Harman Accentra-2 makes horrendous grinding noises

[requin]

I had my stove "cleaned and serviced" on 8/20/08. When I started using it in the fall, I noticed the auger seemed to run much noisier, and I would occasionally get these awful loud grinding and clunking noises. This kept up all winter.

I don't service my own stove (female, and haven't a clue); I put my trust in the guys who did this work. It was the same outfit I bought the stove from in 8/07, Bernardston Farmer's supply. The stove wasn't making all those grinding noises the first year I ran it, just after it was "serviced".

Do you guys think this was due to poor servicing...like maybe they didn't put things back together correctly? Or maybe didn't even take all the parts apart to clean it properly? (I was not home when they did it, so for all I know they could have vaccumed out the burn chamber and charged me $100..for something I could have done myself!)

I will call them, but I still wanted your expert opinions.

By the way, I have NEWP and I get a ton of black buildup on the burn pot which is really hard to get off..so could it be that stuff is building up inside and causing the grinding/clunking? If so, why so quickly after servicing?

Also those pellets didn't seem to burn very well, because I was supposed to get a whole ton's worth of ash in the ashcan before I had to empty it, but I get quite a bit more ash than that. Again, I don't recall the first year being a problem like this. But I cannot remember what brand of pellets I used the first year.

thanks.

 

[Stentor]

Also those pellets didn't seem to burn very well, because I was supposed to get a whole ton's worth of ash in the ashcan before I had to empty it, but I get quite a bit more ash than that. Again, I don't recall the first year being a problem like this. But I cannot remember what brand of pellets I used the first year.

thanks.

I've been getting more than I expected in the ashcan but I haven't measured the amount this year. It's all very fine ash, no partly burned pellets, so all the wood is being burned completely. My impression is that the amount of ash varies by pellet type I used but next season I want to measure. Hopefully, ash is related just to cost, efficiency and work keeping the stove clean enough.

Your "horrendous grinding noises" sound much more serious than the amount of ash, but I have no experience with that. Other people in this forum must know. I sure wouldn't ignore the noise, especially if it's new. Good luck.

 

[1993WhitfieldQuestOwner]

I see you had a Quest. I started to LEARN how to work on my stove when the service man wanted $900.00 to replace a $239.00 Combustion Blower. I pick a Saturday and take my time take it apart and vacume it real good. You might want to try to learn how to do the cleanings your self and then you will see it is not that difficult to replace parts.
Good Luck with this problem!! From another woman that has learned the hard way.

 

[tinkabranc]

Don't let being a female ever stop you from learning how to take care of that stove
yourself ;-)

How often do you scrape out the burnpot?
If clinkers (hard black stuff) builds up down near the auger, this will cause scraping and/or
clunking noises as the auger turns.

 

[requin]

I think I do want to learn how to take care of the stove. I'm mechanically inclined and not afraid to get my hands dirty. I just don't have anyone to show me anything about it...and I doubt I could 'get it' just from the manual...

anywho, I scrape the burn pot every time I start the stove (almost daily) although I admit I do not scrape it completely (some of that junk is really hard to get off). I usually have to help the ignitor along with a squirt of stove starter and a match ...and I know its because I haven't gotten all the "plaque" off the burn pot.

 

[tinkabranc]

This place is way better than the stove manual, and there are alot of great people
here that will help you out when needed.

Raid the toolbox, find a big screwdriver, and take your frustrations out on
those clinkers so all the holes in the burnpot are clear. Then clean out the ash
under the burnpot where the ignitor lives and I bet your stove won't need
any "help" starting up.

 

[1993WhitfieldQuestOwner]

I was in the same boat as you ..not afraid to get my hands dirty ect. The guy that came out first did not even know how to light my old Quest without a ignitor, I had to show him how. I told him what it was doing and he did not know how to work on the old stove. So a week later the boss came and said what I needed, and for $900. he would replace it. I already had a $130. charge for cleaning and troubleshooting. Hell I was 1/2 way to a new stove. So now I am picking parts and replacing them one by one. I cleaned it Saturday and it fired up ok today so I am ahead already. I replaced the fire brick in Feb it was a breeze n even found another spot to clean. I ordered my parts on line and the people were helpful. My stove is OLD so I have nothing to loose. I know you probally have a warranty to protect. I wish you luck let us know how you make out. If you can watch him next time. I learned alot of tricks watching the first guy .....like canned air and a vacume to suck out the dust in the hard to get areas.

 

[GVA]

cleaning guide..... (broken link removed to http://www.harmanstoves.com/maintenance/accentracleaninginstructions.pdf)
Like tink said clean the crunchies at the base of the burnpot..

 

[from France]

Hello,
A french link for "full" cleaning, with high resolution pictures : just select one.

 

[from France]

the link :
(broken link removed to http://www.alpilles-solaires.fr/Harman_Entretien_Annuel_Accentra.html)
;-)

 

[1993WhitfieldQuestOwner]

Hey did you ever find out what was the grinding noise?

 

[requin]

no because I haven't done anything about it, sad to say. Just finally stopped using the stove for the year (I hope) and it's going to need/get a good cleaning and will find out then. Haven't decided yet if I want to tackle cleaning it myself yet, will probably just pay them, but this time I'm staying home to watch/learn and make sure they do everything. (Last time I wondered if they even did everything like clean out the pipes.)

 

[iceman]

no because I haven't done anything about it, sad to say. Just finally stopped using the stove for the year (I hope) and it's going to need/get a good cleaning and will find out then. Haven't decided yet if I want to tackle cleaning it myself yet, will probably just pay them, but this time I'm staying home to watch/learn and make sure they do everything. (Last time I wondered if they even did everything like clean out the pipes.)

mine did that terrible noise and i checked the level .... somehow it was off when i leveled it the noise went away
the noise seemed to do it more when the stove was on a lower setting or when it idles down