Harman Absolute 63 back panel removal

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dennism

New Member
Dec 9, 2021
7
Vermont
I bought an Absolute 63 at the end of last season. I recently did a full cleaning and when I removed the rear bottom panels to clean the fines box, distribution blowers and ESP probe, I found that I need to remove 4 8mm screws on each side to remove the panels. The screws on the bottom are kind of a pain to access, not much room for a socket, needed to use a ratcheting flat wrench. This is in stark contrast to my daughter's Heatilator, which only needs a couple bolts loosened to remove the equivalent panels.

Am I doing something wrong? Do any Absolute 63 owners have an easier way to access this area? Thanks.
 
I'm not sure about the Absolute 63 but on my P Series Harmans I only have to loosen those rear panel bolts a bit. Then the panels slide off of said bolts because they are notched to do so. Check to see if your panels have the slots and bump out that allows the bolt head to slide thru.
 
I put on bolts with Wing Nuts I got at Hardware store. Turn it sideways and panel comes off easy. Similar to this. Took one of them to Hardware store.

[Hearth.com] Harman Absolute 63 back panel removal
 
That's what I was expecting and that's what my daughter's Heatilator has, but no keyhole slots for 3 of the 4 screws on each side. It seems strange that they would make it this difficult to access. That's why I feel like I'm missing something and hoping another Absolute 63 owner has figured it out.
 
Dataman, so you mean that you replaced all the little 8mm screws with wingnuts with the same thread on your Absolute 63 bottom back panels?
 
I bought an Absolute 63 at the end of last season. I recently did a full cleaning and when I removed the rear bottom panels to clean the fines box, distribution blowers and ESP probe, I found that I need to remove 4 8mm screws on each side to remove the panels. The screws on the bottom are kind of a pain to access, not much room for a socket, needed to use a ratcheting flat wrench. This is in stark contrast to my daughter's Heatilator, which only needs a couple bolts loosened to remove the equivalent panels.

Am I doing something wrong? Do any Absolute 63 owners have an easier way to access this area? Thanks.
as stated before, u loosen the bolts and the panel slips off.. no need to remove them.
 
Thanks to all, I figured it out. Just one screw needs to be removed and then it slides out. I was misinterpreting what I was seeing. I still might do the wing nut idea suggested above to make it even quicker.
 
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