Absolute 63 Dirty flame

[Jim S]

New to burning Pellets this season. I bought an Absolute 63 thinking that I may as well get the best so it is as “set it and forget it” as possible. I have been doing a deep clean every week on this beast. I am burning the Lowe’s Platnium pellets which had decent reviews. The glass on the stove gets dirty within hrs and I need to keep scraping the heat exchangers as I notice a difference in temp.

After a day or 2, the flame goes to an orange and it seems dirty. It is still burning hot. I have an oak and have cleaned the direct vent multiple times. One thing I am noticing is that the chamber under the burn pot fills really fast with ash. Plus, the engineer that designed how to clean it out should be fired and lose his/her degree as it is ridiculous to reach underneath, stick on hand in and with your finger pull it out and then the other hand to do the same.

I feel this chamber is filling so quickly and is what is causing the dirty flame Potentially affecting the airflow. Anyone else seeing this issue or have any solves? I will be burning a better pellet next year.

Thanks

 

[Mt Bob]

Aboslutes all seem to have dirty window problems.Not sure what chamber you are having problems accessing,perhaps find a picture on the net and post here.Sounds like you do not have enough air.There is a "hidden" dealer menu,on your touch screen,to change those settings.Also,make sure you have the latest programming update.If it was dealer installed,I would do nothing,and have dealer fix it.Yes,Harman has bought a few of them back,for simular problems.

 

[JR52]

The lack of oxygen is the issue and, after 2 years of trying to operate and consistently doing deep cleans, I've found that you have to set the feed rate very low (sub 40% for me but depends on your pellets) and live with a dirty burn and lower than advertised heat output. I've had the dealer come out and clean it himself and I still have the same issue afterwards whenever I really need to crank it up, whether it be due to low outside temps or to quickly heat our house up. In these times, the soot builds up and it's an extremely dirty burn with creosote building if I don't scrape off the soot quickly.

I'll be interested in your feedback over the next day to see what the sub-0 temps do to the quality of your burn. For me, I already know I have to be extra attentive to the burn pot to avoid it choking on the fuel and, eventually, spilling pellets into the ash pan.

Bob - using the hidden menu, should I turn up the max combustion fan to increase air flow?

 

[Mt Bob]

The lack of oxygen is the issue and, after 2 years of trying to operate and consistently doing deep cleans, I've found that you have to set the feed rate very low (sub 40% for me but depends on your pellets) and live with a dirty burn and lower than advertised heat output. I've had the dealer come out and clean it himself and I still have the same issue afterwards whenever I really need to crank it up, whether it be due to low outside temps or to quickly heat our house up. In these times, the soot builds up and it's an extremely dirty burn with creosote building if I don't scrape off the soot quickly.

I'll be interested in your feedback over the next day to see what the sub-0 temps do to the quality of your burn. For me, I already know I have to be extra attentive to the burn pot to avoid it choking on the fuel and, eventually, spilling pellets into the ash pan.

Bob - using the hidden menu, should I turn up the max combustion fan to increase air flow?

I really do not know,never worked on one,or played with Harmans new system.But,logic would dictate lowering feed rate and increasing combustion air.Lots of people assume Harman combustion fans run at a set speed,they do not,it changes with the programming,and what the ESP sees.

 

[bags]

Make sure your rope gaskets are not damaged or goofy.

 

[JR52]

I really do not know,never worked on one,or played with Harmans new system.But,logic would dictate lowering feed rate and increasing combustion air.Lots of people assume Harman combustion fans run at a set speed,they do not,it changes with the programming,and what the ESP sees.

I went to the dealer's menu and adjusted the max combustion fan setting. Default is 3,000 RPM's, the highest it will allow you to go is 3,200 RPM's. I increased it from the default and my stove is finally getting the oxygen it needs. In sub-0 temps last night, it didn't choke, despite setting the feed rate to the default (66%), and I'm not getting the black soot which is shocking. Currently set to 3,100 RPM's, do I need to be worried about getting too much oxygen into the stove? Never thought I'd every have that concern with this stove...

 

[Cyb33r]

I went to the dealer's menu and adjusted the max combustion fan setting. Default is 3,000 RPM's, the highest it will allow you to go is 3,200 RPM's. I increased it from the default and my stove is finally getting the oxygen it needs. In sub-0 temps last night, it didn't choke, despite setting the feed rate to the default (66%), and I'm not getting the black soot which is shocking. Currently set to 3,100 RPM's, do I need to be worried about getting too much oxygen into the stove? Never thought I'd every have that concern with this stove...

What did you set the low point to in that menu? My default was 2600. I am just curious. I dont think you lose anything with it too high besides efficiency as far as burning too many pellets too fast.

 

[JR52]

What did you set the low point to in that menu? My default was 2600. I am just curious. I dont think you lose anything with it too high besides efficiency as far as burning too many pellets too fast.

I left it at 2,600 but now that you mention it I wonder if you could also improve it by increasing the minimum. Either way, my stove is working a lot better at 2,600-3,100 so I'm not going to mess with it.

 

[Mt Bob]

Harmans do not stay on high,when running,it varies depending on the heat settings,and what the exhaust sensor sees.Raising the minimum would be good in some cases.

 

[Cyb33r]

Harmans do not stay on high,when running,it varies depending on the heat settings,and what the exhaust sensor sees.Raising the minimum would be good in some cases.

I was interested in the minimum setting people are running because i bought a magnehelic and ran the test on both my Absolute 63 and my P68 as the install manuals stated. I found that both stove's minimum settings were too high according to the specs. I turned both down but found on my Absolute 63 that I was getting some black soot on the glass (not there before). I was curious if anyone else had this issue? I have been slowing turning it back up to see the minimum I can run without black soot on the glass.

 

[Cyb33r]

I went to the dealer's menu and adjusted the max combustion fan setting. Default is 3,000 RPM's, the highest it will allow you to go is 3,200 RPM's. I increased it from the default and my stove is finally getting the oxygen it needs. In sub-0 temps last night, it didn't choke, despite setting the feed rate to the default (66%), and I'm not getting the black soot which is shocking. Currently set to 3,100 RPM's, do I need to be worried about getting too much oxygen into the stove? Never thought I'd every have that concern with this stove...

I am putting my foot in my mouth and am now having the soot issue as well with my 63. I am switching my settings to yours and see if that fixes it. My entire stove had a layer of soot as well as the ash pan was covered on all sides with soot. It was a mess to clean. Is your stove still running well with those settings?


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