all of you pc-45 owners

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weezel8666

New Member
Feb 16, 2010
60
Phila,Pa
Running my pc-45 at 72 degrees room temp...distribution blower hasn't shut down in days? anyone else ever get that? House thermostat in other room reads 70? Dealer said this is normal??? long list of problems to go with this also...
Clean firebrick,brush whole stove down and within minutes the whole thing is black..
 

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the fan running is normal as long as the fire is burning. that dirtyness is not normal and could mean a few thinks....could be restriction in air intake (using outside air?), leak somewhere in the combustion chamber (check door latch,ash pan door, combustion cover plate, burnpot seated correctly), bad batch of pellets maybe.
 
Just trying to help.

what are you burning?
What is your venting consist of (please do not say "it is in spec")
last time the entire vent system was cleaned with a brush and how many tons ago.

Thanks
Eric
 
Ok,burning barefoot pellets...first season with new stove...been burning since sept...didn't clean exhaust yet. however opened up t and got about a cup of ash out...thing is filthy...clean inside thoro onece a week. scrape pot and brush ash down once a day.Exhaust is 3" going to 4" at t and up about 20 feet..been having problems since day one..see pc-45 problem..What a nightmare
 

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Did you have the dealer out to look at the install and how the stove was burning? Doesnt sound like its the pellets.
 
My fan runs nearly constantly lately as well. Seems normal. Temp on thermometer in other room looks about right for a stove set at 72. I only get the black like that when the flame is only an inch or 2 high. Maybe shut stove down for 6-8 hours a day, let temps fall inthe house a bit, then fire it back up. Usually burns away all the black and it turns gray. I burn Barefoots as well in a PC45. Any trouble with auto ignition?? Sometime that may be a sign of venting restrictions.
 
I have had the dealer out numerous times...replaced the board and ther. couple?
Went to other dealers with photos today....told not to use the stove.Said I would probably have a hopper fire! Great news huh?
now what? dealer has been ignoring me for 4 months...Said its my pellets...
 
rufusmom said:
I have had the dealer out numerous times...replaced the board and ther. couple?
Went to other dealers with photos today....told not to use the stove.Said I would probably have a hopper fire! Great news huh?
now what? dealer has been ignoring me for 4 months...Said its my pellets...
Click to expand...


Time to find a new dealer! One you can trust!!!
 
rufusmom said:
I have had the dealer out numerous times...replaced the board and ther. couple?
Went to other dealers with photos today....told not to use the stove.Said I would probably have a hopper fire! Great news huh?
now what? dealer has been ignoring me for 4 months...Said its my pellets...
Click to expand...

These dealers based upon a few pictures told you you would probably have a hopper fire.

What did they say was the basis for that and what did they suggest to do besides not use the stove?
 
I guess after talking for an hour or so they got the impression I could have a hopper fire.I have clinkers the size of softballs.The dist. blower ran for 3 days on 70 degree temp feed 3.5.I brush soot off whole stove and in 5 minutes it is black. pure black.The noise is unbelieveable,I keep my tv at 22 volume and the stove is in the next room?Part of the reason i went to dealers today was to see their fire and hear their machines fire up. I was ripped off.I was charged almost 5000 for a sooty, inefficient piece of scrap metal.I have been arguing with my dealer for 3-4 months. The heater would fire 30-50 times per day...stay on for 5 minutes,maybe the dist. blower would come on hit or miss. He said that was normal. Today had a conference call ...he said all the soot in 5 min. was normal...so I decided to look at others stoves. None of them looked like mine. I got a cup of soot out of only the clean out t on my exhaust.he said soot is normal...since october? They replaced the board and thermo couple....runs 24/7 can't even make out the color of the brick in 5 minutes....its not right. Want a refund. Blew thru a skid of barefoots..really didnt have the heat to prove it. cant believe the igniter hasn't gone yet.And believe me you should hear that thing when its on,its like a 30 year old rusted canopener.Pure hell...Was told this thing was only fired 20 hours...In October I founf out it was 5 years old! And that was after numerous visits by the tech...Someone PLEASE offer me some advice. I have posted before and still having many issues...
 

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rufusmom said:
one more note...distribution fan runs when there are only embers in the pot? Is that normal?
Click to expand...

Yes, the dist fan will run until the stove cools down to a predetermined temp. You've got way bigger issues than that looking at those pics....
FWIW, I had a PC45 for 30 days and returned it and got the P61A I have now.
 
smokey,I told the dealer what you had suggested about using 4" straight away at the back of the machine and using the t as one of my angles on the stove.....he said that is isn't necessary and its my pellets.Tried his pellets....still the same issues,maybe worse.With his pellets my status 6 was 3-4 times a day.
 

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rufusmom said:
smokey,I told the dealer what you had suggested about using 4" straight away at the back of the machine and using the t as one of my angles on the stove.....he said that is isn't necessary and its my pellets.Tried his pellets....still the same issues,maybe worse.With his pellets my status 6 was 3-4 times a day.
Click to expand...

Tell that dealer to read page seven in the manual and to correct the installation.

Make certain that Harman knows about this.
 
It sounds as though the exh fan or draft isn't set right. There is a very small white knob on the control panel that you can turn with a very small straight edge screw driver. If you turn it all the way to the right it will make your exh fan turn at max rpms turning it to the left will slow it down to the lowest settings. I would try turning that screw up a little to bring in more air into the fire-pot.
But I would check the exh pipe first for any obstructions and do the same for the air intake. It appears your stove is burning rich and you need to find out why. Maybe try exchanging the ESP probe.
 
The small white screw is all the way to the right.It will not go any further.The esp probe was changed.One of the people from this forum pm"d me and had me do a test with the exhaust.He told me to remove the bottom of the exhaust and fire it up,which I did.The smoke exited from the top and I saw no change in the flame.The dealer has sent a tech out maybe 15 times to my house so far,and things are just getting worse.He said he checked the air intake for obstruction and the wall pass thru and both were ok.There is constantly so much creasote building up on the feed area,in a week I cant even see where the corn rod used to fit.I chisel it off often.On one of the many times the tech was out to my home the thing was squeeling like a tea kettle,in my opinion it was trying to suck air from where ever it could.Drove the tech crazy trying to find out where it was coming from. So he in turn siliconed the whole hopper and that stopped it. I could write a book of all the troubles I had with this thing. At this point I just want my money back. Let the dealer deal with his piece of scrap....
 
something else...my home is 900 sq feet.Could they possibly have sold me a unit that was too big just because I told them I heard good things about th pc-45?
 
The noise is unbelievable
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What noise is it making? Maybe the combustion blower impeller/shaft is bent or it is not installed properly and grinding on something. This would reduce combustion airflow and cause a dirty burn.
 
My little Avalon soots up quickly on the lowest setting as well.

Turn it up a tad and it unsoots.

I have 1250 SF and my stove was enough to keep the house @ 70 degrees + on setting 7/8 in 18 degree weather. Peak output with this stove 28,700 BTU's.

I think I agree with your last assessment. Your stove is too big for your house and it is short cycling.
 
when I fire this thing up and the whole thing is clean,the fire is huge....straight up to the heat exchanger...within 3-5 minutes the whole thing is black...pure black
 
Hi,

I'm not familiar with that stove, but I can assure you its not the pellets your burning causing these issues. I burned barefoot for a winter and found them to be very clean and put out good heat. Dealers always want to blame the pellets, and its usually not the case. Good luck, I can't imagine the frustration of spending that kind of money and not be happy with the product.
 
I guess you can always tell them it hasn't worked right from the beginning and they can come and get it back. It sounds like you have tried everything.
A decent dealer would bring it back to his shop and either spend some time fixing it or simply exchange it.
Harman is a good stove but I have seen situations where the dealer is lacking in customer service or experience and basically fails to do his job. If the second dealer couldn't make it work then I would take the steps needed to ensure the origional dealer took it back and you got your money back.
 
rona said:
I guess you can always tell them it hasn't worked right from the beginning and they can come and get it back. It sounds like you have tried everything.
A decent dealer would bring it back to his shop and either spend some time fixing it or simply exchange it.
Harman is a good stove but I have seen situations where the dealer is lacking in customer service or experience and basically fails to do his job. If the second dealer couldn't make it work then I would take the steps needed to ensure the origional dealer took it back and you got your money back.
Click to expand...


X2 :exclaim:
 
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