Harman Stove Defect

[mlwschultz]

FYI to everyone with Harman stoves built late 2007-2008.

I had a Harman dealer (same one we purchased stove from & they installed the stove) come out to look at our Harman XXV stove Saturday because the squeaking was driving us nuts! The squeaking turned out to be an arm in the back by the chain (which was too tight). He did some adjustments on that & they will do more in the shop. He looked at the end of the auger tube & said we have a hole there (looks like a crack to me). He said this is caused by the lowest row of burn pot holes & is a problem in the late 2007 & 2008 stoves. It's apparently a known defect, but the dealer can't fix it until the hole is evident. Our dealer is picking up the stove today, will replace the auger tube or whatever the fix is (some kit they have) and will close up those holes by welding them in. Then return the stove to us Wednesday. Harman is paying for everything except the $55 service call charge for Saturday.

 

[goatman-68]

Anyone have a photo of the burn pot with the extra holes or the location as to how close to the auger tube?

 

[mlwschultz]

THey are immediately in front of it.

 

[goatman-68]

I better look at mine when I get home. I wonder if putting stainless steel machine screws in the holes would hold up or would they need to be welded..

 

[goatman-68]

I noticed that on somewhat of a low burn my stove actually burns the pellets in the first inch or so of the auger tube, I wonder if this is caused by the extra holes, which i still don't know if I have (not home) but, my stove falls in that date range........

 

[Lousyweather]

I better look at mine when I get home. I wonder if putting stainless steel machine screws in the holes would hold up or would they need to be welded..

you could weld them, then grind off the excess. Any protrusions would cause the burn pot to be very difficult to scraps (using screws would make protrusions)

 

[HEMI]

my stove is a '09.....only has wholes that cover about half the burn pot, mid way down the burn pot to auger no holes.....am i reading the original post correct that they redesigned the pot with less air wholes?

 

[Lousyweather]

that you are, Hemi! youve got one of the later ones, without the 5 holes at the bottom of the burnpot

 

[mlwschultz]

Yes, dealer told me the newer stoves were even better than the previous ones. The dealer also said that by welding shut those holes, the fire will appear a little more forward but it won't affect the burning at all. I'll know for myself later this week, they are returning the stove Wednesday. Will really miss it while it's gone!

 

[ducker]

Yes, dealer told me the newer stoves were even better than the previous ones. The dealer also said that by welding shut those holes, the fire will appear a little more forward but it won't affect the burning at all. I'll know for myself later this week, they are returning the stove Wednesday. Will really miss it while it's gone!

I just had the feeder tube assembly replaced and reattached to my previous burn pot. They closed those 5 holes too. I noticed the flame is a LOT lower, but I feel as if the heat it is outputting is more then I was previously having.

I could post a pic, but I'm not sure if they will clearly show these holes.

 

[ducker]

I noticed that on somewhat of a low burn my stove actually burns the pellets in the first inch or so of the auger tube, I wonder if this is caused by the extra holes, which i still don't know if I have (not home) but, my stove falls in that date range........

I believe this is to be the case too... it also causes a lot more heat to be focused at the end of the feed tube/ which caused the edge of my feed tube to start failing, to the point where the auger caused a slight hole in the feed tube.

I'll be posting more pictures to this thread later:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/47362/

 

[LIpelletpig]

For most it's very difficult to see those holes. Best bet is get a small mirror (cosmetic) and hold it on an angle over the burn pot where the holes are and you'll see right away if you have them or you don't.

 

[summit]

they added 4 extra holes back then, in the base of the burnpot, and provided templates to drill them in existing units... however, they have gone away from that the last yr....Makes sense that they would: it was an effort to be even more casual about burning a harman by eliminating most carbon buildup from the base of the pot to satisfy lazy pellet burners (IMHO) who didn't feel the need to scrape the pot once or twice a week as a good tradeoff to emptiying the pan only once or twice a month.
In the end, however, you gotta handle ANY pellet stove at least once or twice a week for proper operation.

 

[goatman-68]

Well my XXV has the extra 5 holes. I am contemplating wheather I should do something about it or leave it be. Mine doesn't have any damage as of yet, but I don't want any either. I imagine the burn pot comes right off with 4 nuts and disconnecting the igniter, then it could be welded. One other thought I had was to tap the holes and put some short set screws in the holes and run them down flush. Also we have tapered pins at work for repairing cracks in diesel cylinder heads, I may check those out too. Anyone else going to do anything with theirs or do we wait till it fails then call the dealer since I have 4 years left on the warranty.................... I bet plugging or welding those holes will solve my problem of pellets burning in the auger tube about an inch in, since there wouldn't be enough air for them to burn in the tube...........

 

[MCPO]

That burn pot is a lot different than the one in my P-38.
Mine has only 4 rows of holes , no holes at the bottom , and no holes on each side of the auger tube at 10 and 2 oclock.

 

[Bigjim13]

I'm not sure I understand the problem. I have a P61A and my burnpot looks almost exactly like that one, with the 4 or 5 holes right in front of the auger tube. So what problem does this cause? Thanks!

 

[Stentor]

I had my Harman XXV delivered in December 2008. Do you know if that means it was manufactured in the problem time frame you are talking about? Also, is it a design flaw in all the model XXV manufactured then or a manufacturing flaw that shows up in some and maybe not others?

My stove has been great (although we do hear occasionally a loud squealing noise.) What exactly should I watch for, besides that noise?

 

[mlwschultz]

The squealing noise could be carbon build up that needs to be scraped out, or could be a problem with the auger, etc. Most common cause for squealing in the carbon buildup, once the stove is clean & still squealing then it's time to investigate the other causes. If you look at the right side of your stove, on the tag where the serial number is, near the bottom of the tag it shows the build date, years first, then months. If your stove was delivered December 2008 then it could be included in this time frame. It's a design flaw in all Harman pellet stoves, not just the XXV. Look at the photos above, you'll see what looks like a fine crack near the end of the auger tube, this is what Harman is repairing but not until it has actually failed (cracked).

 

[goatman-68]

Called my dealer today and explained the burn pot deal, and that mine is burning pellets in the tube. They asked if I had a hole in the tube, I said no and I don't want one....... They said that I can get a new updated burn pot. The burn pot and labor is covered under warranty, all I have to pay is a 75.00 trip charge, or I can do it myself for free. I opted for the trip charge and they are coming out Thursday to swap it out. What a great dealer.......................

 

[ducker]

Called my dealer today and explained the burn pot deal, and that mine is burning pellets in the tube. They asked if I had a hole in the tube, I said no and I don't want one....... They said that I can get a new updated burn pot. The burn pot and labor is covered under warranty, all I have to pay is a 75.00 trip charge, or I can do it myself for free. I opted for the trip charge and they are coming out Thursday to swap it out. What a great dealer.......................

lame that you get charged for the trip to fix a problem you didn't create.

Let us know if they modify your burn pot, or replace it. I believe they modified mine, not replaced it.

 

[Stentor]

The squealing noise could be carbon build up that needs to be scraped out, or could be a problem with the auger, etc. Most common cause for squealing in the carbon buildup, once the stove is clean & still squealing then it's time to investigate the other causes. If you look at the right side of your stove, on the tag where the serial number is, near the bottom of the tag it shows the build date, years first, then months. If your stove was delivered December 2008 then it could be included in this time frame. It's a design flaw in all Harman pellet stoves, not just the XXV. Look at the photos above, you'll see what looks like a fine crack near the end of the auger tube, this is what Harman is repairing but not until it has actually failed (cracked).

I checked the tag below the serial number and the stove was built in November 2008. What I'll do is pay attention to the occasional squeal (happens only when we are trying for a high room temp and it's cold outside). I'll also watch out for the crack but don't see it yet. Thanks for the info.

 

[exoilburner]

I had my Harman XXV delivered in December 2008. Do you know if that means it was manufactured in the problem time frame you are talking about? Also, is it a design flaw in all the model XXV manufactured then or a manufacturing flaw that shows up in some and maybe not others?

My stove has been great (although we do hear occasionally a loud squealing noise.) What exactly should I watch for, besides that noise?

Stentor, try vacuuming out the fines around the slide plate. I have a Harmon pellet furnace and vacuuming out those fines from the slide plate at the bottom of my pellet hopper has fixed the squeel every time. With the stove OFF I empty the pellet hopper and put the FEED ADJUSTER in TEST; and while the slide plate is cycling I run the vacuum around the slide plate.

 

[lecomte38]

I wonder if JB Weld would last? It would be easy to try.

 

[lecomte38]

I just put 5 roofing nails in the holes to see the difference. The fire is definitely further up in the burn pot. I can even see unburned pellets getting pushed out of the feed tube. This could be a good fix and probibly the reason my auger end is bent from overheating with the fire in the feed tube. I'll run it for a few days before making a permanent fix.

 

[Bigjim13]

So if the pellets are burning in the auger tube does that affect heat output? What affects would it have on the performance of the stove?

I wonder if I should call my dealer about this and see if I can get the updated burnpot...