harman P61-a2 flame height

[turbosporsche]

After a through cleaning of my p61 I realized that my oak screen was slightly blocked with leaves. I set set the feed on 4 and room temp to 70. The stove has been running good. I have about 1.5-2 inch of ash in burn pot edge. With the cold here I upped the feed to 4.5. I've noticed that the flame is huge. Like if the stove was 6 inches taller the tips would just touch the top of the stove.

Question is am I loosing efficiency? From my days of school I thought the hottest part of the flame was its tips. Should I lower the feed a little or is having the flames roll over inside ok. Don't get me wrong the flame is not lazy. It's very aggressive and clean burning.

 

[Lake Girl]

For most stoves, you want the flames to be 4-6" above the burn pot. Might want to back off on the feed rate... Others more familiar with your stove hopefully will chime in with fine tuning your stove...

 

[jmart]

turbostorch said:
I've noticed that the flame is huge. Like if the stove was 6 inches taller the tips would just touch the top of the stove.
Question is am I loosing efficiency?

turbosporche, I've been curious about that for a while too!
The flame on my Harman xxv looks the same as your description. It does a great job of heating my home (no complaints about that) but It doesn't produce a "torch-like" flame that others talk about. A weekly cleaning or deep cleaning doesn't seem to make a difference in the flame.
My feed rate is set to 4 and stove temp usually on 4 and up to 4 3/4 in extreme temps.

 

[Harman Lover 007]

After a through cleaning of my p61 I realized that my oak screen was slightly blocked with leaves. I set set the feed on 4 and room temp to 70. The stove has been running good. I have about 1.5-2 inch of ash in burn pot edge. With the cold here I upped the feed to 4.5. I've noticed that the flame is huge. Like if the stove was 6 inches taller the tips would just touch the top of the stove.

Question is am I loosing efficiency? From my days of school I thought the hottest part of the flame was its tips. Should I lower the feed a little or is having the flames roll over inside ok. Don't get me wrong the flame is not lazy. It's very aggressive and clean burning.

The flame should only "roll over" while the stove is really cranking and trying to reach your "set temp". On your P61 the heat exchanger is right above the burnpot so you should be getting the most out of your stove.

 

[lessoil]

Looking at ours right now the top of the flame is between the heat exchanger and top of the fire bricks.
This has been the norm when stove is ramping up to maintain room temp,
We run feed rate at 4 and never change it. Right/Wrong do not know. Stove is running great so no complaints.
Enjoy the heat!

 

[P38X2]

Sounds completely normal when it's cranking. I haven't seen a Harman that doesn't do that. IME, different pellets burn higher than others. During a max output burn, Orford softwoods tend to roll across the bottom of my exchanger, where Spruce Pointes make more of a blowtorch flame which generally stays off the exchanger.

Either way, you're not losing efficiency as long as your burn pot isn't full of ash and causing the flame to be diverted to one side, or otherwise heating the exchanger unevenly,.... and even that is being a bit anal about things.

 

[jmart]

P38X2 said:
Either way, you're not losing efficiency as long as your burn pot isn't full of ash and causing the flame to be diverted to one side, or otherwise heating the exchanger unevenly,.... and even that is being a bit anal about things.

Ok, thanks for the input P38X2. Sounds like the Harman is operating as designed.
Hopefully the, OP turbosporsche, will chime in.
Jerry.

 

[Tonyray]

P38X2 said:
Either way, you're not losing efficiency as long as your burn pot isn't full of ash and causing the flame to be diverted to one side, or otherwise heating the exchanger unevenly,.... and even that is being a bit anal about things.

Ok, thanks for the input P38X2. Sounds like the Harman is operating as designed.
Hopefully the, OP turbosporsche, will chime in.
Jerry.

Running the P61A here...
same flame heights during ramping up and then some.... right up to the Heat Exchanger...... it's normal.... like a blowtorch, white yellow with some blue flame at the bottom is perfect.
. Lazy dark yellow flame? not so good..

 

[turbosporsche]

So basically be more concerned with were the ash line is vers flame height. As long as I'm about 1 inch to 1.5 from edge I'm good

 

[turbosporsche]

What I'm confused about is the door on the stove says set feed to #3. But manual says 4

 

[Tonyray]

What I'm confused about is the door on the stove says set feed to #3. But manual says 4

So basically be more concerned with were the ash line is vers flame height. As long as I'm about 1 inch to 1.5 from edge I'm good
.....as long as your pellets are not being pushed over the burn pot,[Un-burned] doesn't matter how far ashes come forward that much....my ash line varies 1" to 2" from front lip. But,
Certain pellets leave more Ash than others and will pile up a lot, specially in the corners..some times I'm loaded with ash on the front lip area and I just push it down to the ash pan..
few hours later, same bag of pellets? Back to 2".....middle of the bag may have had a bit moisture? who knows..Main thing is the pellets we're burned all the way to ash.

As far as feed rate, there is No "Must be on this number" in order to work... I am at 3, 3.5, 4, , depending on which pellets I'm burning....soft wood or hardwood.
It's a Harman so #3 or #4 is your optimal feed setting....Harman used to say #3 feed rate,now they say #4 which is where they feel it's most efficient to run.
I get one Hell of a Flame on feed rate #4 so I never go above it. No Need to..
I'm on Room temp mode so when it ramps up ocassionally, lookout..lol But that flame is heating the heat exchanger above it and blowing the heat your way... Win Win.
Harman P61A...

 

[turbosporsche]

Now my stove being a p61 I'm assuming puts out 61k btu. Is that on max feed or how does harman figure that out

 

[Tonyray]

Now my stove being a p61 I'm assuming puts out 61k btu. Is that on max feed or how does harman figure that out

yes.. that's with everything maxed out.. fan speed/ temp/ feed rate...per hour.....

when I 1st got mine, we tested it on Max and after 45 minutes, Downstairs[900 sq ft] was 90 degrees and 2nd floor was over 75 degrees...
Usually I am set at 70 degrees temp/ feed rate #3, fan speed little less than half way..Room Temp Manual, [after ignition fires up.]
at half those numbers so prob doing 30K BTU's. less when the flame slows down after temp is satisfied...

 

[turbosporsche]

yes.. that's with everything maxed out.. fan speed/ temp/ feed rate...per hour.....

when I 1st got mine, we tested it on Max and after 45 minutes, Downstairs[900 sq ft] was 90 degrees and 2nd floor was over 75 degrees...
Usually I am set at 70 degrees temp/ feed rate #3, fan speed little less than half way..Room Temp Manual, [after ignition fires up.]
at half those numbers so prob doing 30K BTU's. less when the flame slows down after temp is satisfied...

Ok. Well I'm pushing 2600 sqft cape. So I guess it would probably run all the time. I see a lot of people on here burning a bag a day. I'm def up near 2.5. Maybe 3 when real cold. .

I've kept it on 3 and it seams to heat fine. Not sure if turning it up is better or just wearing it out faster. Not sure what's better big engine loafing or small engine reving on limit

 

[Lake Girl]

I'm sure too high or too low isn't great for the long run... happy medium

 

[Tonyray]

Ok. Well I'm pushing 2600 sqft cape. So I guess it would probably run all the time. I see a lot of people on here burning a bag a day. I'm def up near 2.5. Maybe 3 when real cold. .

I've kept it on 3 and it seams to heat fine. Not sure if turning it up is better or just wearing it out faster. Not sure what's better big engine loafing or small engine reving on limit

3 is fine.....doesn't have to run full boar.Only will use more pellets..... find your comfort zone and leave it there... it will be fine.. and, Make sure you give good cleaning couple times a month...[not to be confused with running a car engine floored for the whole winter.]

 

[chken]

Ok. Well I'm pushing 2600 sqft cape. So I guess it would probably run all the time. I see a lot of people on here burning a bag a day. I'm def up near 2.5. Maybe 3 when real cold. .

I've kept it on 3 and it seams to heat fine. Not sure if turning it up is better or just wearing it out faster. Not sure what's better big engine loafing or small engine reving on limit

Look at the poll that was run a week ago, when it was really cold. Very few people actually burn only a bag a day under extreme conditions. The average of over 80 responses was 2 bags a day. A little over 10% of respondents were 3+bags a day. I think your stove, 61k btu, can burn over 5 bags if necessary.

If you burn 3 bags, when real cold, that's about 5lbs/hr, or about 41k btus. That puts you in your stove's performance midrange. I think, whatever feed rate setting you choose, try to get as good a burn as possible. Doesn't matter if you have a big engine or small engine, a dirty burn is bad for both, and vice versa.

 

[turbosporsche]

It totally makes sense now. I looked pass the point u can't compare a a smaller stove to a 61 or p68. The bigger equals more pellets which equals more heat. I'll keep her at 3 and see what she does.

I just read a lot of people on here have 61 in a small 1000 1200 sqft house so ya burning a bag would make sense.