Harman Accentra Insert Cleaning.

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jdege

Member
Nov 15, 2011
168
Dover, NH
I am coming up on my first ton burned on my new insert and wanted to get feedback on the need to remove the compass & heat exchange panels in order to clean behind them. Does this need to be done every ton or just once a year as part of the large annual cleaning? I currently clean every week, scrape and vacuum out every ash in the stove, the online instructions are not clear on frequency and the dealer says it can be done as part of the annual cleaning.

Thoughts / Feedback please.
 
Gee..i have been doing mine every month....the last time i did it was alittle over a week and a half ago...and i am think i'll do it next week as it was dirty...bad!
I am thinking the quality of pellet you burn makes a difference too,but i would'nt wait till after a ton has been burnt
 
I would definitely recommend doing it at the 1 ton mark at a minimum. The accordion area behind the panels has a way of collecting lots of soot and ash and it really lowers the heat transfer and efficiency of the stove. Also, by doing it more often, it makes for a less messy job. During peak burning season, I actually pull them out about every other week just to keep up with it. I put the panels, the compass, and the flame guide in a large bucket and then bring them out on the porch and wire brush them. It only add a few minutes to the normal weekly cleaning and keeps the stove at peak output.

JP
 
Hello.

Accentra FS, room temp 24/7, for me, since 2010/04/03, and low Feed adjuster (3 1/4, ‘cause little home and ~ 68°F setting) :

- I scrape pot once a day,
- I clean* heat exchanger and combustion fan every 15 bags (225 kg ~ 496 lb),
- I remove feed cover and vacuum feeder weldment after ~ 40 bags, now…

Nice burning...

Au revoir.






(* brushes and vacc. > my Accentra after cleaning : photos in my signature)
 
I do mine every time I empty the the ash pan. 10 minute stove clean. Scrape the "speed bump" out of the burn pot, remove baffle plates and sweep heat exchanger, vac out the ignitor, run brush thru the exhaust ports, clean the window. I slide the stove out every ton and clean the temp probe. Clean all fans and stack once a year.
 
I would take the time to pull the plates out, I stick to once a year rule, but I only burn a ton at the most...
I will tell you this, "do it before your wife/house cleaner's come" it really P's the wife off when the cleaners have come and two days later you clean rhe stove...
 
Once you get used to it it is real quick. I remove them every time i empty the ash pan as well.
 
forya said:
Once you get used to it it is real quick. I remove them every time i empty the ash pan as well.

From looking at the cleaning instructions (with pictures) on the Harman sight it looks easy enough to get the Medalion & Panels off, my concern is getting them back on correctly. Any tricks or suggestions?

Thank you
 
Panels OK but medalion ??? There's no photo in the french Accentra FS howner's manual...

Any photo or drawing, please ?

Au revoir.
 
slips right in, no problems at all. no tricks. just slide it in behind the two tabs at the top after you put the side panels in
 
The first time I cleaned my Accentra, I put the the flame guide back on upside down or backwards! Once I started it back up, the flame was shooting out the sides as well as the top. That's a warning sign that it's not on properly! You'd be amazed at how little heat is produced when the flame guide is messed up. I learned the hard way for sure. I would take a picture of it before you disassemble it so you know the way it's supposed to look.
 
Pat_M said:
The first time I cleaned my Accentra, I put the the flame guide back on upside down or backwards! Once I started it back up, the flame was shooting out the sides as well as the top. That's a warning sign that it's not on properly! You'd be amazed at how little heat is produced when the flame guide is messed up. I learned the hard way for sure. I would take a picture of it before you disassemble it so you know the way it's supposed to look.

A picture is a good idea, TY I think I am going to give it a go tomorrow with my father in law, there is nothing that guy can't work on or fix.
 
Burning a ton a month at 24-7, cleaning every week, pull & clean the compass, flame guide, panels front & back, heat exchange accordions and brush+vacuum exhaust ports. Once a year for everything else which all but one year was quite clean. Big difference in heat output after weekly cleaning. Wish I could get by with waiting a month. But very dependant on how clean your pellets burn. With what I am burning now weekly clean is easy and fast. Last year different story weekly cleaning had way more build up taking 2x the time and was a grubby job, they were so bad ash pan had to be dumped almost daily. Got lazy at end of year which was almost May (tired of it, long cold, snowy) and didn't clean for last 3-4 weeks my chimney was almost plugged with ash, actually kinda scary when I think about it.

See the comment in many places on the importance of a clean stove, I'm a believer, but once a week is my limit. For me worst part is wait time before I dare use the vacuum plus since working to heat lots of sq ft temp drops 10 degrees quickly in the lower level, north side of house both levels almost all glass working against me.

Oh and my left panel has to be held high and wiggled just right to get back in, rest is straight forward.
 
I wanted to drop a note to thank everyone for the encouragement to do the cleaning! I did it this morning and the differenct in heat output is noticable, I am back to wearing shorts in the house and thw wife is loving the heat. With no change in settings we went from 72 down & 67 up to 74 down & 69 up.

It was not hard to do and I will likely be doing this every other week now :)
 
also, please be sure to clean the tubes leading from the firebox to the combustion fan......VERY important, as that left tube will clog up at some point!
 
Lousyweather said:
also, please be sure to clean the tubes leading from the firebox to the combustion fan......VERY important, as that left tube will clog up at some point!

I did that as well since the panels were off. Ran the provided brush up & back a couple times as far as it would go. Also stuck the vacum hose in the end to try & pull out any loss ash.
 
I have the same stove and pull out everything every Sat. morning. I've got it down to about 30 min now but my first few time took almost an hour. You will be suprised at how much more heat it will throw out after you clean it. I set-up a seperate tool box just for the job so I have everything I need right there, it's now just part of my routine.

The plates and the compass can be a little tricky but after a few times you get the hang of it.

Enjoy :)
 
I just purchased my pellet insert and looking and reading at everything cleaned the ash pan and vaccumed everything i could see but i only burned 4 bags so it was not that dirty i am reading these posts and don't have a problem removing the plates but am concerned with brushing the vents because of the heat probe I read that you should remove the probe from the back before you brush it. or should you only do that after the 1 ton mark and can you brush it with the probe still attached thanks
 
I just purchased my pellet insert and looking and reading at everything cleaned the ash pan and vaccumed everything i could see but i only burned 4 bags so it was not that dirty i am reading these posts and don't have a problem removing the plates but am concerned with brushing the vents because of the heat probe I read that you should remove the probe from the back before you brush it. or should you only do that after the 1 ton mark and can you brush it with the probe still attached thanks
 
I have the Accentra FS. I open the door and vacuum the inside, and clean glass, every week, but only pull out the plates and other parts to clean behind them every other week. It hasn't been very cold, and so far this schedule has worked for me.

BUT . . . I have never taken the medallion/compass out. I didn't even see that in the manual. Is the insert different in this regard or is removal off the medallion/compass to clean behind it part of the routine maintenance on the FS as well?

Thanks.
 
The medallion/compass does not come out on the FS model.
 
Ok, I was wondering if people were removing the compass from the Accentra, I've never removed mine.
 
I have the same stove and pull out everything every Sat. morning. I've got it down to about 30 min now but my first few time took almost an hour. You will be suprised at how much more heat it will throw out after you clean it. I set-up a seperate tool box just for the job so I have everything I need right there, it's now just part of my routine.

The plates and the compass can be a little tricky but after a few times you get the hang of it.

Enjoy :)


Please describe tools in toolbox if you don't mind. Thanks!
 
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