Harman burnpot question

[Bigjim13]

I hope I can explain this accurately. I have a Harman P61A, the burnpot has a flameguide that sit on top of the burn pot. Last night I was running it in "room temp" on a lower setting and noticed a small flame that was poking up from the back of the burnpot, almost touching where the firebrick shelf is. It is almost as if there is a gap that the flame is poking through, like the guide isn't flush with the burnpot. Today when I got home I took the guide off and gave the burnpot a good cleaning thinking that ash had gotten in there. Fired it up and same thing.

This doesn't happen on higher temps or in room temp, I'm thinking this is due to the pellets burning closer to the auger thus being deeper in the burnpot.

My question: how big an issue is this?

Thanks!

 

[newf lover]

It's not normal, that's for sure. My guess is that it doesn't happen on higher temperatures because the flame is being pushed toward the front of the burnpot by the blower. When the flame is just "hanging" on low temp, there's nothing to keep it from poking its head out from what I assume is a gap. I can't imagine what caused the gap. I think a new flame guide is $20. Maybe try a new one to see if it makes any difference? You'll need a new one at some point in time, so even if it's not the flame guide itself, it's not a waste. Then I'd give my dealer a call because I assume it's still under warranty.

 

[Bigjim13]

Yeah, I think it should be under warranty. We have had the stove since summer of '08.

I think you have hit the nail on the head though. On the lower temp the pellets aren't getting pushed up into the burn lot as much.

 

[aaronnoel]

I had that happen on my p68 and it was caused by a worn out burnpot gasket, nice and easy to fix, you should check your bolts to see if they are loose as they were screwed down when the gasket was thicker.That air gap might even cause some creosote to find it's way into your stove, thats what happened with mine.

 

[Bigjim13]

Any real danger if I burn over the next nite or 2 before shutting it down on saturday to really look at it?

 

[aaronnoel]

I don't think so, you should be fine.

 

[Lousyweather]

its most likely either a deposit on the back of the burn pot where the flame guide abuts, or the flame guide is slightly warped, causing a gap, which allows fire behind it, further degrading the flame guide.

While certainly suboptimal, a small amount of flame there isnt going to do much. evenso, the flame guide should be removed, above the auger should be scraped, and the flame guide reseated. If it still does not seal, replace the guide. Unfortunately, the flame guide is considered a wear part and usually isnt covered under warrantee......as stated above, its pretty cheap. They tend to last 2-? years, usually averaging 3 years.

 

[Bigjim13]

its most likely either a deposit on the back of the burn pot where the flame guide abuts, or the flame guide is slightly warped, causing a gap, which allows fire behind it, further degrading the flame guide.

While certainly suboptimal, a small amount of flame there isnt going to do much. evenso, the flame guide should be removed, above the auger should be scraped, and the flame guide reseated. If it still does not seal, replace the guide. Unfortunately, the flame guide is considered a wear part and usually isnt covered under warrantee......as stated above, its pretty cheap. They tend to last 2-? years, usually averaging 3 years.

Thanks for the response! Kinda what I figured but wanted to double check!

 

[Honda]

I have had the same problem in the past, was due to flame guide being warped a bit, and not seating properly above the auger. Only did it with a low burn. Got a new flame guide, problem solved. On my second flame guide in 6 years, not bad considering the amount of heat it takes. I may try to widen the grooves a whisker on my warped one with the angle grinder and see if i can reuse it. The only reason it doesn't seat properly is because the widening over time does not allow it to slide back quite far enough against the back of burnpot.