto that priceless collectors item. It will be worth something some day to some poor schmuck. Priceless master piece on display at the Smithsonian perhaps...........

Good thing they engineer stoves well. That bent metal spork witcha ma digit contemporary artwork arrow thing a ma jig couldn't win an award at the art show judged by Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles. Seriously, What is that thing and what is it really good for?

bags said:

Some what, but a bit more mentally challenged and pissed. Just like the challenge of scraping anything with that metal Fischer Price toy scraper and the frustration almost immediately felt as soon as the carbon bumps start talking to you, laughing in your face, and snickering' "Good Luck jack azz!"

Cave man technology requires cave man hunt and peck key board skills. I was trying the "pot scraper" out as a key board assist device and as you can see it is useless there as well. I thought it had a spell check but....... It is all that damn useless scrapers fault. My story and I'm sticking to it.....

And just for some clarification Little Missy, Mid-Evil was a period right after the Medieval Times about 20 - 30 some years ago when Harman mastered metal works and graced the world with the multi tool Mid-Evil ash spork, also serves as a dull back scratcher, and a slippery door stopper. This thing is a Cupid shot at the Brink's truck with his arrow metallurgy master piece. Is it not? Not sure what Swiss Army Knife and Leather Man were thinking taking that huge marketing and financial risk when Harman all ready had it all figured out and the market pretty much monopolized. Hold onto that priceless collectors item. It will be worth something some day to some poor schmuck. Priceless master piece on display at the Smithsonian perhaps...........

Good thing they engineer stoves well. That bent metal spork witcha ma digit contemporary artwork arrow thing a ma jig couldn't win an award at the art show judged by Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles. Seriously, What is that thing and what is it really good for?

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Hey. if you think Harman's is bad, you should see what came with the St. Croix; the "Pot Scraper Tool" is a flat bar with a 90* bend 2" from the end. granted, there was no fixed pot to scrape but the directions are to use it to sweep the ashes out of the ash traps (good luck with that) and scrape the shaker plate as well as burn pot (yeah, with no tapered edges or anything, that doesn't work so well either).

The arrow does a decent (not great) job of cleaning off the baffles. The St. Croix baffles? Yeah, good luck getting any of that flat bar in between the round tubes.

Almost makes Harman's tool look like a genius came up with it .

Bags - you make me laugh with your off-the-wall stuff, Mid-Evil indeed

As impressed as I am with the 52i, I can't believe they even bothered making that tool. I use the cold chisel set from Harbor Freight that someone else posted about and that works great breaking up the carbon deposits.

"POT STIRRING" as we call it is a multiple time a thing.

We flip the burner to off (feed switch off and draft on ) then allow the fire to die down to coals.
Then within a couple minutes just pop the door open and knock out the clinker and extra ash.

Keep a bit of coals to rekindle the fire, flip the fuel feed back on and off to the rodeo.

Every stove is different and every application has it's own little idiosyncrasies to deal with.

No worries

Snowy