Harman Owners: Please take a look.

[smwilliamson]

This is what happens when you burn crappy pellets in a Harman. Appling County to be exact. What you are looking at is sand. this is sand that fell through the air holes in the burnpot. This ruins igniters and slows ignition times. If you are burning these pellets or pellets like these in your Harman, I would suggest buying a spare igniter or two...oh, and add that cost of the igniter to the "deal" you got on the pellets and see if a super premium brand is really that much more expensive.

 

[Hitch]

This is what happens when you burn crappy pellets in a Harman. Appling County to be exact. What you are looking at is sand. this is sand that fell through the air holes in the burnpot. This ruins igniters and slows ignition times. If you are burning these pellets or pellets like these in your Harman, I would suggest buying a spare igniter or two...oh, and add that cost of the igniter to the "deal" you got on the pellets and see if a super premium brand is really that much more expensive.

That's one of the brands that my local shop sells. Very interesting. Stuff like this has me continuing to look for higher quality pellets.

 

[Bxpellet]

This will be my 4 season, I have burned Newp, Freedom, Pa pellets, and that is all I get from under my Igniter, But I clean my stove every 1 to 2 weeks, and do not let it accumulate!

This Season I have 3 Tons of Okies to start the season, hopefully I will see a difference I will keep you posted.

 

[smwilliamson]

This will be my 4 season, I have burned Newp, Freedom, Pa pellets, and that is all I get from under my Igniter, But I clean my stove every 1 to 2 weeks, and do not let it accumulate!

This Season I have 3 Tons of Okies to start the season, hopefully I will see a difference I will keep you posted.

It's all about how you care for your feedstock. If you let it sit outside you'll get all kinds of stuff blowing in on it. Okanagan doesn't let their feedstock get contaminated in this fashion. That's why I push them. I figure the more of my customers that I can deliver a trouble free heating season to, the more repeat business and referrals I'll get. Been working out pretty well so far.

 

[kilbury]

Yeah but how long had it been since it was cleaned out last? Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that is part of the routine maintainence as suggested in the owners manual. IMO being a pellet retailer for many years, I don't think there is a pellet company out there that hasn't had a bad batch at some point or another. The new companys just haven't been at it long enough.

 

[smwilliamson]

My point is that SAND doesn't belong in a bag of pellets. Why is ok for sand to be in there? Also to illustrate a problem spec@ific to harman

 

[Lousyweather]

hey, sm....are you sure thats sand, or is it fused silica from an elevated chloride content? Only way to tell is really to look at it in magnification......

 

[MSmith66]

hey, sm....are you sure thats sand, or is it fused silica from an elevated chloride content? Only way to tell is really to look at it in magnification......

I have cleaned many Harman stoves that burned many different kinds of pellets and all of them have that crusty grit in the ignitor chamber. Im sure it is an additive and not sand. That looks like it has not been cleaned in a while or they must have burned quite a few tons.

 

[tinkabranc]

Since when are Harman stoves so delicate?

In my experience there is always ash/silica left over no matter which pellet I happen to
be burning. Obviously, the longer the owner goes without cleaning, the more mess will be there
which in turn leads to more stress on the ignitor.


As much as I like the Okies, IMHO they are not the "end all-cure all" no matter what the
salesmen say ;-)

 

[amick780]

I would get the same build up in my XXV if I did not clean it regulary no matter what pellet is burned. I do not believe that all of that is sand. I burned Okies last year and would get the same ash/silica that would fall through the burn pot holes. All that picture proves is how important it is to do normal maintenance on your stove. Proves the point that pellet stoves are not for everybody!

 

[mascoma]

I had lots of that grit while I was burning thru 8 tons of Michigans. No ignition problems if you stick your finger in the igniter chamber (after unplugging and cooling stove) and clean it out every so often. I would imagine that if you did not clean it out igniter would be full of grit, take for ever to light, or never light, and eventually burn out igniter.

The grit I had was heavy enough that in a top loader it would have just clogged up the burn pot and not burned.

 

[smwilliamson]

Sand. Silica. Ash. Whatever. I have a harman. I know what 2 tons of newp do down there and what a good pellet does. Not saying that it shouldn't be there nor that a routine cleaning should not be performed. If you are getting that much foreign matter down there after a ton of pellets, and your burnpot looks like the challenger disaster, you may be well served to try out a more quality brand. That's all.

I posted it because most stoves do not neatly store this for you to see. Harman is unique in this regard.

 

[amick780]

Sand. Silica. Ash. Whatever. I have a harman. I know what 2 tons of newp do down there and what a good pellet does. Not saying that it shouldn't be there nor that a routine cleaning should not be performed. If you are getting that much foreign matter down there after a ton of pellets, and your burnpot looks like the challenger disaster, you may be well served to try out a more quality brand. That's all.

I posted it because most stoves do not neatly store this for you to see. Harman is unique in this regard.

Absolutely, Harman is unique that it stores the sand like ash or whatever we want to call it in the burn pot for you, and if you do not regularly clean that crap out it will kill your igniter. I think you are correct for posting this information so the Harman owners out there can be aware of the problem that can arise from neglecting that portion of cleaning. This is the great thing about this forum so we all can now be more informed.

 

[mark d fellows]

Sand. Silica. Ash. Whatever. I have a harman. I know what 2 tons of newp do down there and what a good pellet does. Not saying that it shouldn't be there nor that a routine cleaning should not be performed. If you are getting that much foreign matter down there after a ton of pellets, and your burnpot looks like the challenger disaster, you may be well served to try out a more quality brand. That's all.

I posted it because most stoves do not neatly store this for you to see. Harman is unique in this regard.

Absolutely, Harman is unique that it stores the sand like ash or whatever we want to call it in the burn pot for you, and if you do not regularly clean that crap out it will kill your igniter. I think you are correct for posting this information so the Harman owners out there can be aware of the problem that can arise from neglecting that portion of cleaning. This is the great thing about this forum so we all can now be more informed.

others and I have posted lots of negative reviews of Appling County Pellets. Are these the same? Yes, sand has no place in a pellet. The APCs I burned were by far, the WORST pellets I have ever burned.

 

[grathan]

How exactly does this stuff ruin an ignitor?

 

[imacman]

......... The APCs I burned were by far, the WORST pellets I have ever burned.

But did you burn any Inferno's last season??? You might change your statement if you had. %-P

 

[jtakeman]

......... The APCs I burned were by far, the WORST pellets I have ever burned.

But did you burn any Inferno's last season??? You might change your statement if you had. %-P

X2 ACP's were cake compared to last season's Inferiors! Yuk! :sick:

 

[smwilliamson]

How exactly does this stuff ruin an ignitor?

Insulates the fins and causes it to over heat.

 

[Lousyweather]

Sand. Silica. Ash. Whatever. I have a harman. I know what 2 tons of newp do down there and what a good pellet does. Not saying that it shouldn't be there nor that a routine cleaning should not be performed. If you are getting that much foreign matter down there after a ton of pellets, and your burnpot looks like the challenger disaster, you may be well served to try out a more quality brand. That's all.

I posted it because most stoves do not neatly store this for you to see. Harman is unique in this regard.

Absolutely, Harman is unique that it stores the sand like ash or whatever we want to call it in the burn pot for you, and if you do not regularly clean that crap out it will kill your igniter. I think you are correct for posting this information so the Harman owners out there can be aware of the problem that can arise from neglecting that portion of cleaning. This is the great thing about this forum so we all can now be more informed.

point is, the official Harman "word" is to clean the ignitor area often....every ton or so.....thereby not allowing this stuff to build up and put the ignitor in jeopardy! Also, funny, but you ask the owner if they read the manual, they say yes, and then show them the remains of the manual, in its melted plastic, in the ashpan.....uh-huh....read the manual, and then put it right back in the ash pan and started the fire? This is a non-warrantee call, sir.......

 

[Vinelife]

That why I thank you guys in this forum....I wouldn't have any idea what was good or bad in pellets. Now I'm making good choices and not taking a dealers BS.

 

[Lousyweather]

That why I thank you guys in this forum....I wouldn't have any idea what was good or bad in pellets. Now I'm making good choices and not taking a dealers BS.

oh well, Im a dealer.......so much for the no "BS".... :ahhh:

 

[Vinelife]

Really was talking about guys at Lowes or Home Depot trying to tell me that crappy pellets are the best or awesome pellets.

 

[Lousyweather]

Really was talking about guys at Lowes or Home Depot trying to tell me that crappy pellets are the best or awesome pellets.

Their crappy pellets ARE crappy pellets.....mine are the best!
;-)

 

[pelletdude]

Really was talking about guys at Lowes or Home Depot trying to tell me that crappy pellets are the best or awesome pellets.

Their crappy pellets ARE crappy pellets.....mine are the best!
;-)

Mine Are

 

[Lousyweather]

Really was talking about guys at Lowes or Home Depot trying to tell me that crappy pellets are the best or awesome pellets.

Their crappy pellets ARE crappy pellets.....mine are the best!
;-)

Mine Are

my okies are better than your okies!