P35i -- Outside Air not through Kit But Direct?

[mrjohneel]

Pulled out my insert today after 4 days running to do thorough cleaning but mainly to explore. Am running my outside air up through masonry chimney; it terminates inside the chimney (centrally located in house) and I have a screened intake at top of chimney. But I was surprised to see that the installer did not use the Harman OAK -- that is, he connected the outside air vent directly to the stub opening at the back of the unit, rather than use the kit that attaches to the insert frame.

On my invoice I paid for an "outside air vent" (the screen at the top) but not the Outside Air Kit. My bad for confusing them; I'm not saying I got "ripped off" but here's my concern:

If you reach into the stub, there's a flapper inside it. If I replace the outside vent into it and push the insert back into the fireplace, the flapper will be stuck open. Is that OK? That's how I've been running the stove the past 4 days since installation. It seems like I should use the kit to allow the stove to call for air when it needs it rather than have that flap open at all times. Should I call the installer back? As always thanks in advance for the great advice I receive on this forum

 

[mrjohneel]

Answering my own question here again: when you push the insert back into the fireplace, the only way to line up the outside vent pipe and the stub on the stove is to reach your fingers in a tiny little gap and hope the two meet. So for an insert you MUST have the kit that attaches to the frame. Live and learn. I'll contact my dealer and probably install it myself.

 

[SmokingAndPoking]

You really don't want the flapper held open. In the event of a power outage, the flapper helps smoke from leaking out into the fireplace opening and room.

 

[mrjohneel]

I called my dealer who said the OAK can't be installed in my situation and said Harman told him that. I asked for the Harman number and called their techs directly. (The Harman guy was quite friendly to this consumer, even though I guess they usually only talk with dealers directly.) He said my dealer was absolutely wrong, that attaching the outside air directly to the stove is bad practice for among other reasons what Smoking & Poking cites above. So I called the dealer back who agreed to come out and put it on. He's also going to re-cover the ash dump on the floor of my firebox that the installers left open. They never did a draft test either. I think I have to climb up to my 2 1/2 story roof (which is what I wanted to avoid in the first place) to see if that part of the installation is done correctly. I'm not going to rant but I do have to ask one simple question: Can't anyone do a freakin' job correctly anymore?

 

[1Dtml]

I feel your pain.

Too similar to my experience for comfort (OAK on an insert).

It appears everyone loves the "easy button," and doing things correctly are often too hard. ;-)

On my second stove I'm doing my own install to "manufacturer specs," which surprisingly isn't easy enough for some.

1D

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Read through a lot of the threads here the answer appears to be no.

 

[firebroad]

I called my dealer who said the OAK can't be installed in my situation and said Harman told him that. I asked for the Harman number and called their techs directly. (The Harman guy was quite friendly to this consumer, even though I guess they usually only talk with dealers directly.) He said my dealer was absolutely wrong, that attaching the outside air directly to the stove is bad practice for among other reasons what Smoking & Poking cites above. So I called the dealer back who agreed to come out and put it on. He's also going to re-cover the ash dump on the floor of my firebox that the installers left open. They never did a draft test either. I think I have to climb up to my 2 1/2 story roof (which is what I wanted to avoid in the first place) to see if that part of the installation is done correctly. I'm not going to rant but I do have to ask one simple question: Can't anyone do a freakin' job correctly anymore?

Yes, but it usually isn't as profitable. %-P

 

[1Dtml]

I called my dealer who said the OAK can't be installed in my situation and said Harman told him that. I asked for the Harman number and called their techs directly. (The Harman guy was quite friendly to this consumer, even though I guess they usually only talk with dealers directly.) He said my dealer was absolutely wrong, that attaching the outside air directly to the stove is bad practice for among other reasons what Smoking & Poking cites above. So I called the dealer back who agreed to come out and put it on. He's also going to re-cover the ash dump on the floor of my firebox that the installers left open. They never did a draft test either. I think I have to climb up to my 2 1/2 story roof (which is what I wanted to avoid in the first place) to see if that part of the installation is done correctly. I'm not going to rant but I do have to ask one simple question: Can't anyone do a freakin' job correctly anymore?

Yes, but it usually isn't as profitable. %-P

But neither is a bad reputation. hh:

1D

 

[Trickyrick]

I called my dealer who said the OAK can't be installed in my situation and said Harman told him that. I asked for the Harman number and called their techs directly. (The Harman guy was quite friendly to this consumer, even though I guess they usually only talk with dealers directly.) He said my dealer was absolutely wrong, that attaching the outside air directly to the stove is bad practice for among other reasons what Smoking & Poking cites above. So I called the dealer back who agreed to come out and put it on. He's also going to re-cover the ash dump on the floor of my firebox that the installers left open. They never did a draft test either. I think I have to climb up to my 2 1/2 story roof (which is what I wanted to avoid in the first place) to see if that part of the installation is done correctly. I'm not going to rant but I do have to ask one simple question: Can't anyone do a freakin' job correctly anymore?

Yes, but it usually isn't as profitable. %-P

But neither is a bad reputation. hh:

1D

Sure but 90% of the people, the dealers do this install for, do not check the work or worse to not understand the consequences of the install not being 100%.

Nice catch and keep them honest.

To tell the truth there are very few things that can not be done by a homeowner. If these simple items are not done correctly how can we have confidence in the difficult things?

 

[mrjohneel]

TrickyRick, when I first asked about OAKs in general on this forum a month ago you advised that I ensure the OAK is installed correctly to avoid the very thing I encountered. Honestly, I didn't know what you meant at the time. So thanks in retrospect. But to be honest, I gave the guy the benefit of the doubt and wasn't hovering over his shoulder. I'm pretty handy: do all my own electricity (pull permits for it), built my own kitchen cabinets, installed dishwashers, rebuilt my snowblower, etc. but I wanted to avoid going up on the roof. Replaced some roof tiles once and didn't enjoy it, don't feel safe up there. Anyways live and learn.

 

[mrjohneel]

Just a follow up to this: my dealer finally came through with the OAK and it was installed today. Since I posted this I covered the ash dump opening on my fireplace floor myself. However, I never got the draft test conducted. Next up, replacing the fiberglass insulation the installer put in with Roxul and a decent plate similar to the ones folks on this site have installed.