Harman accentra insert - thick oil

[BrianN]

As I was cleaning my stove today, I cleaned the horizontal heat exchanger tubes. Upon pulling the brush out, I was surprised to see a thick, black oil substance come out. This only came out of the left side.
Any one else experience this before? Is it normal?
I figure it may also be part of the reason that I am not getting the heat that I need to heat the house. Anyways, I am hoping that is a big part of the problem.
Any input, help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[CtPaul]

Brian it sounds like you are cleaning the exhaust. I had the same residue when I realized I wasn't cleaning it well enough. It connects to the port on the right side of the stove. You should be able to see the brush in the right exhaust port (with a flashlight) when you push it all the way in the left side. Clean everything out good and fire it back up. I think it looks "oily" from moisture

Paul

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

That thick black oil is bad news, it needs to be cleaned out.

It is creosote or tar deposits from an improper burn.

Make sure your esp is clean as well.

Then check your gaskets and latches, adjust if possible or replace if you can't get a proper seal.

 

[Lousyweather]

That thick black oil is bad news, it needs to be cleaned out.

It is creosote or tar deposits from an improper burn.

Make sure your esp is clean as well.

Then check your gaskets and latches, adjust if possible or replace if you can't get a proper seal.

x2....and you can imagine that sticky mess causes the flyash to adhere in that tube at an accelerated rate.....lotsa wet stuff in there? wont be long b4 you get the dreaded "6 blink" status error!

 

[mepellet]

Sorry I am of no help but I am curious to see what the heat exchanger looks lik in the accentra. Sounds like it is not an accordian?

 

[kinsmanstoves]

As I was cleaning my stove today, I cleaned the horizontal heat exchanger tubes. Upon pulling the brush out, I was surprised to see a thick, black oil substance come out. This only came out of the left side.
Any one else experience this before? Is it normal?
I figure it may also be part of the reason that I am not getting the heat that I need to heat the house. Anyways, I am hoping that is a big part of the problem.
Any input, help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Brian

Ahhh that is creosote or a form of it. That means you are not cleaning good enough and need to clean better. Insert? Pull the unit out and remove the combustion blower. insert the brush from the front on the left side and push all the way through till you see it under where the blower was. next clean the liner by running a brush from top to bottom or the other way. i did not read the other posts.

Eric

 

[BrianN]

Lousyweather - yes, there was a lot of oil in there. I got most of it out. Looks like I will be doing another major cleaning this weekend, and next, and the next
mepellet - it is the heat exchanger tubes. On the bottom corners of the insert, behind the cast iron heat exchanger plate. A small 2" x 2" hole.
kinsmanstoves - yes, it is an insert.

Thank again all for your help.

 

[THE ROOSTER]

Lousyweather - yes, there was a lot of oil in there. I got most of it out. Looks like I will be doing another major cleaning this weekend, and next, and the next
mepellet - it is the heat exchanger tubes. On the bottom corners of the insert, behind the cast iron heat exchanger plate. A small 2" x 2" hole.
kinsmanstoves - yes, it is an insert.

Thank again all for your help.

After reading your posts I decided to clean mine today, and WOW what a difference. At least a 20*-25* increase in the temperature it is putting out.
Now my question is; " was it the horizontal tubes, the back plates, or the area above the glass that has made such a difference?

 

[BrianN]

I do realize that I have to do a major cleaning on it. My problem is, when we bought the house, the stove came with, we called in the local dealer and spent nearly $300 to get the stove serviced and cleaned. When he was here cleaning, the stove wouldn't run, so, he went and rebuilt a distribution blower, came back and installed it. After he was done and gone, when the cold weather came, we fired it up, and finally noticed that it wouldn't heat very well.
We called the same person back recently saying that we are not getting warm. The tech came by, plugged in his trouble shooting tool (the official name escapes me right now, it is way too early in the morning) and told me that my exhaust heat was too high, then walked out. Nothing else said, no appointment set up, no follow up call to see if I want them to pull it out and fix it.
We live in a small town, so, I don't really have a lot of choice when it comes to calling different dealers. I just have to ask around and see if I can find some one who "knows a thing or two" about pellet stoves.

 

[kinsmanstoves]

Exhaust temp to high? Hmmmm. What size liner? Low heat can be as easy as turning up the feed rate. No pellets no heat. How fast is the glass getting dirty?

Eric

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Did he clean your venting? More than just the stove needs to be cleaned.

 

[BrianN]

I am not sure of the liner size. I will have a look this weekend when I pull it out. I turned the feed rate up to 4.5, am thinking of turning it up to 5 as it has made no difference in the heat. Did make a difference in the amount that I have to fill though.
He did clean the venting, but, I will have to do that again this weekend.
I, actually my wife, cleans the glass every weekend when I clean it, and it gets a black line around the upper half. About an inch and a half all the way around by the same evening it is cleaned.