hi guys, im a new harman tl300 owner. I love the stove,long burn times good heat ect. I need to know what maintenance needs to be performed on the fire dome package.I read the manual and it doesnt say anything about maintenance on the fire dome. also what causes the need for fire dome to be replaced ? if i was to take the fire dome apart what should i look for ?
harman TL300 stove maintenance
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Welcome to the forums, Chris! The most important thing to know about the Firedome CP (combustion package) is that it is fragile, so treat it gently - a vacuum can easily take pieces off. But it is well protected behind the rear firebrick - you don't ever want to "take it apart" but may need to remove it eventually, from the rear of the stove. I try to vacuum around the solid shoe brick, in the back of the firebox, without touching the CP behind it. Easy to do, maybe every few weeks when the stove is fully cold, to help prevent ash buildup.
I talked to a dealer recently who advised not removing/cleaning the CP unless you have real problems with stove performance. He said the most important thing is to not clean your chimney/stovepipe down into the stove. Anything coming down that pipe is going to end up in the rear chamber, and eventually require removing the CP sooner. But even being careful to not do that, after a season or two there may be some buildup of fine ash just as a result of normal burning. It may take many years for it to ever become a problem. I plan on pulling and inspecting mine every other year just to keep ahead of it.
As for why the CP would need replacing, it seems to vary from owner to owner. The harder you push the stove, perhaps the more likely the material is to degrade. My stove is oversized for my needs, so I can run it with the air set low. I'm guessing the previous owner just ran the hell out of the stove in the one year he owned it, which is why I needed a new CP. Parts of it looked like burnt toast. When I pulled my new one after a year to inspect it, it had become a bit more brittle and flaky but was still very solid. We'll see what year three brings.
Have you checked out their videos - not the best, but a good intro: http://hnh.hearthnhome.com/Video/HarmanWoodStove/FireDome.html
So if you burn dry wood and turn the air down fairly low after the afterburner is going good, you should be fine. How seasoned is your wood, and have you been checking the stack for smoke?
I talked to a dealer recently who advised not removing/cleaning the CP unless you have real problems with stove performance. He said the most important thing is to not clean your chimney/stovepipe down into the stove. Anything coming down that pipe is going to end up in the rear chamber, and eventually require removing the CP sooner. But even being careful to not do that, after a season or two there may be some buildup of fine ash just as a result of normal burning. It may take many years for it to ever become a problem. I plan on pulling and inspecting mine every other year just to keep ahead of it.
As for why the CP would need replacing, it seems to vary from owner to owner. The harder you push the stove, perhaps the more likely the material is to degrade. My stove is oversized for my needs, so I can run it with the air set low. I'm guessing the previous owner just ran the hell out of the stove in the one year he owned it, which is why I needed a new CP. Parts of it looked like burnt toast. When I pulled my new one after a year to inspect it, it had become a bit more brittle and flaky but was still very solid. We'll see what year three brings.
Have you checked out their videos - not the best, but a good intro: http://hnh.hearthnhome.com/Video/HarmanWoodStove/FireDome.html
So if you burn dry wood and turn the air down fairly low after the afterburner is going good, you should be fine. How seasoned is your wood, and have you been checking the stack for smoke?
thanks for the info 
my stove was used also but for only one season, owner lost his house in for-closer.it seems to burn great in after burn,no smoke long burns( usually 8-10 hrs) with good charcoal bed.but with never seeing anthother harman burn im left only to wonder lol !! I keep my air setting at 3 or in the middle. reason for my post is im curios as to what to look for if the CP is going bad. I do somtimes get a wood smoke smell in the house when in after burn, and yes all door seals are good..
my stove was used also but for only one season, owner lost his house in for-closer.it seems to burn great in after burn,no smoke long burns( usually 8-10 hrs) with good charcoal bed.but with never seeing anthother harman burn im left only to wonder lol !! I keep my air setting at 3 or in the middle. reason for my post is im curios as to what to look for if the CP is going bad. I do somtimes get a wood smoke smell in the house when in after burn, and yes all door seals are good..I just did a chimney check and im gettin alot of creosote build-up..i just switched from a harman rice coal stove and this flue was sqeeky clean when i installed the harman TL300 and now a month later I see creosote.....any help gladly appreciated
If the CP is clogged you will get more than a little smoky smell - a real backup of visible smoke can be expected. You can relax for a year or two anyway as far as that goes. (EDIT: But I guess that depends on the previous owner, too.)
Should not be much creosote if you have no visible smoke. Make sure you are checking often - sometimes it will stall out after 10-20 minutes, especially if the wood is sub-par. What kind of wood are you burning, and how long split/stacked? Is the glass staying clean?
Should not be much creosote if you have no visible smoke. Make sure you are checking often - sometimes it will stall out after 10-20 minutes, especially if the wood is sub-par. What kind of wood are you burning, and how long split/stacked? Is the glass staying clean?
chris2000ss said:
Is this smell happening without opening the top or front door at all? If so, I would guess it's more likely the smell has to do with the venting than the stove itself. What is your flue setup - masonry chimney, or pipe?
oh..also my wood is white and red oak =barkless...cut and split+stacked mid summer. glass is clean...
chris2000ss said:
I think you are giving enough air to keep the glass clean, but not to keep the stack clean with that wood. When I burn oak even 12+ mos. split, it can stall out the afterburn an hour or two after I close back the air. I do get longer burns that way, but not fully clean. I think you may continue to get creosote with that wood - do you have any other?
8x12 flue is probably also causing gases to cool and condense a little more quickly, combining with the semi-seasoned oak to deposit creosote. My guess is your afterburner is doing a good job, but not a complete job, with your set up. With drier wood, you could shut your primary air further, get even longer burns, and less creosote!
chris2000ss said:
Only time i ever got creosote was when i first got my stove and did not know how to get the AB going. After that I never got any even after 2 years flue pipe and chimney still clean.
IF your AB Goes out at a certain air setting try next higher setting. WHen i had my stove on a shorter chimney =less draft i could not go all the way down on my primary air setting or the AB would go out. Had to use 2nd notch or above. Still got 15 hour burns though.
Sounds like that oak might be smoldering late into the burn. Maybe you're losing draft before things have burned out and that's putting the smoke smell into the house instead of up the flue.
chris2000ss said:
I use a shop vac to vacuum ash out of the secondary air holes when the stove is cold about twice a month ,but im careful not to go beyond the hard ceramic brick in the front of the afterburner. im not planning on messing with the AB as long as my stove is performing well. Perhaps after 8 -10 years ill try to check it unless get a serious decrease in performance or some other symptom happens before then.
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