Can I leave the feed rating on my Harman P61A at the lowest setting. By raising the feed rating, other than use more pellets, what does it accomplish?
P61A pellet feed rating
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It allows stove to feed more pellets... to create more heat.
If you don't give it more pellets... it won't give you more heat.
I'm in my 3rd year with a 61A and from what I can tell the setting is actually a limit. If it's set on 4, it will feed at a rate UP TO 4lbs and hour, but that does not mean it will actually use the whole 4lbs, that will depend on what it calls for to maintain the temp you chose.
If you don't give it more pellets... it won't give you more heat.
I'm in my 3rd year with a 61A and from what I can tell the setting is actually a limit. If it's set on 4, it will feed at a rate UP TO 4lbs and hour, but that does not mean it will actually use the whole 4lbs, that will depend on what it calls for to maintain the temp you chose.
feed adjuster controls the maximum amount of time the auger is allowed to run in any 60 second interval (1 being 10 seconds, 6 being 60)....when there is a call for more heat. Kinda complex to explain, but I suggest 4-4.5 and ignore it. You will not necessarily use less pellets below that nor more pellets above that. Setting it below 3ish and running the stove on low will usually cause the blower to turn off and on occasionally, and if your pellets are longish can lead to a perceived low temp shutdown on occasion. Use the knob with the temp and 1-7 on it to control the stove output and totally ignore the feed adjuster. The "test" function is useful though.
Delta-T said:
So it shouldn't use more pellets on a higher setting? Pellet usage is governed by heat output only?
it wont, by default, use more pellets on a higher setting, it can, if it thinks it should in order to operate correctly. thing is, theres a finite amount of energy contained in a lb of pellets, theres no way for you to change that, and you are in no way "improving" the efficiency of the machine by trying to make it do so. if your whole object is to just burn the least amount of pellets possible, regardless of the heat then feel free to tun it down, but I assure you, it does not guarantee that you will use less pellets, just that the pellets will feed at strange intervals. In theory, it may be possible to use the least amount of pellets per hour if the feed adjuster is set to 6. its whacky, I know, and sort of counter-intuitive, with it being called the "feed adjuster", but I tell them Harman guys all the time that they need to label it the "please dont turn me knob".
great info delta, but I have found that i do need to lower the feed rate on certain pellets and jack it back up on others...for instance with oakies i got a "cleaner" burn just by lowering the feed to 3.5, and it toned down the flame a bit to a nice "sharp" flame, started to burn vermonts earlier in the week and had to put the feed back up to 4 to get the same results.....just some info on what i noticed is allDelta-T said:
HEMI said:
your observations may be quite valid, and there really is a useful function going on with that knob, its just that it is often misunderstood. too often I hear of people setting it to 1 to "conserve" pellets, and that is not what its for. Experience and observation are the only things that can let you know if/when you need to adjust, and as you just said, its a .5 adjustment you've done when switching pellets, not a 3 position drop or increase.
Bigjim13
Minister of Fire
dw06 said:
Agreed, I am also in my 3rd year with the P61A and don't feel I ever really understood the feed setting. I mostly learned it through trial and error.
Harman Lover 007
Minister of Fire
Delta-T said:
OK so I'm confused now. As I understand it, the "feed rate" really doesn't have much effect on these new Harman's with the "smart" board electronics. Depending on what setting you are on whether in stove temp or room temp the ESP senses exhaust temp and automatically adjusts the pellet feed to compensate, thereby making the stove run as efficiently as possible. My feed rate knob most definitely doesn't adjust the amount of time the auger runs. For example, in stove temp mode, with the lower dial(not Feed rate dial) set at 1(which is the lowest), my auger runs for 30 seconds every minute.
I've been baby sitting this stove since I got it because it is nothing like my Harman Invincible that I had for 14 years. I still don't have the control of it that I would like to....and may never be able to get. The bottom line is I am burning more pellets in this new stove than I did in my 14 year old, so called dinosaur to get the same heat. Doesn't make sense.....
I have been told that I should only be burning 1- 1 1/2 bags a day. I keep it on stove mode, feed rate I am not sure of yet, have tried 1,3,4 and 1 seems to use the least amount of pellets, and I keep the stove temp level between 1 and 2. Seems I am burning more like 2 bags a day, maybe a touch more. Now, the lower the feed rating the more ash build up I get on the front of the burn pot, which I just scrape off to the ash pan a couple times a day. I am having a hard time being convinced that a higher feed rating doesn't use more pellets.
If you read the Harman manual the feed rate adjuster knob is supposed to be adjusted for the quality of the fuel, or to have the ability to achieve maximum heat from your stove. If you use super premium quality pellets and set the feed rate on 6 it doen't mean your stove is necessarily going to use more pellets. Just gives it the ability to run at max heat should you need it.
From the Harman manual:
Feed adjuster knob
For most premium grade pellet fuels, the feed
adjuster should be set at #4. If high-ash fuel is used,
the setting may need to be adjusted to #5 or 6. Higher
settings are also needed if you want to achieve the
maximum capacity of the stove. Just be sure that when
burning at maximum, Stove temperature mode with the
feed adjuster on #6 and the temperature knob on "7"
or "90°", the pellets are not falling off of the front of the
burn pot before they have a chance to burn completely.
You should try to keep about one inch of ash in front of
the burning pellets.
From the Harman manual:
Feed adjuster knob
For most premium grade pellet fuels, the feed
adjuster should be set at #4. If high-ash fuel is used,
the setting may need to be adjusted to #5 or 6. Higher
settings are also needed if you want to achieve the
maximum capacity of the stove. Just be sure that when
burning at maximum, Stove temperature mode with the
feed adjuster on #6 and the temperature knob on "7"
or "90°", the pellets are not falling off of the front of the
burn pot before they have a chance to burn completely.
You should try to keep about one inch of ash in front of
the burning pellets.
Harman Lover 007 said:
your feed adjuster actually adjusts the time the feeder CAN run, if it needs to........not how much it DOES run.......kinda like setting a maximum setting, in a worse-case scenario.......
Harman Lover 007
Minister of Fire
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