Hi,
I have had my Harman now for four seasons now and have a couple of questions regarding some potential "issues" that I have noticed this past season. One or both of my labs decided to eat the manual that came with the stove, some of these questions or concerns may have been answered in it. I run the stove on auto ignite, room temp and 24-hrs a day - it is my primary whole house heat and my propane furnace acts as my backup if outside temps drop below zero.
1. The blower starts to rev up and then shuts down several times in a row before it will finally go up to and maintain RPM's. Doesn't happen all the time but I never noticed it before this season. I keep the blower set at full. I have to play with the blower knob and sometimes that corrects immediately. Could it be that the potentiometer control knob has dirty contacts or is going bad or is it just that the temp set and the surrounding house temp are too close for it to go full blast? It doesn't run below full speed - it is full or nothing at all.
2. The thermostat is not that accurate - almost always having to adjust up and down depending on room/house temp (gets too hot or not maintaining at the set temp). The temp probe is located behind and slightly below the stove, not in contact with anything but air. Is the wire thermistor bad maybe?
3. The door's glass is always dirty after an hour after being cleaned it gets black/brown with very limited visual of the blast furnace inside - has happened since day one. The door gasket appears in fine shape and the dollar bill check was perfomed several times. Dirty glass is usually indicative of an air leak - yes? Should I change out gasket and if so, is it hard to do?
4. I get a grinding/laboring noise every once in awhile that I believe is coming from the auger, loud enough that it can be heard easily over the TV and has us all looking at the stove in subdued fear. I have never seen any evidence of metal grindings etc... in the burn pot area or the ash pan when cleaning.
5. Does the electronic control panel need periodic maintenance, calibration and or a disassembly and cleaning? Seems I remember the stove rep/salesman where I bought the stove from mentioning that they should perform this monumental task in addition to a complete stove dissassembly and cleaning (internals) for me yearly at a somewhat substantial service fee - thanks but no thanks. I dissasemble the back plates and clean/vac the stove's mechanical internals every spring as suggested by the manufacturer.
I like the stove, no regrets, other than the pellets price increase and lack of availibilty up by me. I think the pellet manufacturers/retailers and the major oil companies must be one in the same because they follow the identical "supply and demand" practices when it comes to price gouging. Maybe I should have looked at a multiple source stove - pellets, grass, corn, cherry pits, etc.....?
Thanks for any feedback/suggestions, appreciate your help.
Bill
I have had my Harman now for four seasons now and have a couple of questions regarding some potential "issues" that I have noticed this past season. One or both of my labs decided to eat the manual that came with the stove, some of these questions or concerns may have been answered in it. I run the stove on auto ignite, room temp and 24-hrs a day - it is my primary whole house heat and my propane furnace acts as my backup if outside temps drop below zero.
1. The blower starts to rev up and then shuts down several times in a row before it will finally go up to and maintain RPM's. Doesn't happen all the time but I never noticed it before this season. I keep the blower set at full. I have to play with the blower knob and sometimes that corrects immediately. Could it be that the potentiometer control knob has dirty contacts or is going bad or is it just that the temp set and the surrounding house temp are too close for it to go full blast? It doesn't run below full speed - it is full or nothing at all.
2. The thermostat is not that accurate - almost always having to adjust up and down depending on room/house temp (gets too hot or not maintaining at the set temp). The temp probe is located behind and slightly below the stove, not in contact with anything but air. Is the wire thermistor bad maybe?
3. The door's glass is always dirty after an hour after being cleaned it gets black/brown with very limited visual of the blast furnace inside - has happened since day one. The door gasket appears in fine shape and the dollar bill check was perfomed several times. Dirty glass is usually indicative of an air leak - yes? Should I change out gasket and if so, is it hard to do?
4. I get a grinding/laboring noise every once in awhile that I believe is coming from the auger, loud enough that it can be heard easily over the TV and has us all looking at the stove in subdued fear. I have never seen any evidence of metal grindings etc... in the burn pot area or the ash pan when cleaning.
5. Does the electronic control panel need periodic maintenance, calibration and or a disassembly and cleaning? Seems I remember the stove rep/salesman where I bought the stove from mentioning that they should perform this monumental task in addition to a complete stove dissassembly and cleaning (internals) for me yearly at a somewhat substantial service fee - thanks but no thanks. I dissasemble the back plates and clean/vac the stove's mechanical internals every spring as suggested by the manufacturer.
I like the stove, no regrets, other than the pellets price increase and lack of availibilty up by me. I think the pellet manufacturers/retailers and the major oil companies must be one in the same because they follow the identical "supply and demand" practices when it comes to price gouging. Maybe I should have looked at a multiple source stove - pellets, grass, corn, cherry pits, etc.....?
Thanks for any feedback/suggestions, appreciate your help.
Bill
