Harman - Feed adjuster settings for different grade pellets?

[Don2222]

Hello

The test parameters below done yesterday was using the very best Cubex wood pellets with feed adjuster at 4 and the temp setting at 70 using room temp mode set to medium.and the new black room probe at 5 feet from the floor per the Harman DVD using the latest circuit board with the newest algorythms in the chip set.

Now if I drop down to Green Supreme wood pellets that are more ashy and give less heat, what would be a better feed adjuster setting? Would it be slightly above 4 with the other controls the same?
Does anyone have any settings for different grade pellets that they like?

Test for yesterday and last night.
Well Success at last with the right settings!
The right stove in the right location with the right settings and the best wood pellets for New England climate!

The temps outside yesterday afternoon warmed up to almost 60, so Harmy 1 automatically ramped down and turned off completely! Then it came on last night as the temps dipped to near freezing during the early morning. When I awoke, the Bedrooms down the hall were 68 Degs F, the Living Room and kitchen were 69 Degs F and the Basement was 75 Degs F. Now the door to the garage was closed and the garage is 60 Degs F. If I will be working there, I can turn on Harmy 2 and it will ramp up quickly with the new circuit board to bring the garage up to room temp.
Pellet usage was approx 1 bag of pellets since yesterday morning, not bad. It was full of Cubex that gave more heat and definately alot less ash than the Green Supremes to scrape from the burn pot!

Also think of the advantage of two vacuum cleanouts as double distilling! They keep the chimney clean!

The ductwork fan was completely off, but the basement doorway fan to the upstairs came on soon after Harmy 1 to bring the heat up.

Harmy 1 basement stove settings shown as follows:
Feed Adj = 4
Mode = Room Temp = medium room fan speed
Temp Dial = 68 Degs

See pic below, click to Enlarge.

 

[Rastallama]

I have bean wondering about this with my P-43, first year burning and i grabbed a few bags of everything i could find... and i had to adjust feed rate from 4 down to 2 depending on pellets. Also, i dont know what a too small or too big fire is. Ive been going by the Harman suggestion of " flame should be approx 6" out of the burn pot".
I keep these settings pretty much all the time and then adjust feed rate for ash line at burn pot edge and flame size. This seems to keep my 2 story 1700sq foot comfy.
Mode=Room Temp at 73=Fan High

Green Supremes & Maine Woods (mix) get a feed rate of 4

La Crete, Barefoots, Logik-e, get a feed rate of 2 otherwise the flame is all over the baffles at the top of the stove which seems too big?

 

[Harman Lover 007]

Not quite sure what you're trying to prove here, Don. Using room temp, auto, set to 68 degrees, it doesn't matter what you use for pellets. The temp probe will keep calling for heat until you reach the set temp of 68*. Tinkering with the feed rate really doesn't gain you anything. A good quality pellet such as the Cubex you are using in your test will probably get you to the desired set temp quicker than, say, the Green Supremes.
I would think that you would know by now that a Harman will burn just about any pellet out there. The Control board circuitry and the ESP automatically compensate for inferior pellets. If you set the feed rate too low, you are restricting the Harman circuitry's ability to perform that compensation. Just like putting a brick under your accelerator pedal in your car. Set the feed rate on 4 and throw away the knob....you'll never have to touch it again.

 

[Rastallama]

Not quite sure what you're trying to prove here, Don. Using room temp, auto, set to 68 degrees, it doesn't matter what you use for pellets. The temp probe will keep calling for heat until you reach the set temp of 68*. Tinkering with the feed rate really doesn't gain you anything. A good quality pellet such as the Cubex you are using in your test will probably get you to the desired set temp quicker than, say, the Green Supremes.
I would think that you would know by now that a Harman will burn just about any pellet out there. The Control board circuitry and the ESP automatically compensate for inferior pellets. If you set the feed rate too low, you are restricting the Harman circuitry's ability to perform that compensation. Just like putting a brick under your accelerator pedal in your car. Set the feed rate on 4 and throw away the knob....you'll never have to touch it again.

So how about the fact that my flame looks like it wants to light my roof ablaze with certain pellets and others have a "reasonable" flame depending on feed setting?

 

[Harman Lover 007]

I have bean wondering about this with my P-43, first year burning and i grabbed a few bags of everything i could find... and i had to adjust feed rate from 4 down to 2 depending on pellets. Also, i dont know what a too small or too big fire is. Ive been going by the Harman suggestion of " flame should be approx 6" out of the burn pot".
I keep these settings pretty much all the time and then adjust feed rate for ash line at burn pot edge and flame size. This seems to keep my 2 story 1700sq foot comfy.
Mode=Room Temp at 73=Fan High

Green Supremes & Maine Woods (mix) get a feed rate of 4

La Crete, Barefoots, Logik-e, get a feed rate of 2 otherwise the flame is all over the baffles at the top of the stove which seems too big?

I know I sound like a broken record but adjusting your feed rate that much is not the proper way to operate a Harman.

 

[Harman Lover 007]

So how about the fact that my flame looks like it wants to light my roof ablaze with certain pellets and others have a "reasonable" flame depending on feed setting?

That depends on where in the cycle of stove operation you are. Startup or normal operation after the stove has come up to temperature. If you are starting with a cold stove or trying to warm the room up significantly you will have a large flame especially if you are many degrees below the set temp.

 

[Rastallama]

That depends on where in the cycle of stove operation you are. Startup or normal operation after the stove has come up to temperature. If you are starting with a cold stove or trying to warm the room up significantly you will have a large flame especially if you are many degrees below the set temp.

That makes a lot of sense... I was concerned I was going to "over fire" or damage my stove if I let those flames keep going that large. It looks like a healthy flame, no black tips and not appearing lazy at all... Just a massive blazing inferno! I'll re read the "how to" again... And again... Thanks!

 

[Harman Lover 007]

That makes a lot of sense... I was concerned I was going to "over fire" or damage my stove if I let those flames keep going that large. It looks like a healthy flame, no black tips and not appearing lazy at all... Just a massive blazing inferno! I'll re read the "how to" again... And again... Thanks!

I'm just trying to help you get the most out of your new stove!!

 

[Rastallama]

I'm just trying to help you get the most out of your new stove!!

You've been a huge help, and my family and I appreciate it as we keep warm!

 

[Don2222]

Not quite sure what you're trying to prove here, Don. Using room temp, auto, set to 68 degrees, it doesn't matter what you use for pellets. The temp probe will keep calling for heat until you reach the set temp of 68*. Tinkering with the feed rate really doesn't gain you anything. A good quality pellet such as the Cubex you are using in your test will probably get you to the desired set temp quicker than, say, the Green Supremes.
I would think that you would know by now that a Harman will burn just about any pellet out there. The Control board circuitry and the ESP automatically compensate for inferior pellets. If you set the feed rate too low, you are restricting the Harman circuitry's ability to perform that compensation. Just like putting a brick under your accelerator pedal in your car. Set the feed rate on 4 and throw away the knob....you'll never have to touch it again.

Hello
This is what I am refering too. 5 or even 6 for the feed rate according to Harman?
From the Harman P61a manual page 16 version 3-90-05822R24_03/13
Feed Adjuster Knob
For most premium grade pellet fuels the Feed Adjuster
Knob should be set at 4. If higher ash fuels are used
the setting should be increased to 5 or 6. Also higher
settings are required if you would like to get the
maximum heat output from the stove. At the maximum
burn rate (with the temperature dial on 7/90° and the
feed adjuster at 6) there should be 1" or more of ash
on the front of the burn pot. If there is less than 1" of
ash, turn the feed adjuster knob down to a lower setting.

I know Harman changed the algorithms in their chipset in newer circuit boards. The old Harman philosophy was "set the feed rate to 3" The older circuit boards like my old P61 board made the stove run hotter, that is why the lower feed rate of 3 on the old door stickers. The new circuit boards have been toned down for better heat control and their feed rate setting should normally be 4.

So this is why the newer manual states to set the feed rate even higher for more ashy pellets that give off lower heat.

See Feed Setting #3 in pic below

 

[Harman Lover 007]

I'm not looking to give you a tutorial, Don. I'm just a guy with 18 years of Harman ownership, both old and new technology, trying to give some advice to the Pellet Stove Master who just started dabbling in Harmans. It is not necessary to constantly change the feed rate on a Harman stove as you change pellet quality. As has been said here many times by many different Harman owners, the feed rate is a "set it and forget it adjustment". Once you have performed the "one inch ash from the lip of the burnpot/feed rate adjustment" procedure, it just isn't necessary to mess with the feed rate on a regular basis. JMHO and as I said, 18 years to back it up.

 

[iceguy4]

I'm having a hard time with NOT adjusting the feed rate. I will concede that if you adjust it daily you will wear it out...BUT if it was a set it and forget it adjustment there would be some way to limit a homeowner adjusting it (recessed screwdriver hole...ect) guess I'll adjust mine as I see fit...just saying

 

[Harman Lover 007]

I'm having a hard time with NOT adjusting the feed rate. I will concede that if you adjust it daily you will wear it out...BUT if it was a set it and forget it adjustment there would be some way to limit a homeowner adjusting it (recessed screwdriver hole...ect) guess I'll adjust mine as I see fit...just saying

Whatever works for you.....but having said that, if you are burning GS exclusively (your sig says you have 9 tons), you shouldn't have to change your feed rate at all. If you are then I'd be looking for some other issue that makes you feel the need to adjust it often.

 

[iceguy4]

If you are then I'd be looking for some other issue that makes you feel the need to adjust it often.

I'm a guy...there is an adjustable knob...I'm gonna adjust it....BUT not often.

Whatever works for you.....but having said that, if you are burning GS exclusively (your sig says you have 9 tons), you shouldn't have to change your feed rate at all. If you are then I'd be looking for some other issue that makes you feel the need to adjust it often.

I have switched to manual rather then to mess with dip switches (every now and then in automatic I would smell smoke and see pellets in ash pan) I have a nice dump zone but when it was warmer out (also have outside temp hooked up) I chose to lower my feed rate to lessen the pressure on my dump zone. Now that it seems winter is here (in teens last night) I have bumped my feed rate to 4 (just moments ago)and that is generally where I run it all winter. If it gets brutal out I will raise it to 5 if it will take it. Since I have owned my boiler I haven't adjusted it more then 5 times. My experience...higher feed rate...larger flame.

 

[wil lanfear]

IMHO, Harman products have a feed rate adjustment to control the amount of pellets entering the burnpot per revolution of the auger, dependant on the length of the brand of pellets being used. Shorter pellets will feed more per revolution of the auger than longer pellets so an adjustment can be made to the feed rate. If you are using one brand of pellets "set it and forget it". I have my feed rate set at 4.25 burning Vt Wood Pellets, burning them without any overfow of pellets into the ashpan at maximum demand for heat.

 

[newf lover]

So how about the fact that my flame looks like it wants to light my roof ablaze with certain pellets and others have a "reasonable" flame depending on feed setting?

The same thing happens to me when I burn Turmans or Okies. I don't know if it's supposed to happen, but if I have the feed rate on 3 or 4, the flame is huge, like you describe. The unburned and burning (not ash, but burning pellets) get very close to the edge of the burn pot. I don't wait to see what happens, I turn down the feed rate to 2 or 2 1/2.

 

[Rastallama]

The same thing happens to me when I burn Turmans or Okies. I don't know if it's supposed to happen, but if I have the feed rate on 3 or 4, the flame is huge, like you describe. The unburned and burning (not ash, but burning pellets) get very close to the edge of the burn pot. I don't wait to see what happens, I turn down the feed rate to 2 or 2 1/2.

@Harman Lover 007 said this and it makes sense,

"That depends on where in the cycle of stove operation you are. Startup or normal operation after the stove has come up to temperature. If you are starting with a cold stove or trying to warm the room up significantly you will have a large flame especially if you are many degrees below the set temp."

I'm gonna give this a whirl and not stress about flame size in the startup as soon as the MaineWoods are out of the hopper and the La Cretes hit the pot. I'll keep you posted!

 

[Don2222]

Hello

That's good info
2 to 2.5 for Turmans or Okies on a P38

4.25 for Vermonts on a PB105

I had
4.0 for Cubex on my P61a-2

So for Green Supremes I am trying 4.5 to 5.0 for a feed rate.

Thanks People!