Pellets won't feed after cleaning Harman

[will711]

Is it possible that when hubby vacuumed out the fines box that the fines deflector part # 10 in my manual is not seated properly ?

 

[Mackdog]

Read the manual last night for about the 50th time. . We did check the plate that we took of to clean and seems good. Strange thing is, it is working now but with a whole different problem with auger so we are calling the dealer tomorrow. Husband is going out of town for work so we will be guzzling propane till next week. Thanks for all your help! We have fixed a lot ourselves in 4 years only because of you all here. Happy new year!

 

[P38X2]

My newer stove does the same thing occasionally and its FRICKEN IRRITATING! My dealer suggested removing the deflector to see if that will help. He blames it on the newer style MUCH smaller fines box. My older stove has never made that noise.

Haven't removed the deflector yet but what ALWAYS works for me is to get all the pellets out of the system and re vacuum the fines box. Place the cover back on but don't secure it. Put it in test mode, open the hopper and immediately push the safety switch down. Take the backside of a large-ish screwdriver and bang around on the slide plate and the hopper in that immediate area. Next, get under there and tap around on the components inside the fines box. Secure the cover. Now, get the slide plate actuator bearing off the arm thing. Take the blade of your screwdriver and lightly tap the tip of the arm. This will likely open the slide plate. Put in in test mode again and get the bearing back off the arm and repeat the tapping.

This works EVERY time I have the clunking....which is every ton or so, the interval recommend by Harman, even though the fines box is at most, 1/6 full. Like I said, my dealer seems to think the deflector is the issue but removing that looks like a PITA.

Anyway, give the tapping method a shot. Be thorough and it should dislodge whatever is causing the binding.

 

[Mackdog]

My newer stove does the same thing occasionally and its FRICKEN IRRITATING! My dealer suggested removing the deflector to see if that will help. He blames it on the newer style MUCH smaller fines box. My older stove has never made that noise.

Haven't removed the deflector yet but what ALWAYS works for me is to get all the pellets out of the system and re vacuum the fines box. Place the cover back on but don't secure it. Put it in test mode, open the hopper and immediately push the safety switch down. Take the backside of a large-ish screwdriver and bang around on the slide plate and the hopper in that immediate area. Next, get under there and tap around on the components inside the fines box. Secure the cover. Now, get the slide plate actuator bearing off the arm thing. Take the blade of your screwdriver and lightly tap the tip of the arm. This will likely open the slide plate. Put in in test mode again and get the bearing back off the arm and repeat the tapping.

This works EVERY time I have the clunking....which is every ton or so, the interval recommend by Harman, even though the fines box is at most, 1/6 full. Like I said, my dealer seems to think the deflector is the issue but removing that looks like a PITA.

Anyway, give the tapping method a shot. Be thorough and it should dislodge whatever is causing the binding.

I appreciate you taking the time to explain all this. We just cleaned the fines box again and tapped around and played with the auger and now it's back to not working at all again. Also the slide plate from hopper came out and don't know if we will get that back in the right way. These stoves save money if they work well all the time but if they don't and you aren't mechanical and technical it's a huge PIA. I feel we maintain ours well and it was expensive and we didn't get what we paid for. Funny thing...we never heard of a pellet stove until we found out a cousin had one. He bought an old used englander that originally brand new came from lowes and he has never put a dime in it.

 

[P38X2]

Hmmm...that sucks. The slide plate shouldn't have disengaged that easily. You must have knocked it up and off the pusher arm. Hopefully you were tapping, not banging. I should have made that more clear. Hopefully some one will chime with instructions on re-engaging the slide plate. I know it's not overly complicated but it is a tight fit, as you already know.

I'm thinking you may have a loose wire perhaps. The tapping may have broken the connection. Also, I THINK even if the hopper switch is depressed, the vac sensor needs to detect a certain level of resistance to operate the auger motor. Now that the slide plate is out, you don't have the necessary resistance to trigger the cycle. Again, I THINK this is the reason.

Hopefully someone will chime in soon. Feeling guilty here

 

[P38X2]

KRAP! I actually wrote the word bang in that first post!

 

[P38X2]

Try loosening the set screw(bolt) that holds the assembly to the auger motor shaft. On the schematic in the manual, the arrow from 3.16 is pointing almost directly at it. That should free everything up. From there, manually position the pusher arm and try and get it in the slot on the slide plate.

Unfortunately, that's the best advice I can offer having never removed or installed it myself. I apologize again.

 

[Mackdog]

Don't worry, he only tapped it. And Please dont feel bad. Something is wrong, actually we believe what is wrong today is not what was wrong last night if that makes sense. He got the slide plate back in, hopefully it's right. I'll have he try again what you last said. It is so frustrating that all was well until I shut it down and cleaned it and I cleaned it the same way I always do. Thanks again!

 

[P38X2]

OK, good. I know it's frustrating and I'm sure you'll get it straightened out. Harmans are known for having top notch build quality but, stuff can happen. It's probably something stupid.

 

[Hoot23]

Is it switched to auto.

 

[DOLLARBILL]

If youcleaned out the fines box check the cover it needs to be on properly or will not run so I was told !

 

[Mackdog]

It is on auto and the fines box plate is on. We have been working checking and re checking on and off since 9:45 last night. We thought we had it working a while ago (which was the 3rd time we thought we had it working)and then it stopped feeding pellets again. We did find some broken plastic pieces that fell out of somewhere in the back. I just can't imagine anything on the stove being plastic but what do I know. We can't even find where it would have come from.

 

[P38X2]

Perhaps pieces from a crunched terminal or pigtail connector? If you can post some pics, the Harman gurus can probably figure out where they came from.

My actuator assembly just started clunking again....after 1 bag this time!

 

[newf lover]

The cover to the combustion blower is plastic. Other than that, I can't remember anything else plastic. Very odd. If you're facing the stove, it's on the left side. You'll have to remove the side panel.

 

[MSmith66]

Cleaned it today as I do every 7-10 days and it wont feed pellets. There are no blinking error lights. The combustion blower comes and and then nothing happens. What could have happen when I cleaned it?

If you continue to clean that stove every 7-10 days, you will, in time, gain to hate that stove. Let it run for 30 days or more. I know it is hard to do but, try it. You will enjoy it more. DON"T TOUCH IT.

 

[P38X2]

I think the little fan on the back of the auger motor is plastic as well, white I believe....at least on my '04.

 

[mepellet]

If you continue to clean that stove every 7-10 days, you will, in time, gain to hate that stove. Let it run for 30 days or more. I know it is hard to do but, try it. You will enjoy it more. DON"T TOUCH IT.

???

 

[P38X2]

.....and IIRC that fan is VERY close to the metal cover on the back of the stove. If that cover is bent in and the plastic pieces are your fan blades, it's POSSIBLE it's binding the motor. I think it's a pretty tourquey motor and it would probably have to be really bound to cause that.

 

[boosted3g]

I hope those plastic peices arent the fan blades for the auger motor. While this is my first post on this thread i will admit to be watching the conversation. At the beginning of this my immediate thought was that there is a vacuum leak somewhere and i still think that. It has been stated that it fails the dollar bill test and that shoud be fixed before anything else is done.

 

[MSmith66]

???

There is no need to clean a free standing stove every 7- 10 days. Let the stove burn and enjoy it. If I had to clean something every 7 days, I would hate it.

 

[tony58]

I hope those plastic peices arent the fan blades for the auger motor. While this is my first post on this thread i will admit to be watching the conversation. At the beginning of this my immediate thought was that there is a vacuum leak somewhere and i still think that. It has been stated that it fails the dollar bill test and that shoud be fixed before anything else is done.

>
I'm also watching this with interest,cause this could be me.My closest Harman dealer is over a 100 miles away...Good luck on finding a cure...
tony

 

[Mackdog]

Well...my husband is a carpenter turned businessman, not mechanical or technical but he is a beast. He was done with the stove yesterday and although frugal he is not he decided no $100 service call. He unhooked the stove and with a dolly got it out to the detached garage by himself. My son and husband and I got it up in the truck this morning and he drove it to the dealer. Another plastic piece came out in the burn pot so the dealer determined the 4 plastic pieces came from our pellets and thats why it wouldn't work. Then when it did work but the auger was clunking, it was because my husband didn't have the slide plate from hopper in correctly he took that out when fiddling around trying to see what the problem was. Took the dealer 10 minutes to figure this out and plug it in and it was running fine. A day in the life of a pellet stove owner. I will say with 7 degree temperature we missed the stove. We were all cold last night and this morning. Furnace just wasn't keeping up although I'm sure it's guzzling propane. I just want to say thanks again for all the help. Pellet stoves aren't for everyone. We probably weren't good candidates for one and if it wasn't for you all and the patience and kindess with helping each other we would have put alot more money in it already with more service calls.

P.s. Boosted3g we will be replacing the gasket soon.

 

[Mackdog]

To MSmith 66
I would love to clean the stove once a month but this time of year if I dont, it will not burn as hot with it all ashed up inside and I'm just afraid over time it won't be good for it. I don't clean the vent pipe every month, just the whole interior.

 

[Harman Lover 007]

Well...my husband is a carpenter turned businessman, not mechanical or technical but he is a beast. He was done with the stove yesterday and although frugal he is not he decided no $100 service call. He unhooked the stove and with a dolly got it out to the detached garage by himself. My son and husband and I got it up in the truck this morning and he drove it to the dealer. Another plastic piece came out in the burn pot so the dealer determined the 4 plastic pieces came from our pellets and thats why it wouldn't work. Then when it did work but the auger was clunking, it was because my husband didn't have the slide plate from hopper in correctly he took that out when fiddling around trying to see what the problem was. Took the dealer 10 minutes to figure this out and plug it in and it was running fine. A day in the life of a pellet stove owner. I will say with 7 degree temperature we missed the stove. We were all cold last night and this morning. Furnace just wasn't keeping up although I'm sure it's guzzling propane. I just want to say thanks again for all the help. Pellet stoves aren't for everyone. We probably weren't good candidates for one and if it wasn't for you all and the patience and kindess with helping each other we would have put alot more money in it already with more service calls.

P.s. Boosted3g we will be replacing the gasket soon.

I'm usually pretty good at helping fellow Harman owners out here as well. I didn't have anything new to offer and I sensed your frustration. Having said that, you and your husband now know more about that stove than you'd probably care to admit. That Harman will give you many good years of service and as it turns out it wasn't a Harman problem. Bad pellets...happens more often than you'd think. Hang in there and enjoy the rest of the heating season.

 

[heat seeker]

Just curious - did the dealer charge you for his help?