Harman Accentra insert problems?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.

johnnyf

New Member
Mar 2, 2010
9
long island, ny
I have a Harman Accentra insert which was installed last November. I had serious problems in the beginning. I was buring 3 bags a day with little or no heat. I had the dealer come back and he put a drafting meter on the stove. It was drafting WAY TOO much and the heat was going up & out the chimney through the exhaust pipe. It is a very high chimney in an old Tudor style home. They needed an extension for the exhaust pipe to reach the top of the chimney on the initial installation.

He had to order a special fresh air intake reduction assembly/hose. This had to be hooked up behind the stove and was then snaked down the hole in the bottom of the chimney floor and into the wall near the clean out access door by the boiler. At that time his drafting meter wasn't working. This helped the stove work better but it still not right. It's burning 2 bags a day and only warms the main floor. Upstairs is very cool. I have turned on the gas fired steam radiator heating system just to boost the house a couple of degrees. I contact the dealer again recently. He told me that he has spoken with the people at Harman. They told him they would have a technical support person on the phone with him when he comes back out. Supposedly they will "talk him through" whatever it is that needs to be done this time. Right now I spend most of my time in the living room in front of the stove!


Has anyone else out there had similar problem with a new Harman Accentra insert?

Thanks!
 
What were the high and low draft readings he got? What is the square footage of the home? What size flue do you have?
 
Czosie said:
What were the high and low draft readings he got? What is the square footage of the home? What size flue do you have?

4" flu. Not sure about the readings on the drafting meter but as I remember it was initially around 40 and perhaps he dialed it back to around the low 20's on the first visit. The second visit was when he hooked up the fresh air intake reduction system. The drafting meter was broken on that visit. He told me that judging by the way the flame "looks" it still is not right. The square footage is around 2,400 for the main floor and the second floor.

As a footnote this is an old Tudor style home with plaster walls and exterior stucco & carved wood beams. I was planning of having foam insulation injected into the exterior walls but was unable to get it done before the onset of winter. I'll probably try to get it done in the spring/summer season. But even at that there are still issues with this stove.


Thanks for the replies!
 
If your dealer set your draft to .2 then dont t take his advice any more.... You want a mid .4 on the high draft to get a solid clean burn... What does the ash look like? Is it grey and fluffy or black and thick?
 
Czosie said:
If your dealer set your draft to .2 then dont t take his advice any more.... You want a mid .4 on the high draft to get a solid clean burn... What does the ash look like? Is it grey and fluffy or black and thick?

I'd say it's black and thick. I've always gotten a build up of ash along the front edge of the burn pot that it somewhat hard. The stuff in the ash pan is a mixture of softer and harder chunks of ash that get pushed over the front edge of the burn pot. I don't know how the numbers you mentioned above correspond to the numbers I mentioned before? The problem is that there IS NO contact information for the home owner! As I understand it you MUST go through a Harman dealer for service.
 
My advice is turn up the draft setting by twisting the small white knob clock wise until you can't anymore and see if that makes the ash grey in appearance.. Sounds like your not getting enough air. The clinkers your describing is from incomplete combustion and as a result your stove is not working correctly
.
 
Yes the knob is on the control board, its a small white circle just big enough to fit a small screw driver. If increasing that does not work, I would say you need the draft cross over tube installed.
 
Czosie said:
Yes the knob is on the control board, its a small white circle just big enough to fit a small screw driver. If increasing that does not work, I would say you need the draft cross over tube installed.

Draft cross over tube? I'm not sure if what you're referring to is something different than the flex tube/pipe that was added to the back of the stove frame? It was snaked down the clean out trap in the floor of the chimney and into the basement wall near the clean out access door. Is it the same thing or something else?

Thanks!

I'll try the screw driver adjustment in the morning. I think the dealer already adjusted that knob last winter. BUt I'll try it anyway.
 
your dealer is trying to cut your draft back do to very tall flue. Let him finish his adjusting if he is willing. As far as output, your house is sucking up every ounce of heat the stove puts out. even when you get the stove burning correctly dont expect it to take place of your boiler. Boiler probably 100-150k stove is only 40k btu? 4800 sq. ft of 9-10 ft ceilings uninsulated, you are probably only going to be able to keep the room the stove is in a balmy temp.
 
johnnyf...fellow long islander here..with accentra insert as well. A few things I see as a problem upfront. First off a tudor style home is not an open floor plan. A tudor that is 2400 Sq. Ft. and not very well insulated is also a big disadvantage. If your getting the first floor to warm up and keep it stable then I would say that is about right. The Accentra Insert is only rated for about 1400 sq. ft. Far below your current square footage. The accentra insert has a high draft for some reason. If you restrict it in some cases is runs poorly. I hooked up a OAK last season and removed it within weeks since I wasn't impressed with performance. A big part of the accentra insert is keeping the heat exchangers clean. I am burning two of the best and cleanest pellets on the market. Okanagan and Barefoot and I still need to clean off the heat exchangers once per week and sometimes twice depending on the amount of burning I am doing. I'm interested in hearing more about your experience.
 
From the thousand of accentra inserts i've installed the hight of the flue has not made a difference and i've gone up to 32'.. Now the diiamater of the flue would make a huge difference and even still I have never had to install a cold air intake onto a stove to correct a draft problem. The air cross over tube requires 2 holes to be drilled in the back of the stove, one near the cold air intake the other in the feeder assembly it changes the air flow and has been very good at correcting the problem.

Turn the draft up, and if that doesn't correct it the crossover tube is probably what the dealer is going to be walked threw.
 
LIpelletpig said:
johnnyf...fellow long islander here..with accentra insert as well. A few things I see as a problem upfront. First off a tudor style home is not an open floor plan. A tudor that is 2400 Sq. Ft. and not very well insulated is also a big disadvantage. If your getting the first floor to warm up and keep it stable then I would say that is about right. The Accentra Insert is only rated for about 1400 sq. ft. Far below your current square footage. The accentra insert has a high draft for some reason. If you restrict it in some cases is runs poorly. I hooked up a OAK last season and removed it within weeks since I wasn't impressed with performance. A big part of the accentra insert is keeping the heat exchangers clean. I am burning two of the best and cleanest pellets on the market. Okanagan and Barefoot and I still need to clean off the heat exchangers once per week and sometimes twice depending on the amount of burning I am doing. I'm interested in hearing more about your experience.

This Tudor has an open floor plan. It has a sunken living room with 9' high ceilings that has a very large open arch to a sun room. There are 2 more open archways from the living room, 1 into the dining room and the other into the kitchen. All of these areas are 8' high. There is a front vestibule which juts out past the main structure of the house as well as a powder room which juts offf the rear of the house. As I remember there were 2 different Accentra inserts with 2 different ratings. I went with the larger of the two and it just barely fit into the arched fireplace opening.

Now I am planning of having closed cell polyurethane injected into the exterior walls of the 1st & 2nd floors this summer. That's $10,000. Furthermore I have to make any and all electrical improvements before that is done because I'll never be able to snake wiring into these walls after the fact. There is a walk up attic which has rock wool insulation under the tongue & groove planking on the floor. The attic ceiling beams are uninsulated. Eventually I plan on ripping up the wood planking, removing the rock wool and having something else sprayed or blown in it's place. That will be another project for another year.

In any case the insulation matter aside there is a problem with the stove. I do scrape/clean/ and vacuum off the heat exchangers every week. Hopefully it can be corrected. I have also used the barefoot pellets almost exclusively. I just bought 3 tons of Fireside pellets from Home Depot. They discounted them $100 of per ton which came to $187 per ton. I don't think they burn quite as hot as the barefoot but for the price they're okay.

I'm in Malverne, where are you?

Thanks!
 
My house is about 2100 square feet, open floor plan, decent insulation, but drafty windows. When it gets below twenty the accentra has a tough time keeping the house warm. Makes me wish I bought a wood stove (Jotul Oslo). 30's and 40's it's just fine. Live and learn!
 
TJ said:
My house is about 2100 square feet, open floor plan, decent insulation, but drafty windows. When it gets below twenty the accentra has a tough time keeping the house warm. Makes me wish I bought a wood stove (Jotul Oslo). 30's and 40's it's just fine. Live and learn!

Would the Jotul wood stove insert create more heat?

Thanks!
 
Czosie said:
From the thousand of accentra inserts i've installed the hight of the flue has not made a difference and i've gone up to 32'.. Now the diiamater of the flue would make a huge difference and even still I have never had to install a cold air intake onto a stove to correct a draft problem. The air cross over tube requires 2 holes to be drilled in the back of the stove, one near the cold air intake the other in the feeder assembly it changes the air flow and has been very good at correcting the problem.

Turn the draft up, and if that doesn't correct it the crossover tube is probably what the dealer is going to be walked threw.

crossover tube will not correct a over/under draft issue??? that is to correct the burnback issue that catches the hopper on fire
 
Status
Not open for further replies.