Harman Stove Defect

Jim H. · Dec 22, 2009

I cleaned it up today before firing it up and it does have the 5 holes near the auger. there are a few inches with no holes till the top of the pot, kinda weird.....i tried the nail trick and really didn't notice any difference? will keep an eye out for any auger tube failure for sure now!

Jim

el gordo · Dec 22, 2009

i too am keeping a keen eye on that area in my stove. no problems yet though. keeping my fingers crossed.

lecomte38 · Dec 22, 2009

UPDATE: WOW what a difference. I just cleaned the stove. There was NO carbon build up anywhere near the throat of the feed tube. All the carbon was on the smooth face and sides about 2 inches away from the tube. My fire used to be in the tube with extreme carbon build up at the neck to the tube, damage to my auger tip, and constant clinkers. Now there are no clinkers and it seems to be burning hotter.
I removed the pot, pulled the nails, and brazed the holes for a permanent fix. It should work considering that the galvi nail heads showed no heat discoloration after a week in operation
Note my stove was built in Oct 2007

Jim H. · Dec 22, 2009

how hard was it to remove the burn pot? It might be worth it for the insurance policy of not having to worry about the
tube. I should be able to get it welded by my neighbor. Probably after the burning season. I will just keep an eye on the nails for now....unless it is really easy....?

Lousyweather · Dec 22, 2009

Jim H. said:
how hard was it to remove the burn pot? It might be worth it for the insurance policy of not having to worry about the
tube. I should be able to get it welded by my neighbor. Probably after the burning season. I will just keep an eye on the nails for now....unless it is really easy....?

not hard at all....unbolt the igniter if you have one (2 screws), unbolt the burnpot (4 bolts), and replace....just make sure you get another gasket and put it on before the new burnpot!

lecomte38 · Dec 22, 2009

My old gasket was fine to reuse. 1/2" wrench is all you need.

swalz · Dec 23, 2009

lecomte38 said:
UPDATE: WOW what a difference. I just cleaned the stove. There was NO carbon build up anywhere near the throat of the feed tube. All the carbon was on the smooth face and sides about 2 inches away from the tube. My fire used to be in the tube with extreme carbon build up at the neck to the tube, damage to my auger tip, and constant clinkers. Now there are no clinkers and it seems to be burning hotter.
I removed the pot, pulled the nails, and brazed the holes for a permanent fix. It should work considering that the galvi nail heads showed no heat discoloration after a week in operation
Note my stove was built in Oct 2007

I notice the same thing, I have burned 7 bags so far with the new burn pot and had very little buildup and none at the bottom. The glass seems to stay cleaner longer also.

ducker · Dec 23, 2009

lecomte38 said:
UPDATE: WOW what a difference. I just cleaned the stove. There was NO carbon build up anywhere near the throat of the feed tube. All the carbon was on the smooth face and sides about 2 inches away from the tube. My fire used to be in the tube with extreme carbon build up at the neck to the tube, damage to my auger tip, and constant clinkers. Now there are no clinkers and it seems to be burning hotter.
I removed the pot, pulled the nails, and brazed the holes for a permanent fix. It should work considering that the galvi nail heads showed no heat discoloration after a week in operation
Note my stove was built in Oct 2007

Yep.... I cleaned mine today after burning about 5 bags straight. and didn't notice any issues around where I was seeing carbon build up all last year (around the opening of the feed tube. Last year I had to chip away the carbon away from the auger, this year, the only carbon I saw was on the sides of the burn pot which was a hell of a lot easier to clean up.

Bigjim13 · Dec 23, 2009

Can someone explain how the 5 holes in the burnpot create this problem? Do the pellets get hung up on the air holes? I guess I'm not understanding. Thanks!

MCPO · Dec 23, 2009

On my Harman P38 there are no holes near the burn pot and it still burns about 1" into the auger hole when on low. I also have to scrape the carbon from the burnpot every other day. Hardly any carbon ever on the auger or in the tube though.
As far as I can see it`s all normal , at least for this model.
I`m not sure if this is at all related to those models with closer holes but only throwing this out there to those who would expect the flame not to touch the auger after the fix. Don`t be alarmed if it does.

THE ROOSTER · Dec 23, 2009

My Harman Accentra has three holes down near the auger tube, but not as close to the auger as the picture on pg. 1... Is the Accentra made during this time part of this???

UPDATED: after careful cleaning, it has four I can't see a fifth hole on the right...
UPDATE #2: I do have the 5 holes, took an ice pick and found it...

I'have a product called "quick steal", that I might try just to see what happens, before I weld the holes closed... But before I do anything, I want to make darn sure that I need to do this

lecomte38 · Dec 23, 2009

See all the carbon build up around the feed tube opening? Mine was just like that. Now, with the holes closed, there is NO carbon any where near the tube. It is all at least 1 1/2" up on tthe pot and very easy to scrape. Drop in some roofing nails and try it. You will like it.

Lousyweather · Dec 23, 2009

lecomte38 said:
My old gasket was fine to reuse. 1/2" wrench is all you need.

er, ok, but gaskets are cheap.......why not change it? "fine to reuse" is certainly subjective in most gasket cases......

goatman-68 · Dec 23, 2009

My gasket came off in one piece but was extremely brittle. The new one is thicker and more flexible. Old one when flexed fell apart...........

THE ROOSTER · Dec 23, 2009

lecomte38 said:
See all the carbon build up around the feed tube opening? Mine was just like that. Now, with the holes closed, there is NO carbon any where near the tube. It is all at least 1 1/2" up on tthe pot and very easy to scrape. Drop in some roofing nails and try it. You will like it.

The roofing nails I have are too big, only the point fits in... Going to find out what the OD size is, and go find some smaller...

UPDATE: Used 1.5" galvanized nails, dropped right in, and on a 50* day the stove is being test burned now... I will post my finding later in the evening

THANKS

THE ROOSTER · Dec 23, 2009

OK, thanks for all the info put here !!!

Probably saved me a huge headache down the road...
Some things I have seen and still a question to ask, first with the nails in place I noticed it took a little longer to ignite, and a lot longer to burn out when shutting down... But the fire is now away from the auger and feeder tube while burning on a low feed rate, now this is where the question comes, for those like me that burn on lower rates are we more likely to experience the problem over others up north that have colder temps. and burn on higher feed rates??? It looks to me like this is the case...
Here is a picture of it burning as low as it will go and you can clearly see unburned pellets instead of the auger...

Thanks again !!!

investor7952 · Dec 25, 2009

THE ROOSTER said:
My Harman Accentra has three holes down near the auger tube, but not as close to the auger as the picture on pg. 1... Is the Accentra made during this time part of this???

UPDATED: after careful cleaning, it has four I can't see a fifth hole on the right...
UPDATE #2: I do have the 5 holes, took an ice pick and found it...

I'have a product called "quick steal", that I might try just to see what happens, before I weld the holes closed... But before I do anything, I want to make darn sure that I need to do this

Hey Rooster what year is your stove? I have the same stove delivered Jan 09. Probably built nov or dec 08

investor7952 · Dec 25, 2009

mlwschultz said:
Yes, dealer told me the newer stoves were even better than the previous ones. The dealer also said that by welding shut those holes, the fire will appear a little more forward but it won't affect the burning at all. I'll know for myself later this week, they are returning the stove Wednesday. Will really miss it while it's gone!

My Harman Accentra insert was Manf. Nov 08 Just checked and there are no holes at the bottom of pot.

THE ROOSTER · Dec 25, 2009

investor7952 said:
THE ROOSTER said:

My Harman Accentra has three holes down near the auger tube, but not as close to the auger as the picture on pg. 1... Is the Accentra made during this time part of this???

UPDATED: after careful cleaning, it has four I can't see a fifth hole on the right...
UPDATE #2: I do have the 5 holes, took an ice pick and found it...

I'have a product called "quick steal", that I might try just to see what happens, before I weld the holes closed... But before I do anything, I want to make darn sure that I need to do this

Click to expand...

Hey Rooster what year is your stove? I have the same stove delivered Jan 09. Probably built nov or dec 08

We got the stove new in 07...

NH Pellet Head said:
Does anyone know what the new burnpots cost? Also, is there a video somewhere that shows how to replace it?

I was quoted a price of $94.50 for the pot and $16.50 for the gasket...

el gordo · Dec 25, 2009

THE ROOSTER said:
investor7952 said:

THE ROOSTER said:

My Harman Accentra has three holes down near the auger tube, but not as close to the auger as the picture on pg. 1... Is the Accentra made during this time part of this???

UPDATED: after careful cleaning, it has four I can't see a fifth hole on the right...
UPDATE #2: I do have the 5 holes, took an ice pick and found it...

I'have a product called "quick steal", that I might try just to see what happens, before I weld the holes closed... But before I do anything, I want to make darn sure that I need to do this

Click to expand...

Hey Rooster what year is your stove? I have the same stove delivered Jan 09. Probably built nov or dec 08

Click to expand...

We got the stove new in 07...

NH Pellet Head said:

Does anyone know what the new burnpots cost? Also, is there a video somewhere that shows how to replace it?

Click to expand...

I was quoted a price of $94.50 for the pot and $16.50 for the gasket...

Really, only 100 bucks for a new pot? i might have to call my stove dealer and have him order me up one of them then after the holidays!

THE ROOSTER · Dec 26, 2009

I talked to my dealer and they had no idea about this problem and told me not to worry about my stove, and from the sound of it didn't plan on investigating it either, I then called another dealer that is new, and CLOSER, and was very helpful... He actually called Harman (he said) and told me that they (Harman) recommend I change the burn pot BUT would not pay for any of it, so I figure I'll buy the gasket the next time I go to the boat and pull my pot and take it to work and weld it...

wwburning · Dec 28, 2009

This morning i woke to my Harman P61a running on low with the auger glowing. I found my burn pot has the 5 holes at the bottom. I have placed nails as previously discussed in this thread in those 5 holes and yes the flame is no longer in the tube or near the auger at all. I will be placing a call into the dealer where i purchased the stove to see what we can come up with.

Chris

mlwschultz · Dec 28, 2009

After burning our XXV stove for a week continuously after it was returned from the repair shop for the auger repair, there was no carbon buildup at the end of the auger tube, only in the burn pot. Scraping it out was MUCH easier. I didn't have to do any chipping of carbon!

Steve_in_NH · Dec 28, 2009

Second year with our Accentra Insert and I too noticed the crack in the auger tube shown in the pictures. Technician came out and said he would have to order the parts. All covered by warranty. Just waiting for parts. Could be up to 30 days to get parts.....

Dougsey · Dec 28, 2009

Steve, Do you have the five holes directly in front of the auger?

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