Creosote Problem

[Pellet_Power]

Sooo 1 1/2 hours of burn time and no smoke. It appears that the little bit of creosote that I wasn't able to scrape off is slowly burning off but i guess that should be expected. One thing I found interesting is that when I was removing the old gasket there was about a 1/4" gap between the two ends, almost like it was cut too short, then in an attempt to fix this the ends were pulled together in an attempt to overlap but I don't think it was giving a good seal. I plan on talking to the person who put this on for me and ask if they had taken any 'shortcuts'. I guess some things are just better off doing yourself.

 

[Pellet_Power]

Well as it turns out my creosote problem wasn't from my door gasket after all. I replaced the gasket and gave the stove a super cleaning scraping off every bit of creosote. After about 3 days of burning my stove on 'stove temp' I switched to room temp and after 1 day the creosote came back all over the same areas. I went back to a dealer and told him what was going on. I wanted a new flame guide anyway but of course they were on back order and it would be a few days before they would get any in. I found it funny that Delta-T said it should be around $15 for a flame guide, turns out it was $40!! I guess when very few people service Harman stoves they can gouge however they see fit (I have 2 in my area). So when the flame guide came in I picked it up brought it home and as soon as I put it on I realized how badly my other one had been fitting. My old one was so badly mangled that it was a full inch away from the back of the stove where it should be tight against it. That was allowing flame to escape from the back and that also was allowing the loose bits of ash that would gather at the back of the burn pot to smolder and I guess cause my creosote problem. I gave the stove another massive cleaning (I gotta tell you removing creosote is a real biatch) and put the new flame guide on and the stove has been burning like new on room temp for 5 days now with no creosote at all! I haven't had near the amount of build up on my glass as I used to either. I think if anyone else is having similar problems as I did with the tell tale sign of flame coming from behind the flame guide that a new guide should definitely be something to consider as well as air flow/restriction problems.

Thanks again to everyone who helped with their insight!

 

[lordgrinz]

Well as it turns out my creosote problem wasn't from my door gasket after all. I replaced the gasket and gave the stove a super cleaning scraping off every bit of creosote. After about 3 days of burning my stove on 'stove temp' I switched to room temp and after 1 day the creosote came back all over the same areas. I went back to a dealer and told him what was going on. I wanted a new flame guide anyway but of course they were on back order and it would be a few days before they would get any in. I found it funny that Delta-T said it should be around $15 for a flame guide, turns out it was $40!! I guess when very few people service Harman stoves they can gouge however they see fit (I have 2 in my area). So when the flame guide came in I picked it up brought it home and as soon as I put it on I realized how badly my other one had been fitting. My old one was so badly mangled that it was a full inch away from the back of the stove where it should be tight against it. That was allowing flame to escape from the back and that also was allowing the loose bits of ash that would gather at the back of the burn pot to smolder and I guess cause my creosote problem. I gave the stove another massive cleaning (I gotta tell you removing creosote is a real biatch) and put the new flame guide on and the stove has been burning like new on room temp for 5 days now with no creosote at all! I haven't had near the amount of build up on my glass as I used to either. I think if anyone else is having similar problems as I did with the tell tale sign of flame coming from behind the flame guide that a new guide should definitely be something to consider as well as air flow/restriction problems.

Thanks again to everyone who helped with their insight!

Next time just put the stove on full nuclear(90 degrees), and let it burn it off the old fashioned way, worked for me a few times. The creosote is only an issue for me when the temps outside are above about 45 or so, could be a little bit to do with pellet choice I guess, but they seem to be burning hot enough during the last few days of arctic weather.

 

[krooser]

My stove manufacturer recommends running the stove on #5 or #6 everyday for 1/2 hour to help keep the stove clean... seems to help.

 

[mark d fellows]

Well as it turns out my creosote problem wasn't from my door gasket after all. I replaced the gasket and gave the stove a super cleaning scraping off every bit of creosote. After about 3 days of burning my stove on 'stove temp' I switched to room temp and after 1 day the creosote came back all over the same areas. I went back to a dealer and told him what was going on. I wanted a new flame guide anyway but of course they were on back order and it would be a few days before they would get any in. I found it funny that Delta-T said it should be around $15 for a flame guide, turns out it was $40!! I guess when very few people service Harman stoves they can gouge however they see fit (I have 2 in my area). So when the flame guide came in I picked it up brought it home and as soon as I put it on I realized how badly my other one had been fitting. My old one was so badly mangled that it was a full inch away from the back of the stove where it should be tight against it. That was allowing flame to escape from the back and that also was allowing the loose bits of ash that would gather at the back of the burn pot to smolder and I guess cause my creosote problem. I gave the stove another massive cleaning (I gotta tell you removing creosote is a real biatch) and put the new flame guide on and the stove has been burning like new on room temp for 5 days now with no creosote at all! I haven't had near the amount of build up on my glass as I used to either. I think if anyone else is having similar problems as I did with the tell tale sign of flame coming from behind the flame guide that a new guide should definitely be something to consider as well as air flow/restriction problems.

Thanks again to everyone who helped with their insight!

I am thinking that is where my creosote problem is coming form also. My flame guide isn't cracked or warped, but I do see flames coming from above, and behind it, as well as burning the wood gas on the sides of the burn pot .

Today, upon startup, I watched smoke funnel around the burn pot, and down into the ash pan. I think since the flame guide isn't tight against the back of the stove, that it is leaking wood gas out of the burn pot.

As for me, the flame is fine, nice and angry looking, and large. I clean the exhaust pipe out quite frequently so that isn't the problem, and I just gave the stove a good cleaning. It burns fine, and heats fine, but just gets creosote. I thought I chipped all the chunks out today, but next time it shuts off, I am going to really go at it, to try and get a good seal. I don't see any smoke coming out of the exhaust unless the stove has shut down, and is smoldering out.

Mark

 

[mark d fellows]

After about 15 minutes of watching what was happening, I took a hammer and tapped the flame guide back, and down to get a good seat to the back of the stove, and the roiling smoke, or wood gas I would see around the burn pot, and down into the ash pan went away. I will watch it the next few days to see if all the creosote burns off.

I didn't get smoke out of the exhaust, but what I had is this roiling wood gas coming out of the back of the burn pot, through the seam between the flame guide and the back of the stove. Down around the sides of the burn pot, and funneling into the ash pan, and the lower levels of the stove, where i would get creosote build up, around the burn pot, and on the lower part of the stove door.

Maybe now, I will get a more efficient burn, as I have been going through a lot of pellets for how mild it has been.

Maybe this will help someone else.

Mark

 

[slls]

Your probably right, lots of heat in creosote.

 

[timjk69]

It looked to me like the sides of your burn pot might be a little warped also. I 'd be looking for a leak at the seal at the back of the burn pot. I'm guessing that the burn pot itself is trashed by the looks of the flame guide.

 

[aaronnoel]

I had this happen last year, looked just like the OP's pics, for me it was a worn out burnpot gasket. I had the flames behind the brunpot and everything since fixing tat gasket I've had zereo issue's.

 

[mark d fellows]

Just FYI, since making sure to seat the flame guide in my stove, I have zero rolling wood gas, and the creosote on the bottom of the door has burned off... Here I thought all the creosote last year was because I was using trash pellets..