Harman end of season cleaning

[mr47930]

Hello all, its been a quite winter so far with the pellet stove keeping us warm with no issues whatsoever. I have went through probably about 2 1/2 of the 5+ tons that I had stacked for the season. I want to start contacting companies to come out in the May timeframe to do a complete cleaning. I want the stove pulled out and motors and augers taken apart and greased/cleaned, fines box cleaned, ESP etc. Last year I paid $199 for the end of season cleaning thinking the guy was going to do all of the above and all he did was come out with his Rigid vac and hook it up to the meter to make sure the draft was right. He told me my stove was the cleanest one hes ever serviced and took my check and left. I guess I should have read what this $199 was supposed to get me but I just assumed it would be more than what I got, so this year I want to be certain that the stove gets the DEEP cleaning it deserves. How much should I expect to pay for this kind of cleaning/service?

 

[johneh]

Sorry can't help you
I do the deep and all cleaning myself
It's cheaper and I known that it is done correctly
People say I am as tight with a dollar as a ducks ass and that's water tight

 

[mr47930]

Sorry can't help you
I do the deep and all cleaning myself
It's cheaper and I known that it is done correctly
People say I am as tight with a dollar as a ducks ass and that's water tight

I do a "deep" cleaning every Sunday morning. That includes taking out all of the removable parts in the fire box and brushing out every last bit of ash but I want someone to basically pull it out, take it completely apart, clean/grease and put it back together. This is something id gladly pay a pro to do.

 

[johneh]

I do a "deep" cleaning every Sunday morning. That includes taking out all of the removable parts in the fire box and brushing out every last bit of ash but I want someone to basically pull it out, take it completely apart, clean/grease and put it back together. This is something id gladly pay a pro to do

That's what I do in fact I do some thing that even the best do not do
unless there is a problem eg remove auger and lube the bushings .
among others . I'm just saying that I personally prefer to do it myself
than pay some one who may or may not do a good a job . That being said
I have the experience and expertize to do it . No saying you don't

 

[Mark_ms]

I do a "deep" cleaning every Sunday morning. That includes taking out all of the removable parts in the fire box and brushing out every last bit of ash but I want someone to basically pull it out, take it completely apart, clean/grease and put it back together. This is something id gladly pay a pro to do.

Most of us do our end of season cleanings ourselves. You have a pretty good idea of what you want to have done in original post, the process of cleaning yourself is quite satisfying and good end of the season therapy as well.
You may find it somewhat difficult trying to find a "professional" to do all that, make sure you ask a lot of questions and most of all does the price sound right as to the amount work you want done?
I have no idea what a professional charges as I have never had to call one.
Good luck!

 

[bags]

It might be worth it for you to research cleaning threads and give it a go yourself but if not interested you could likely use your $199 price for a vac out as a guesstimate of costs. I'd say it would double at least.

Problem we see all too often here is that owners do much better jobs of servicing their own vs. some "professional" that comes out for a quick buck. Nothing on these stoves is very difficult. Just takes some time to do. I'll never pay someone to come and service mine but that is just me.

How old is your stove? It may not need anything more than a good clean annually.

 

[mr47930]

It might be worth it for you to research cleaning threads and give it a go yourself but if not interested you could likely use your $199 price for a vac out as a guesstimate of costs. I'd say it would double at least.

Problem we see all too often here is that owners do much better jobs of servicing their own vs. some "professional" that comes out for a quick buck. Nothing on these stoves is very difficult. Just takes some time to do. I'll never pay someone to come and service mine but that is just me.

How old is your stove? It may not need anything more than a good clean annually.

This is the 2nd full winter of burning. I could probably do it myself but pulling out augers and motors seems like I could screw something up. If there were a video on how to remove everything I would feel more comfortable doing it. Also I've pulled the stove out once last year (without the rail kit) and that SOB is heavy. Maybe instead of paying for the service ill buy the rail kit to make it much easier to get behind there.

 

[Lake Girl]

Buy the rail kit and do it yourself ... I think you will be hard pressed to find a service tech who will do what want. Did last year's tech clean up the blades on exhaust and combustion fans? A seemingly minor task that will extend the life of those components...

 

[bags]

There are some videos around the net and youtube along with good detailed info here or people willing to walk you thru it all.

 

[UpStateNY]

I clean my harman advanced every year since 2008. The first year I paid someone and watched him do it. He never did any greasing or pulling out the auger. The main thing is the fans in the back. Take them out and spend some time cleaning every blade. Its a little time consuming but if you do it I am sure it will be done right. There noway your going to pay someone that is going to sit there and clean each one of those blower fan blades.

HEre is a video.

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The only thing I add to this is I do remove the two blowers in the back and clean the blades and dust. Like the video says I don't oil or grease anything.

 

[English BoB]

I did my first pull out cleaning for the GFs whitfield, took a couple of hours and dirty work. Didnt run right after.........as winter was coming she called a service tech to come and check......he commented that I had done a good job cleaning, turned up the pellet feed rate to the next setting charged $7 for that and $150 for the call.
I learned a lot about pull out cleaning this season.

bob

 

[Mark_ms]

If you decide to take this on order the gaskets you will need ahead of time, (x2) when you start pulling combustion fans you probably will not be able to save the existing gaskets