Harman XXV - overflowing ash pan in less then 2 days

[mainermomma]

We had our Harman xxv installed last October. We liked the idea of the Harman. Good quality, everyone who had one, loved them. So we spent the money, and it wasn't cheap. Ran great for the first season. Had the company we bought from come out and clean it and service it for the next season.

3 times already(in a very mild winter so far), the ash pan is full after less then 2 days of moderate use. A lot of the pellets aren't completely burnt, it also seems to take a long time to ignite. We have always had an issue with the feed rate. The manuals and things I read say feed rate should be 3 or so. If we set it at 3 we are just dumping pellets over the side. So we set it at one. Our sales guy doesn't seem to know why it does that. But even at 1 on the feed rate, we are losing tons of pellets that aren't burned up completely. Any thoughts? I woke up to this again this morning(the furnace is on, as it's cold in the house), our sales place is closed today, and I'm at my wits end. Anyone? Bueller?

 

[DAKSY]

Has anybody looked at the fines box where the pellets drop into the auger?
Sounds like it may be full or the slide plate may be on wrong.

 

[bogieb]

If it ran great until serviced, it sounds suspiciously like something wasn't put back together quite right. Can't tell you exactly what, but Dasky's suggestion is as good a place to start as any. If you haven't familiarized yourself with your stove, and how to give it a decent cleaning, sounds like this is an opportunity to do so.

Plenty of people on this forum have had issues start after a "professional" cleaned it. And, there are true professionals that have an off day every so often.

And, Welcome to the forum!

 

[mainermomma]

well, it was having trouble igniting so they came out, cleaned it and ran a diagnostic on it. i clean the ash pan and stove quite often. havee not done the auger area you are referring to. i will look at my handbook and try that. thanks

 

[Tonyray]

well, it was having trouble igniting so they came out, cleaned it and ran a diagnostic on it. i clean the ash pan and stove quite often. havee not done the auger area you are referring to. i will look at my handbook and try that. thanks

one area that SHOULD have been cleaned is the Igniter compartment under the burnpot..
if they did not clean that area it has to chock full of fine sandy ash by now and would deff affect ignition...

 

[bogieb]

i clean the ash pan and stove quite often. havee not done the auger area you are referring to. i will look at my handbook and try that. thanks

I'm curious what you perform for "cleaning the stove". Please don't take offense, you may do a fine job and be very thorough. However, a lot of people come on here having issues, then we find out that dusting off the sides, baffles and emptying the ash pan is all they know how to do. And, what they were doing will get them thru a season or two, then suddenly there are major issues because the stove really hasn't been "cleaned". They don't know any better, so it is a real education as to what a decent cleaning is.

You might want to check that plate in front of the ignitor. It sounds like that was off, so may not have been seated correctly.

 

[mainermomma]

I'm curious what you perform for "cleaning the stove". Please don't take offense, you may do a fine job and be very thorough.

You might want to check that plate in front of the ignitor. It sounds like that was off, so may not have been seated correctly.

No offense taken. I still have a lot to learn. I watched the harman videos and read the manual, I thought, pretty well. but was never walked through it by my installers.

Every morning, I scrape the burn pot and its sides.

every few days, I shut down the stove. Empty ash pan. vacuum out burner area, sides, back wall, clean ignition box(i already knew about that), scrap burn pot again, and check the little holes on burn pot to make sure they are clear.

Anything else I should add to this?? Besides the fines can, which I will add to my routine

I did NOT know about the fines can. It was CHOCK FULL OF CRAP I'm rreally hoping that helps the situation.. Thank you all for your thoughts and advice!! I'll update as I see how it does!

 

[mainermomma]

If it ran great until serviced, it sounds suspiciously like something wasn't put back together quite right. Can't tell you exactly what, but Dasky's suggestion is as good a place to start as any. If you haven't familiarized yourself with your stove, and how to give it a decent cleaning, sounds like this is an opportunity to do so.

Plenty of people on this forum have had issues start after a "professional" cleaned it. And, there are true professionals that have an off day every so often.

And, Welcome to the forum!

Thanks, a friend from work told me this was a good place to get good advice on this stuff... and seems he was right!

 

[bogieb]

I don't have you model of stoves, but have a couple of the P-series Harmans. You didn't mention scraping the heat exchangers (on top of burn box), which should be done on a regular basis. My book says every ton, but I do it whenever I shut down for cleaning (in my case, every two weeks or so). The cleaner that area, the more efficiently you will get heat into the room. You shouldn't need to do it every time you clean since you do so every couple of days. The book mentions a dirty heat exchanger as a cause of partially burned pellets. My money is more on the igniter cover incorrectly reinstalled - and that is also mentioned by the book. And, it is possible that during cleaning a whole lot of gunk was pushed into the air intake (thru the back of the igniter area) that there is insufficient airflow - which would also cause incomplete burn.

Periodically I take the cover off that is over the combustion blower (inside the stove, behind the ash pan) and brush any ash off the fan and run a brush up to the ESP - sometimes I will just take the cover off and take a look just to make sure their isn't much build up. Also run a brush from the outside into the exhaust as far as I can comfortably go once every couple of months. Then, when being really thorough after several tons have been burned, I'll do the Leaf Blower Trick (LBT) videos of which can be found on You Tube.

 

[twodogs02]

I would find another stove shop to clean your stove. If they did not clean the fines box then they are either lazy, incompetent or both.

Clean the fines box after every ton. Vacuum it and make sure the plate seats properly when reinstalled, if it's not, you will have incomplete combustion with pellets spilling over the burn pot or you will have a failure to light on start up. The fines box cover has a slot in it, that slot must slide over the lip at the top. I know when I didn't get the fines box cover on correctly because my fire, if it lights, will be on the left side of the pot, right side gets very little air.

Every ton, clean the combustion chamber with a brush, clean the ESP. Clean combustion blower motor fins (pull the motor) ,vacuum this area. Clean the distribution blower fans. Vacuum the hopper to remove fines. I brush my pipe stack every 2 tons then get the leaf blower on it.

Regularly brush heat exchanger, sides of stove, scrap burn pot every day. Every week I vacuum the igniter chamber.

My ash pan goes 2-3 weeks before I need to dump it but I run super premium pellets- barefoot

If you are not doing all of this or your maintenance guy isn't then your stove isn't completely clean.

 

[Peterfield]

No offense taken. I still have a lot to learn. I watched the harman videos and read the manual, I thought, pretty well. but was never walked through it by my installers.

Every morning, I scrape the burn pot and its sides.

every few days, I shut down the stove. Empty ash pan. vacuum out burner area, sides, back wall, clean ignition box(i already knew about that), scrap burn pot again, and check the little holes on burn pot to make sure they are clear.

Anything else I should add to this?? Besides the fines can, which I will add to my routine

I did NOT know about the fines can. It was CHOCK FULL OF CRAP I'm rreally hoping that helps the situation.. Thank you all for your thoughts and advice!! I'll update as I see how it does!

That probably means the cleaning crew skipped that and that would make me wonder what else was skipped.

 

[bags]

As mentioned above I would clean the ESP probe and clean out the fines box and make sure the cover is placed and secured properly. Do what is mentioned above and let us know if that resolves your issue. Also clean out the holes in the bottom of your burn pot if they are clogged. Harman stoves are very good quality and run very dependably if they get the proper cleaning done when it is needed. Practically bullet proof units. You are having problems likely because something very simple has been missed on your cleans.

Good Luck and get these things checked out and cleaned. If you paid for an annual cleaning and this is the result I would also find another more reliable service tech. Your best defense and a money saver is to read up here and ask for help like you have. These stoves are very easy to clean and work on if you are even slightly mechanically inclined. basically, if you can use a screw driver and wrenches then you can do your own thorough cleanings and maintenance.

Also have you switched brands of pellets? Shouldn't matter because Harmans will burn about anything but it could also be you have some junk pellets. Unlikely but possible.

 

[rickwai]

Try a different brand of pellets. Buy 4 bags that would rule out a fuel issue?

 

[F4jock]

Run, do not walk, to the nearest supplier of quality pellets and try 5 bags.

 

[twodogs02]

I don't think it's the pellets, Harman stoves can burn any quality level, from high to low. I was forced to burn very low quality pellets last year due to the shortage. I had more ash but the stove ate through them without a problem, worst case, I cleaned the stove every 6 or 7 days.

 

[smwilliamson]

Fines box cover on wrong. Holes in burn pot caked over. Burnpot was taken off during cleaning and gasket was removed and not replaced (doubtful but I've seen it). It's not going to have anything to do with ESP. Feed rate set too high? DIP switches messed around with? Air passage at igniter full, primary holes clogged over auger inlet. Door gasket messed up. Hopper lit not sealing.... But here's the big one and most likely the problem, the dudes who cleaned the unit pushed the ash from the vent I to the stove and didn't remove the combustion motor to clean it out.

 

[swalz]

I would say it is a blocked vent also, sounds like it was not cleaned right at all. How is the flame when it is burning? That may help you figure out where the problem is.

 

[GeHmTS]

Can you take some pics of the incomplete combustion and the burn pot the next time you run it. I just love pics of the issue as I'm a visual person. From a pellet perspective, as long as the pellets are dry, they should burn. I've even burned moist pellets once and they were fine! Literally speaking.

 

[Tonyray]

Did we ever find out what the problem was or has it been resolved?

other than occasional burnpot scraping and brushing the heat exchanger down,
I did a full bore soup ta nuts cleaning yesterday.. [1st since mid-October]..
Fine testament to a Harman free standing and quality pellets...
[couldn't go that long in the past when I used to use HD's Stove chows and other ashy pellets..]

 

[Lake Girl]

I did NOT know about the fines can. It was CHOCK FULL OF CRAP

Here's likely a good part of the problem but yes, I would be concerned about what else the shop did not do. There are a lot of Harman owners here that will walk you through a good cleaning. Big point is to remember to unplug the stove when doing internal cleaning and servicing so you don't short anything out.

Welcome to the forum mainermomma!

 

[DOLLARBILL]

If youre not using Rockies Stove shop in Augusta you should be great people great service ! Have you read the how to here? My XXV has run 4 years without a problem sounds like youve got something small wrong dont give up on a great stove good luck and let us know thevout come