Harman P61a installation question

[Justinh595]

Hello all, I recently pulled our wood stove out to install a Harman p61a. Our insurance company is more pellet friendly and I'm sick of the wood anyway.
Anyway, I installed the stove this week and I had to clear a masonry shelf to then 90 into my existing masonry chimney for venting. This caused the stove to sit further out on the pad which isn't ideal for us. I also installed the appliance adapter then a piece of 6" length pipe into the T to gain clearance from the hopper. Question being, is this clearance from the hopper necessary? Could I remove this section of 6" and have no clearance from the hopper. I have the manual and it doesn't touch on this at all. The shortest length of pipe Selkirk sells is 6" as far as I know. Any help is appreciated.

 

[Justinh595]

Here are some pics

 

[ABusWrench]

Mine just has a 90 degree elbow on it, brand is Duravent. Clears the back of the hopper by 5/8". With the hopper opening offset forward, the lid opens fully. Your gonna love that stove.

 

[Justinh595]

Thanks. A 90 might work but in my installation the clean out T will really come in handy. I already love the stove! Had it burning in the shop for awhile before moving it to the house. I bought it for $450 and replaced the ignitor. Since then I found another great deal on a p61 for the shop and installed that yesterday. I really wish they made a 3" length pipe but it seems I'm out of luck. I thought about notching the shelf but the Mrs. Wasn't fond of that idea.

 

[rickwai]

I would leave the 6" in place. You will appreciate it when you have to remove the back panel to change auger motor ect

 

[MarkF48]

My stove is an XXV and my install is a bit different as I angled the stove and the piping needed to be offset to go to the chimney. While I have a cleanout on the 'T' I don't use it and have found it easy to just unbolt the the flange that mounts to the stove, and take the whole assembly outside and run a brush through it. This also allows me to use a blower on the chimney while it's accessible and brush off the temp probe and vac that area. Having at at angle does aid in getting the bolts back in the flange mount. If it were closer and not angled not sure how this would be as easy (I am 70 and not as nibble as I once was ).
I have not attempted to move my stove since it was installed back in 2011. I had been 'warned' that the cast legs were prone to breaking if hit while moving. IMO your stove shouldn't be a problem to move around on its base if maintenance in the back were needed, but you would be the judge of that.

 

[P51mustang]

I agree with rickwai.....Keep it as is. A little extra space is never a bad thing when you need to get behind the stove for cleaning. In particular the combustion motor and the fine box.

The fine box especially since you should clean it out every 3-4 weeks depending upon how many pellets you burn.

You'll love the P61A. I have one too and love it!

 

[bags]

X3 or whatever on leaving the extra bit of space behind the stove if you can live with it. You will be grateful later for many reasons. The guy I bought my P68 from highly suggested / recommended that if I had the room to pull my install out 6 inches from the wall. I understand why and the reasoning has been mentioned.

You will also dig the 61's and wonder why you didn't ditch the wood long ago. I realized it immediately and wished I had been informed of good quality pellet stoves because I would have ditched the Woodmaster idea I installed new in 2004-05. It heats great and the firewood is outside so is the mess. But it also sucks returning out to the cold to throw wood after riding the couch awhile. I don't regret the OWB and it has served me well and still does occasionally but it really isn't worth dealing with unless the temps stay below 20* and lower here and stay a bit. That's when I fire it.

 

[Justinh595]

Thanks for the advice. I just replaced the combustion blower the other day and the extra room back there was nice. I'm going to leave it the way it is for now. We're loving the stove so far. It was mild the other night so I turned it back to 68 on the dial which shut it down. It got much colder out in the early morning and when the Mrs woke up to a warm house she asked when did I lite the pellet stove. I just laughed. She does miss the strong radiant heat of the wood stove but I don't hear the constant "I'm cold" or "it's way too hot in here" anymore. I just hope the p61a can handle the extremely cold temps we occasionally see.

 

[TonyVideo]

I wish I had that much room behind one of my stoves as I have a corner install. I would leave it. Makes it easier to also clean the flue. The older I get I look at things like that.