Harman Accentra insert question

[SteveM]

Hello all,

Hope you can offer some suggestions regarding a Harman Accentra pellet insert...

Is it normal operation to hear the auger motor OVER the blower?? Our insert seems to get incredibly loud whine and we can hear the auger motor kick on (even with the blower on high) NOTE: I'm comparing this with my father in law's Harman free standing pellet stove which is whisper quiet... you'd hardly know the thing is on...

I'm even using the same pellets as he does (New England Pellets premium grade hardwood) which was recommended by the dealer....

Our dealer, to their credit, has been very responsive and has replaced the motor on 4 different occasions at Harman's instruction. Each time the motor is quiet for the first several hours of operation.. Gradually it gets louder and louder. The thing is, it's intermittent.... and will come and go during any given day.

Any ideas? I tried to call Harman direct but they refer us back to the dealer, who really can't do much other than do what the manufacturer instructs.... which is to replace the auger motor...

(The auguer itself has been disassembled, checked for burrs (none) or any other defects... it looks fine)

Hope you can offer some suggestions!

Thanks,
SteveM

 

[RedSleds]

Perhaps it might be a curcuit board problem? ....just a shot in the dark.

 

[FireJumper]

It'd definately not a circuit board problem. The board has nothing to do with the sounds the auger motors makes. Harman may be having issues with the motor manufacture. I do know that there is a plastic gear inside the type of motor they use and sometimes is not greased properly right from manufacturing. They could have gotten a bad run causing these issues. Be patient, Harman is really quick on responding to this type of issue. Usually when there is one there are more when it comes to something like this.

 

[FireJumper]

It's definately not a circuit board problem. The board has nothing to do with the sounds the auger motors makes. Harman may be having issues with the motor manufacture. I do know that there is a plastic gear inside the type of motor they use and sometimes is not greased properly right from manufacturing. They could have gotten a bad run causing these issues. Be patient, Harman is really quick on responding to this type of issue. Usually when there is one there are more when it comes to something like this.

 

[vgrund]

On another forum, I heard that Harman switched to a "cheaper" motor recently. Anybody know the facts?

 

[FireJumper]

They actually changed from gleason avory to jakel due to the mounting points. They do carry two different motors, one runs backwards due to a couple of models being chain driven (Accentra, Advance models). other then the name they are the exact same motor.

 

[RedSleds]

It's definately not a circuit board problem. The board has nothing to do with the sounds the auger motors makes.

But, the board probably has something to do with how much voltage is supplied to the motor. If you want to screw up an electric motor, try running it under load at half voltage and see how long it lasts. SteveM was looking for ideas, as Harman has replaced the motor 4 times with same results. I doubt that he got 4 faulty motors in a row. Something is making them go bad, low voltage could be the culprit, ...at least it's something to look into.

 

[FireJumper]

Ever think that it may be low voltage going to the unit itself? What type of voltage do they have coming from the outlet they have the unit plugged into? I'm not sticking up fpr anyone here but you always need to look from both ends of the equasion.

 

[stovemanken]

There is some misinformation here.

Harman no longer uses the Jakel motor on the direct drive stoves such as the Accentra Insert; they are going with Gleason-Avery for the whole line.

As far as this being cheaper, that is not the case, as a new internal gear lubricant is gradually being phased into the line that is reported to reduce gear whine.

Speaking from personal experiance, some motors are noisier than others. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that you have had 4 different & 4 noisy motors. Some dealers are taking a dozen motors and running them to find the quiet ones.

Sometimes the application acts like a sounding board. The solid walls of a masonry fireplace can amplify the noise. Some dealers have placed some sound deadening material back there to help reduce the noise.

You need to stay close to your dealer; this has been reported far too many times for Harman not to come up with a fix.

 

[FireJumper]

guess i didn't read the name of the thread carefully, I thought we were referring to the Accentra freestanding stove which is chain driven which doesn't matter anyway because they use the gleason avery as well. i need to take back my last statement about the motors.

I was also told that Harman will be using gleason avery motors until jakel can come up with a better motor, until that happens they will be using gleason avery for both direct drive and chain driven models.