Cleaning Harman Accentra Insert

[derbydude]

I recently got the Accentra insert and am not clear on what needs to be cleaned and how often.
The dealer told me just to empty the ashes when it gets full. Dont worry about anything else. Just call us for annual service.
I am following what the Harman website says - throw out ashes once every 2-3 days and scrape the burnpot once a week. They say more thorough cleaning only required every ton - dealer says thats overdoing it.

But I see some posts here say they vacuum every 2days. Im confused - whats there to vacuum so often? I read something about the firebox also needing to be vacuumed. Whats the firebox?
Would they really make something so hard to maintain that you need to unscrew and clean so often?

 

[SidecarFlip]

I recently got the Accentra insert and am not clear on what needs to be cleaned and how often.
The dealer told me just to empty the ashes when it gets full. Dont worry about anything else. Just call us for annual service.
I am following what the Harman website says - throw out ashes once every 2-3 days and scrape the burnpot once a week. They say more thorough cleaning only required every ton - dealer says thats overdoing it.

But I see some posts here say they vacuum every 2days. Im confused - whats there to vacuum so often? I read something about the firebox also needing to be vacuumed. Whats the firebox?
Would they really make something so hard to maintain that you need to unscrew and clean so often?

Called...'Job security' on the dealer's part. It perpetuates his business and lines his wallet. Good thinking on his part, I'd say.....

 

[Husky]

If you don't clean heat exchanger at least every 15 bags or so you will loose efficiency of stove. You can see the fly ash build up on the cast exchangers behind the fire pot. The more ash on those, the less heat transfer to your room through the blowers. I do a shop-vac cleaning of the exchangers about every 2 weeks. I can notice the difference in heat output. I do a complete cleaning every ton.

 

[mr47930]

I take the heat exchangers and medallion off every Saturday morning and brush them off in the yard. Then scrape/vac out the inside, vac out the igniter area and put it back together. Takes about 20-30 minutes to get everything to my liking. I haven't pulled the unit out yet, so that will be a learning experience.

 

[Harman newbie]

If you don't clean heat exchanger at least every 15 bags or so you will loose efficiency of stove. You can see the fly ash build up on the cast exchangers behind the fire pot. The more ash on those, the less heat transfer to your room through the blowers. I do a shop-vac cleaning of the exchangers about every 2 weeks. I can notice the difference in heat output. I do a complete cleaning every ton.

i have a p35i and can't figure put how to pull the unit out. I release the locking tabs on side and nothing. Any suggestions would be appreciated

 

[Harman newbie]

I take the heat exchangers and medallion off every Saturday morning and brush them off in the yard. Then scrape/vac out the inside, vac out the igniter area and put it back together. Takes about 20-30 minutes to get everything to my liking. I haven't pulled the unit out yet, so that will be a learning experience.

do you have to pull insert out to get at heat exchanger and medallion?

 

[mr47930]

i have a p35i and can't figure put how to pull the unit out. I release the locking tabs on side and nothing. Any suggestions would be appreciated

I have the new 52i and it has rollers. Not sure about the 35i though. Have you looked at the videos on the Harman website?

 

[mr47930]

do you have to pull insert out to get at heat exchanger and medallion?

No. Please watch the maintenance videos on the Harman website.

 

[Harman newbie]

I have the new 52i and it has rollers. Not sure about the 35i though. Have you looked at the videos on the Harman website?

yes it has rollers like the 52i don't know if you need to lift up or something to pull it out first

 

[ian105]

Don't wait a week to scrape the burn pot, you will have a huge mess most likely. I scrape mine at least once a day, usually twice.

Process is

pull ash into the ash pan, scrape under the fire and get the sides of the pot, you will be able to feel if there is any buildup. Usually do it when loading new fuel.

Rough process to clean is
Igniter to manual, turn stove on, open door (this creates draft to keep loose ash from flying into the room)
Vac all loose ash out of stove and burn pot
Scrape burn pot clean
Use a paint brush to dust off fly ash off the cast plates
Remove cast plates on either side of burn pot
Dust off the back of the plates
Dust fly ash off the heat exchanger, vac or with paint brush
Reassemble.

I usually clean clean the lower combusion fan area every other cleaning since it doenst effect efficiency, you just dont want it plugging up either.
TURN STOVE OFF before removing the lower combusion blower cover. By this point most of the fly ash is vac/removed so there shouldnt be much flying around.

I can complete this is 10-15 minutes. At first it was a bit intimidating, after doing it a few times, I know what works and what doens't tool wise now.

My fav tools are
Large stain brush - fly ash duster
2" putty knife or painters tool (scrape down sides of stove and lower combustion blower area)
HF Gasket scrapers - scrape burn pot. Use with hammer to tap if there is a stubborn buildup, it will pop off.

Here is a vid that is also decent at showing the process. I dont use the harman tool at all, except for

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[mr47930]

yes it has rollers like the 52i don't know if you need to lift up or something to pull it out first

You might be caught up on something. Did you remove the decorative "legs" on the bottom? Not sure what they are really called.
Ian is right, don't wait a week to scrape the burn pot, I was just referring to an actual tear down cleaning. I scrape my burn pot once in the morning before work, after work and before bed.

 

[cbova]

I found these instructions on this sight somewhere. Seem to be well done, can't take the credit for them, someone else took the time to write this up.

 

[tonyd]

Find an old cheap (not hardened) screwdriver about 12 to 14 inches. In a vise, bend the tip down about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch from the tip. Grind a nice edge on it and you have a very handy scraper that gets all the nooks and crannies in the burn pot. Clean the stove once a week and your getting the most out of the stove. 30 min max.

 

[Roadstar]

I recently got the Accentra insert and am not clear on what needs to be cleaned and how often.

If you go to the Harman site, Accentra page, they have a video showing how to clean the stove. There are four dots below the video screen and the fourth dot is the maintenance video.

 

[Peterfield]

If you don't clean heat exchanger at least every 15 bags or so you will loose efficiency of stove. You can see the fly ash build up on the cast exchangers behind the fire pot. The more ash on those, the less heat transfer to your room through the blowers. I do a shop-vac cleaning of the exchangers about every 2 weeks. I can notice the difference in heat output. I do a complete cleaning every ton.

My installer told me I didn't need to go behind the medallion and plates and just scrape the burn pot, brush down the medallion and plates and vacuum clean after emptying ash. Having said that, I did go behind the plates and took the fan cover off to clean the impeller and I did notice an improvement in heat.

 

[Big papa]

I recently got the Accentra insert and am not clear on what needs to be cleaned and how often.
The dealer told me just to empty the ashes when it gets full. Dont worry about anything else. Just call us for annual service.
I am following what the Harman website says - throw out ashes once every 2-3 days and scrape the burnpot once a week. They say more thorough cleaning only required every ton - dealer says thats overdoing it.

But I see some posts here say they vacuum every 2days. Im confused - whats there to vacuum so often? I read something about the firebox also needing to be vacuumed. Whats the firebox?
Would they really make something so hard to maintain that you need to unscrew and clean so often?

Hi derby what I would do is,start out cleaning once a week pulling baffles fan cover cleaning complete inside of the stove see how dirty it is over a week and go from there,if it's not so dirty after a week you can let cleaning go longer once you get used to cleaning the stove eventually you will be able to just look in the glass door and tell whether or not it needs cleaned.if you have any issues on cleaning feel free to PM me glad to help and you made a good choice getting an accentra.

 

[John Fortier]

After watching that vid, as much assache I have had with my Thelin. I only need to do a 1/4 of that to keep it clean.

 

[RKS130]

My Accentra is freestanding, so the routine may vary. Nonetheless, I have had great success with a once a week cleaning.

Every week the interior of the stove is brushed and vacuumed, glass cleaned, ash pan emptied if needed (depend on the pellets I am burning). Every other week I remove the plates and do a deeper cleaning behind them. Every ton I run my lint brush through the vent pipe and remove the plate that covers the igniter, loosen the screws that hold it and give a rap with the handle of a screwdriver . . . not on the igniter itself, but on the hatch area.

In my 4th year of flawless performance.

 

[derbydude]

Hi derby what I would do is,start out cleaning once a week pulling baffles fan cover cleaning complete inside of the stove see how dirty it is over a week and go from there,if it's not so dirty after a week you can let cleaning go longer once you get used to cleaning the stove eventually you will be able to just look in the glass door and tell whether or not it needs cleaned.if you have any issues on cleaning feel free to PM me glad to help and you made a good choice getting an accentra.

Thanks guys. This is all just so much work - hopefully it gets easier as it gets into a routine.
Im still digesting all the info but seems to me that any cleaning that requires pulling the insert out - only needs to be done once every ton correct?

 

[mr47930]

Thanks guys. This is all just so much work - hopefully it gets easier as it gets into a routine.
Im still digesting all the info but seems to me that any cleaning that requires pulling the insert out - only needs to be done once every ton correct?

Correct...
Just be sure to keep the burn pot, igniter area, and heat exchangers clean and you should be fine.

 

[F4jock]

Thanks guys. This is all just so much work - hopefully it gets easier as it gets into a routine.
Im still digesting all the info but seems to me that any cleaning that requires pulling the insert out - only needs to be done once every ton correct?

I clean mine every three weeks or so. Take the plates, medallion, flame deflector off, clean the ignigter chamber, brush and vacuum out the two channels on the bottom under the plates with a Lint Lizzard. Got this down to a science. Takes about 20 minutes. In between I pull the ash I'm the burn pot forward over the lip a few times a day and use a large screwdriver to knock some clinkers off the firepot. Remember, do NOT vacuum anything while hot unless you have a proper ash vacuum. All of the above is available in the instructions. I only yank the insert for a thorough cleaning once a year. This takes about two hours. You can easily do all of this yourself.

 

[Big papa]

X2 on the yearly cleaning as was recommended by my dealer