harman advanced burning 3 lbs per hr when set on 1 lb per hr

[davidapike]

My stove has been progressively been producing more and more ash every year, all gasket have been replaced for this concern, esp probe replaced last year (I was hoping it would help with concern) distribution blower replace / combustion blower replaced / igniter replaced / yet every year it get worse, I swapped pellets with a buddy with same stove his burns like mine use to, It is to the point my ash bin is way overfilled in 7 days burning 60 pounds a day, stove throws plenty of heat, seems to work well, my dealer has been great they suggested I replace main circuit board , I did , now stove blows me out of the house , if I leave it on 3 pounds per hr on stove temp, house will go up in the high 80's , I keep turning it down to 1 pound per hr, but even there its high 70's. The thing is ever though it's set at 1 pound per hour , it's really burning 3 pounds per hr, , Next strange thing it seems to work ok on room temp, but I don't want to do that. This isn't something new, its been progressively getting worse for the last eight or nine years, it just to the point I cant take every Saturday morning spending an hour + cleaning the stove,, I went back to my dealer he suggested they come out and hook a diagnostic / tester / computer up to it , I don't want to take a day off for this , any suggestions ?

 

[kinsmanstoves]

I think you have something confused on the control panel. There is no setting to burn a certain pound per hour as you described.

Eric

 

[davidapike]

I think you have something confused on the control panel. There is no setting to burn a certain pound per hour as you described.

Eric

Thanks Eric, I see the manual has been rewritten, Harman know calls in " constant burn mode" my stove a bit older it use to be call "stove temp" , and the dial (inside one) was how many pounds per hour, or at least that the way it has been working for 12 years. The control board only 3 wire leads plug into it , large wire plug looks like only goes on one way, esp wire plugs into only connector that it fits and its marked esp and the thermostat wires, I was told it didn't matter what way the wire plugged in. If I was told wrong info please straighten me out !! also not sure if replacing control panel helped with excessive ash issue, I haven been able to leave it on long enough !! the spring is coming and just too hot to keep stove on unless the doors (house) are open! I'm not too concerned about the stove burning exactly 1 pound per hour, more want to be able to turn stove down to a livable level, I use to be able to turn it down to one and a half or two and it use to burn at that level,

 

[TonyVideo]

Why are you not using room temp mode?

 

[davidapike]

Why are you not using room temp mode?

Tony ! thanks for reply, I just changed circuit board last Saturday, I used room temp years ago, but when it gets warm like it is getting it shuts off and turns on by itself, not real confident in leaving the stove on room temp when I'm not there !! until I know its working right . I could put the old circuit board back in and in sure it would work fine I'm just anal about having it work properly, and hopefully getting closer !!

 

[TonyVideo]

It should be fine as long as your ignitor works. Try it while you are there.

 

[davidapike]

It should be fine as long as your ignitor works. Try it while you are there.

I did , It worked ,set room temp to 72 degrees, keep house within 2 degrees, shut off by itself , turned on by it self , I shut it off after all seem to be working. One time feed just keep feeding pellets and then stove lit, hot pellets ended up in ash pan and it caught fire (that happened years ago , and don't want a repeat)

 

[davidapike]

I was hoping that some one has ran into this before!! where do I go from here ? there has to be something causing the feed motor to keep the fuel moving into the burn pot,! what ever is telling the feed motor to "feed" I telling it too often, what controls that ? ESP probe ? is the ESP reading correctly? I believe it read exhaust temp. What should the exhaust temp be at lowest temp setting ? I took a temp reading on the pipe where the probe goes , it read 115 degree, does that sound about right ?

 

[bogieb]

Just so we understand exactly how it is set (I don't know what the "inside" dial is); what is the feed rate dial set at. What is the temp dial set at, and what is the fan rate set at?

 

[davidapike]

Thanks bogieb ! The feed rate is on 2.5 / the temp dial is as low as it can go #! or 50 degrees / the fan speed on high in the constant burn mode / constant burn use to be pounds per hour but they changed to manual recently. I normally let it burn in this manner and at the #3 it would burn 3 pound per hour as my dealer told me it would, and has done so for 12 years, Since I replace circuit board, when I set it as low as it will go ( as described above) after it runs for 1-12 hours I will have to put in 30 pounds to fill it back up. and now that its spring (40 degrees outside) it keeps my house at almost 80 degrees, too hot !! I replaced the circuit board at my dealers suggestion too correct a excessive ash condition, The stove in my opinion is running too hot to leave running with no one home. I haven't been able to run it long enough to see if the "ash" issue has been corrected. Got to figure changing the "board" made a difference . so I think I'm on track to getting to the bottom of issue , just not not there yet

 

[TonyVideo]

This would be solved if you just use room temp. If you have hot pellets spilling over then turn u our feed rate down until they don't.

 

[railfanron]

I have been running on room temp auto for 2 years and the only time I had a starting issue the pellet hopper latch was loose. I tightened it back up and all has been perfect since. Seems strange but if the hopper lid isn't sealed tight it affects the air into the burnpot. My stove runs 7 - 24 on auto whether I'm here or not, it always starts and burns correctly IF the hopper latch is tight. My feed rate is set at just below 4.
Ron

 

[TonyVideo]

If the hopper lid isn't tight or sealed it could cause a hopper fire so it is a safety feature.

 

[davidapike]

Tony and railfanon ! thanks !! your both right ! The time I had a half ass fire the Igniter was on the way out, and this weekend coming I'll probably run it ion room for the week end , at least to see if the "ash" situation is straightened out.
I like running it on stove temp or constant burn mode as they now call it, I set the rate so when it get cold enough my main house heat kick on and warms the pipes in the cellar up every now and then, if the main heat never kick on I would have frozen pipes down there in the dead of winter, If I ran it on room temp and house heat kicked in the pellet stove would shut off , defeats the idea , I could buy and other stove or heating device for the cellar but this way has worked great for 12 years, I got a feeling if I throw an other ESP probe in it might just straighten it out ! It's more of a vendetta now ! I can pay someone else to fix it , at this point it would have been cheeper to have the dealer come out and fix it and quicker, but I'm so far into it , it me or that stove LOL

 

[bogieb]

Since obviously a dial hasn't gotten moved accidently (seen some of those), the thing that jumps out at me is the replaced ESP and replaced control board. I seem to recall people talking about the connecting wires being red or black, depending on the control board used (someone please correct me if I am wrong / incorrect). If that is so, are your ESP and board compatible? I can't answer that as I am not sure of the specifics, but maybe someone else can chime in and help out (or tell me I'm way off base)

Good luck!

 

[TonyVideo]

I use stove ramp mode in the coldest part of winter as well so periodically my gas furnace kicks in so the extreme parts of the house isn't so cold along with keeping my pipes as well from freezing.

 

[davidapike]

I haven't replaced ESP probe in over a year , If I let it go too long or don't keep stove/ exhaust pipe clean there is a 90 in the flue that will clog, and ESP probe overheats, its has happened in the past, I do not believe it has happened since last it was replaced, that why I spend every Saturday morning cleaning the stove, The chimney / stove pipe has got 3.5 !tons through it at this time! at the end of the season I clean out everything, but the stove burns so dirty it produce's so much ash , it clogs easy, Once again if the stove wasn't producing so much ash, It wouldn't overfill and have ash go out the exhaust pipe and clogging the 90, Its a royal pain to pull stove out of where it is and clean chimney liner, I only do it once a year.

 

[bogieb]

The only thing I have left is the fan speed. At a low temp and low feed rate, a high fan speed means most of the heat is going out into the room. The ESP is trying to satisffy its pre-set (whatever that may be), which may be causing it to feed more pellets than it should. If you place the fan on low, more heat will go out the exhaust, which I would think would satisfy the ESP.

 

[bags]

Have you tried pulling your ESP probe out and cleaning it? If it is quickly getting caked up with excessive ash it may not be reading correctly. When you set it one 1 for temp in STove mode or constant burn, What does the flame look like? What all do you do when you clean every Saturday? What you are experiencing and describing sounds like an ESP issue or problem.

Also, Does your stove consistently hold the set temp when you are running in Room Temp mode?

 

[davidapike]

Thanks bogieb ! I'll try that this week end too, but will that reduce the amount of pellets I'm burning? It never use to burn 3 pounds per hour when on the lowest setting (1), it would 3 pound when it was set on the 3 , My dealer tells me they can plug into the control board and read things , do anyoneknowwhat it reads

 

[bogieb]

Thanks bogieb ! I'll try that this week end too, but will that reduce the amount of pellets I'm burning? It never use to burn 3 pounds per hour when on the lowest setting (1), it would 3 pound when it was set on the 3 , My dealer tells me they can plug into the control board and read things , do anyoneknowwhat it reads

I don't know, but it can't hurt to try. I was under the impression, perhaps mistakenly, that if the temp was set under #4 (in constant burn), that the distribution blower wouldn't go on high anyway (that's what I am getting from the manual anyway). So, if it is going on high while you are at #1, then there is something not right, either with the pot or the board.

 

[davidapike]

Thanks Bags ! I pulled ESP probe last week end when I cleaned stove and cleaned it, I uses window cleaned and scotch pad, to get soot off when I get down to metal just windex, my Saturday morning ritual get shop vac , remove sided panels , remove glass door, remove ash bucket, remove flame guide and brick backing plate, loosen wing nuts and remove burn pot cover, remove two steel plate covering heat tubes , put all metal part in sink to soak, spray down all glass with clearer and set soak, wire brush/ vacuum all obvious areas, use triangle wire brush clean heat tubes, scrape and vac burn pot, vac inside burn pot, remove combustion fan and clean, wire brush area of combustion fan and vent port to ESP probe to chimney, remove and clean ESP probe, wire brush clean vacuam top heat tubes and shelves were fines collect , remove wind nut from steel plate on back left and vacuum pellet dust, check all gaskets for loose fit or wear, dump ashes, shop vac the heck out of everything using bristle brush on end of shop vac, Vacuum top gasket surface where pellet hopper is, after every thing has been washed cleaned, let dry, in the mean time I take my leaf blower and plug it into front side of stove and blow through the combustion port by where the ESP wound normally be, out the back of the chimney, and let run on high until nothing come out top of chimney, I also bang on chimney pipe where I can to loosen and thing inside. after everything blown out , I start reassembling every thing, You can just about eat off the inside of it when I'm done, The I wash down the out side. Then I go off and do other choirs, let stove sit 4-5 hours to dry thoroughly. I normally will turn it back on Saturday night, / also two answer part two of your question Mr Bags , Tha stove does seem to hold proper temp when used on room temp, I'm just not a fan of using that function !Thanks again

 

[TonyVideo]

My fan stays on high when on constant burn setting 1. When you come off high it will turn off. Maybe it has been now programmed to when you have it on high it assumes you want the heat and if off high you don't want the heat but the flame. I never use it for the looks of a flame.

 

[kinsmanstoves]

Thanks Eric, I see the manual has been rewritten, Harman know calls in " constant burn mode" my stove a bit older it use to be call "stove temp" , and the dial (inside one) was how many pounds per hour, or at least that the way it has been working for 12 years. The control board only 3 wire leads plug into it , large wire plug looks like only goes on one way, esp wire plugs into only connector that it fits and its marked esp and the thermostat wires, I was told it didn't matter what way the wire plugged in. If I was told wrong info please straighten me out !! also not sure if replacing control panel helped with excessive ash issue, I haven been able to leave it on long enough !! the spring is coming and just too hot to keep stove on unless the doors (house) are open! I'm not too concerned about the stove burning exactly 1 pound per hour, more want to be able to turn stove down to a livable level, I use to be able to turn it down to one and a half or two and it use to burn at that level,

No the manual is the same just changed from stove temp to constant burn. The inside numbers never indicated pounds per hour.

Eric

 

[davidapike]

No the manual is the same just changed from stove temp to constant burn. The inside numbers never indicated pounds per hour.

Eric

Thanks Kinsmanstoves !! I understand that now, and perhaps coincidental but for 12 years now what ever I put the dial on that how much pellets would burn per hour, since I put in new board I have to leave the doors open in the house if its over 30 degrees out, (when set on #1 constant burn ) this was never the situation before with the old board!,now with the new board this going to be the new normal ?
If this is the new normal I has no choice but to use room temp ! not the end of the world but not the way I've been using the stove for 12 years! Am I trying to fix something that's not broken ??
I was hoping to let run this week end but it is suppose to go up in the 60's this place will be a sauna