harman 300i help

[Devon]

New memeber. Bought a harman 300i couple months ago cuz i bought a new house and my oil furnace took a crap. Bein screw around it it but find it very hsrd to actually get any stove top temps when that after burner kicks in sucks all flames right up. Have a 14 foot flex liner attached. Ive tried everything. Infact it sucks so hard turnd my pipe red hot. I can not find any videos or at all on a harman 300 or 300i that is informational at all not to mention the user manual sucks. First woodstove i owned deff not a new to stoves. Im only 24 years old lol and this is my only sourse of heat please tell me i did not make a mistake on buying a downdraft stove..

 

[brokenknee]

I will bump the thread for you. I have a Harman TL 300 I have only had it installed for a month and I am happy with it. Do you let the stove top get up to temp before kicking in the AB?

Members more knowledgeable than I should be along shortly. There are a few of us that have downdraft stoves that are happy with them.

 

[Devon]

Usually bring it up to at least 500 hard to tell what ab temps are i shine my thermo down where the blower blows air up the back of the stove on top i have seen temps up to 600 back their. But stove top temps around 3-4. Right now im usin envi block since i get them for free and they work like crap unless i stack them to block all the air going to after burner

 

[Devon]

Is the goal with a down draft is to make sure thr air coming down the window is blocked by the wood on a nice big bed of coals

 

[branchburner]

What setting are you putting the air control at for your burns? You want to start out at half-open to wide-open, but step it down once the AB is engaged. Can you see smoke from the flue when the AB is engaged?

 

[Devon]

Air is always at 1/4 to 1/2 while burning half to full when loading and only smokes when loading

 

[Devon]

Idk the ab is like a vacuum its either fire in the box and no ab or ab and no fire no matter what way i position the wood or blocks it was or the other. Once in while i can get a little fire i the box but its flying all over the place like someone but a fan in their. Is just seems like the ab sucks air to hard

 

[branchburner]

I think you need to shut the air back more during your burns, and don't worry about the visuals.

The point of the downdraft is to force the unburnt gasses into the rear chamber, where they burn (secondary combustion) entirely out of sight. So unlike a burn-tube or pre-EPA stove, there is not as much of a "light show" in the firebox. A lot of the time with the air set near zero I will have small, lazy flames (if any) in the firebox but I can hear a roar in the AB and measure the temps on the back of the stove at 700f, even as the stovetop is only 500f.

Since yours is an insert, you have no way of measuring those rear temps. All I can tell you is if you are burning truly DRY wood and have a good-drafting 6" flue, you should be able to get long hot burns at a fairly low air setting (zero to 1/4). Since the secondary combustion heat is generated in the rear AB, I would think the blower would be absolutely essential on the insert for moving that heat out and about.

Is the stove heating your house? What kind of burn times do you get with a full load? Burning with air at 1/2 or more is going to be pushing a lot of heat up the flue, getting it too hot and giving shorter burn times with less heat output. Are you monitoring flue temps?

 

[Devon]

My stove top never gets above 400. The stove is barley throwing heat. Flue temps of what i can see ehich is about 12in is bout 500 to 650. The dealer told me my stove top should be 450 to 650. So what your saying is their shouldnt be really any flames inside the firebox and the ab is where the heat come from. Not the stove? I figured i should have flame since the dvd that came with it had a nice fire in the box with the ab going that what i never got. Mine doesnt through much heat but the ab is always going. I dont get it

 

[MishMouse]

Bein screw around it it but find it very hsrd to actually get any stove top temps when that after burner kicks in sucks all flames right up.

When the AB kicks in the stove should produce tremendous amounts of heat.

Have a 14 foot flex liner attached. Ive tried everything. Infact it sucks so hard turnd my pipe red hot.

This concerns me, if the stove was installed properly it should not turn your pipe red hot. Upon start up the pipe gets hot but after you close the bypass the temp should drop dramatically. To say that it turned red because of the AB, points to possible other serious issues with your install.

I can not find any videos or at all on a harman 300 or 300i that is informational at all not to mention the user manual sucks.

(broken link removed to http://www.harmanstoves.com/Owner-Resources/Use-and-Care-Videos/Wood-Stoves.aspx)

Right now im usin envi block since i get them for free and they work like crap unless i stack them to block all the air going to after burner

Blocking the AB will result in the stove not working properly.
The envi block that you are using could be one of the contributors to your issues.

Questions
Did you install this or have a professional installer do it?
Explain in detail your setup, height of chimney, how much above roof line, is the pipe clean...?
Are you only using envi-block or are you using a mixture of "Seasoned Hard wood" with it?
Do you have a blower installed? When do you turn it on?
Do you smell smoke when it is burning regardless if it is in bypass mode or not?

Comments:
When I am using seasoned hardwood I can keep a ~2000 sqft house in Central MN easily above 70, note it has been double digits below zero since the beginning of December. When I am using un-seasoned wood the stove stalls and I am lucky to keep the house above 65.
When it is burning the most efficient aka putting out the most heat is when I hardly ever see a flame in the box.
The major heating is taking place in the AB.

 

[Devon]

Its installed by a professional best flex 14ft up to the roof i have good draft. When it turned red hot right when i closed the dampener idk what happened it turned red and i closed it down mayb i got it to hot not sure. I use wood and envi blocks but ran outa wood so envi blocks right now. I know someone who has 300tl model and thats all he uses cuz he gets it free to. I wish i could tell how hot my ab gets the only thing i can do is laser the thermo down in the back where the blowers blow uptherew the top thats the closest i can get to the ab. I see temps anywhere form 350 to 650 but my ab is prolly much hotter... what settings do u guys have your air set throwing max heat with the box half to fully loaded.. if i throw eight blocks in i get a burn time of about 4/5 hours...

 

[Devon]

Chimney is clean

 

[Devon]

Flue is ovalized through dampener

 

[Devon]

Last night 10 block of envi-8 got stove top up to 550 engaged dampener ab kicked in i could see inside the ab flames goin up the firedome gettin hott with the steel expansion sound tick tick tick... knocked the air from half down to 1/4 turned the blower down half way. Flue temp 600 from what i could get to. Stove top stoped at 360. Thermo said 500 in the back top of the stove where the blowers blow the air over the ab flue temps down to 412.. then turned it up a notch stove top 420 back of the burner shroud 560 flue 500 but i can hold my hand where the air comes out of the top of the stove all day cuz it warm not hot. Since it was -3 out living room temp 5
64 rest of house 55.. evrrything works just doesnt seem to blow as much heat as everyone elses

 

[Devon]

That thing should blow air so hot i would wana live outside

Mayb it is the block goin to pick up some oak from my buddys house thats been sitting in his wood shed for 3 years try that out if that doesnt work gona have force the dealer to come look at it since he doesnt drive cuz they r amish

 

[NACPEYE]

Devon, don't be too quick to cut the air down after you close the damper. I usually leave it fully open until the temp (on top in center) stabilizes at around 500. I then start to turn it down a quarter at a time. I can't go below 1/4, or it kills the fire, and have heard others do the same. I have been able to hold the temps at around 450-500 for the entire burn. Those envi-bricks burn very hot but not for a long time. If that is the only thing that you are burning, then I think that is one of your problems. I use them only when I have wood that is not under 20% moisture.

 

[Devon]

Interesting

 

[marcip]

Interesting

Devon, I am seriously considering on buying a Harman 300i and am wondering how your making out.

 

[Devon]

Came down to either draft problem where the afterburner is not getting hot enough or their is problem with after burner. My buddy has a 300tl and i can even stand near it. The only thing i dont like about mine even if it did work right is i cant tell how hott my afterburner is so idk if its too hott i couldnt tell if the i was overfiring it i cant tell much but beside that and hopefully get my problem fix i think it should do good. The bad thing about these stoves is thr book and video that came with is is chit. Dont tell u anything everyting people on this site told me was never in the book its almost false advertisement. Harman needs to stop hiding stuff and show u everything u need to know, want to know and show exactly how it works at what setting and what settings it should run and even more on the insert than anything cuz u cant do a thing to make sure your temps R where they should b. I didnt know how hot mine was suppost to be. I didnt know how much heat it should through so i didnt know if it was running like it should or it was running like chit all i knew was no smoke came out my chimney and my house is cold. So i figured it was working right and i spent all this money on junk untill i checked out my buddys 300tl i thought i was going to burst in flames. He also had problems with the after burner went through two in two years thing its fixed now tho... the chimney man said he thinks i have decent draft just not enough to heat the stove to what it should b but enough to keep my after burner going. Hes been doing it for 27 years so im trusting him. Let me know how it works out for u if u desideto go that way. Make sure u have good draft and try to find out all the info before u spend thT money to make sure it works for u. Besides it was cold in the house i saved about $3000 on oil judging by the people around me they spent anywhere from $2500 to $4000 so i guess the stove payed for itself already. I only spend mayb $600 on getting wood cut up and and split including diesel and gas. So if i were u i would recomend to see someone use it before u buy one.

 

[JA600L]

Devon, are you dealing with the stove shop in Leacock near intercourse pa? I was in there a few times looking at the TL300. I was not impressed. The biggest thing that bugs me is nobody could explain how the after burner works like it is some kind of secret. If I'm going to spend that kind of money you better tell me what I'm buying. From what I gather its a very complicated system that I would rather avoid.

 

[Devon]

No this guys from port treverton... but yea ik what u mean. I understand how it works but i dont underdrand why it works for some and not for others its a big hassel

 

[1kzwoman]

I have an exception Harman. From my experience and lessons learned from this forum. I suggest the following to you.
DRY WOOD 2" splits stacked loosely for good air flow. This is how to load your startup.
Burn open draft damper open to get stove top center to 600 degrees AND a deep coal bed.
Yup you're sacrificing to fire this load.
Once you get temp up and coals at least 2-3" deep add DRY larger splits after pulling coals forward. Leave draft open until they ignite, your AB should kick in as you
Close damper, then slowly adjust air intake to maintain 300-400 flue temp.
Hope this may help you .
Heat will come from refill
Also there is a insert question about block off plate and insulation you may need to research

 

[JA600L]

I have an exception Harman. From my experience and lessons learned from this forum. I suggest the following to you.
DRY WOOD 2" splits stacked loosely for good air flow. This is how to load your startup.
Burn open draft damper open to get stove top center to 600 degrees AND a deep coal bed.
Yup you're sacrificing to fire this load.
Once you get temp up and coals at least 2-3" deep add DRY larger splits after pulling coals forward. Leave draft open until they ignite, your AB should kick in as you
Close damper, then slowly adjust air intake to maintain 300-400 flue temp.
Hope this may help you .
Heat will come from refill
Also there is a insert question about block off plate and insulation you may need to research

Why would anybody buy one of these?

 

[1kzwoman]

Why would anybody buy one of these?

Fell for the long burn time overnight fire Clean burn!!
That said this stove burns 24/7 Oct-May
Heating 1900sqft ranch in-75 wind chill conditions. Keeping my home warm enough for a aloe plant to bloom 75+ using four cords of PINE

Don't have to run a space heater to keep bedroom warm like some

 

[JA600L]

Fair enough. Maybe it really does what they say it can. . Interesting.