Hello there. I'm new to this forum and yes, new to pellet burning. I recently purchased a used 1996 Harmon invincible fireplace insert and began the process of breaking down, cleaning, etc. The previous owner had purchased the home they lived in and it was there, ( installed ) when they moved in. They admitted that they had no idea how to use it and tried to burn pellets this past winter which caused the unit to build up massive amounts of creosote to the point of it not working correctly. Needless to say as I've taken the unit apart and started cleaning it, the unit had a lot of "stage 3" creosote build up through out the inside. I have it completely dis-assembled and have cleaned everything but the exhaust flue from the front to the outlet in back. I noticed that the exhaust ports at the bottom left and right enter into square tubing which goes up then back down then runs to the back and into the exhaust chamber at the rear. It is clogged up pretty bad and I have a question. How do I clean the exhaust, front to back, going up and down and around corners ?? Obviously the tubing is welded and can't come apart. I want to be able to completely clean the unit, fire it up outside, before re-installing everything and mounting it in my fireplace. Thanks for your time.
Harman pellet fireplace insert stage 3 creosote build up...help?
- Thread starter tazman64
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Harman Lover 007
Minister of Fire
Well......so much for a adult conversation, 1st response from my 1st post and I get this???? Apologize for the not proper spelling....NOT. I assume there are many responsible people on this forum but I think I'll take my conversation elsewhere. To the rest of you, have a great day. To HARMAN lover...may your pellets get wet and gunk up your flue.
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
Yep,they are mean!Anyway,30" flexible brushes,compressed air,maybe have to snake stiff wire through first,may have to do all that,fire it up and run hot and do over.
Thanks Mr. Bare. I've got the brush, air compressor and being an electrician, I have many different style "snakes". Now that I think about it, I've taken various lengths of fish tape and put it in my battery drill, pulled the trigger to get from point A to B before. Just hoping the whole thing isn't glazed up like the main burn area was. Had to use a Fine tool and a lot of elbow grease to get that cleaned. Would you recommend a creosote remover when I do fire the stove off? Thanks again.
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
If you get passages mostly open,then do a hot burn for an hour,then reclean,should be fine.You will see this a lot on this site,where people shut stove off for cleaning after long slow burns when they should do a hot burn before a shut down.Have no experience with burn additives,do not know if they work,but hot burns work.Have seen on this site where you have to take a hammer to the back of stove,do not know if yours is one of them.If passages are not plugged,suspect combustion blower problem.
What is the purpose of this sealed loop on the Harman. Sounds like sort of a bad design. IIRC, the Quad 1200i was a breeze to clean.
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
Don't know,never bothered to research as never owned one,I believe the ardisam castle had same system,plugged up the same,they also dropped the design with the serenity model.If I had to guess was for more heat extraction.I have been spoiled owning an integra,and most units I have worked on out here have been englander and st croix.But just bought an accentra,may put it upstairs after rebuild.
Harman Lover 007
Minister of Fire
Relax... tazman64...don't be so sensitive and if I offended you, please accept my apologies. If you decide to hang around here for a while you will see that us Harman owners (which now includes you) take our brand seriously and we have a lot of fun poking at the misspelling. I try to offer a lot of solid advice on Harmans since I own two of them. Whether or not I succeed at that, I'll leave to others to decide.
I own an 18 year old Invincible free standing. I'm going to assume you have the combustion blower off and can see in those passages. Run whatever you can up there from both the left and right sides. As you suggest, an electrical snake or something that is rigid and can spin will work. You should be able to see if you are making it through by looking in where the combustion blower would be. As you clean the final exhaust path take GREAT care so as to not damage the ESP. If you damage that, the stove will not operate properly when you go for the test burn. Good Luck.
alternativeheat
Minister of Fire
Usually we all let Harmon slip a few times before we throw in a clinker. I did it myself when I first joined the forum and caught on when they all nailed another poster. Quickly changed my ways.
What I have to wonder is why all the creosote build up to begin with ? My P61a builds very little even in a slow burn. Is this inherent to the Invincible, bad pellets or what ?
To Harman Lover 007, My apologizes to you as well for clicking "send" quicker than my mind told me too. Thanks for your input and I'll take your advice as well. Yes I do have the unit completely broke down and even removed the ESP. I even took off the insulating blankets and sheet-metal as well thus seeing how the exhaust system was piped. Had to do a complete cleaning as the squirrel cage for the blower underneath was just about plugged from animal hair and what else I don't know. I do know that both blowers, auger, etc. do run as I tested it before the start of the break down process. Again, no hard feelings and I will stick around knowing full well I am new to pellet burning and will definitely have many questions ahead of me. When I entered the electrical trade some 35 yrs. ago, my 1st boss always said " if ya think ya know it all, pack your bags and go home. When you realize you don't, stop-ask-learn and get back to work! 
Hi begreen. It definitely is a strange design. As Mr. Bare points out, extra heat exchange seems like the only reason for the loop. Cannot understand R&D not catching the fact that build up would be extremely difficult to remove with this set up. As far as reason for massive build up?? I do know that they only had about 5 ft. of flex vent stuffed up past their damper and their chimney had no cap to prevent rain from pouring in and that they knew nothing about the proper way to operate the unit. I downloaded the manual and it shows that setup is OK, not running the vent all the way to the top of the chimney. My 2 flues ( basement & 1st floor ) have caps so I shouldn't have to worry.
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That stove was built in the early 90s and yes that top chamber was a bad design but the stove is indestructible and I would also recommend a heavy duty higher current Gleason-Avery 1.75 amp open frame combustion blower with universal mounting hub for better Low Drafting. This helps prevent buildup and gives cleaner more complete pellet burning.
I put one in an Enviro Mini and whoa what a difference!
See blower pics here
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...h-can-you-say-titanium-step-drill-bit.129231/
I put one in an Enviro Mini and whoa what a difference!
See blower pics here
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...h-can-you-say-titanium-step-drill-bit.129231/
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Harman Lover 007
Minister of Fire
Ok good...welcome to the pellet mill...you've passed the hazing . Let us know how you make out....To Harman Lover 007, My apologizes to you as well for clicking "send" quicker than my mind told me too. Thanks for your input and I'll take your advice as well. Yes I do have the unit completely broke down and even removed the ESP. I even took off the insulating blankets and sheet-metal as well thus seeing how the exhaust system was piped. Had to do a complete cleaning as the squirrel cage for the blower underneath was just about plugged from animal hair and what else I don't know. I do know that both blowers, auger, etc. do run as I tested it before the start of the break down process. Again, no hard feelings and I will stick around knowing full well I am new to pellet burning and will definitely have many questions ahead of me. When I entered the electrical trade some 35 yrs. ago, my 1st boss always said " if ya think ya know it all, pack your bags and go home. When you realize you don't, stop-ask-learn and get back to work!
Don 222 or anyone else,
I'm looking at going to the Gleason-Avery motor you suggest for my Invincible T. The "T" uses a single paddle blade and I was wondering what would happen if I went to a double paddle blade like Harman uses in the "RS" and the insert model. Intuitively it should significantly increase the draft but is there some reason why this would be bad. Also, the stock motor is .9 amps, will the increase in amp draw (to 1.75 amps) have a detrimental effect on the controller board?
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