HarmanXXV combustion blower noise

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samandlillie

Member
Hearth Supporter
Oct 2, 2007
65
My one year old XXV combustion blower started to make a constant frequency siren noise when the hopper lid is closed. Open the lid and noise is gone.The local dealer recently lost his tech . guy and does not have a replacement yet. I recently gave the stove a good cleaning.
 
alotta ways this can happen.....

like GVA says, check gaskets......especially the lid gasket. make sure you havent bent the hinges as well by trying to close the lid while pellets sat in the hinge point....also pretty common.

check your intake damper, make sure its swinging freely.

does it do this when the hoppers empty or full?

whats the draft reading?

has the burnpot been vigorously SCRAPED lately?

does it only do it when the stove is hot/cold?

does it do it always, or only when the distribution fan is on?

Might I add, that a noise like that isnt normal, your stove is still under warrantee, and barring being able to solve the issue yourself, the dealer is beholden to fix it, regardless of their personal problems with techs.


Let us know! Ill try to help if I can!
 
lid gasket is fine
intake damper swings freely
makes noise hot and cold ,empty or full of pellets
draft when installed .45 inches
burnpot very clean
dist.blower is louder than comb. blower which helps dampen out the higher shrill of comb. blower when both are working
the noise is most annoying during startup when dist. blower has not started
the local dealer called Harman and their tech said that it may be some piece of ash that was dislodged during cleaning and may work itself out during use
I believe most of the noise is coming from inside the round damper(after closer inspection) done during the test mode
what is in the inside the intake that would resonate at a high freq?
the weather has been warm here in Nova Scotia lately and stove is only needed a few hours each day.
 
so it didn't make this noise till after a cleaning?
If yes check a couple of things....
Check the burn pot ignitor cover plate make sure it's seated.
check the slide plate access cover make sure it's tight and the gasket is good.
Not sure on th XXV but do you have to pull the comb blower during cleaning? If so is it seated correctly??
 
I removed comb.blower to clean pipe thoroughly with a long vacuum hose and made sure it was reinstalled with motor armature pointed up as per manual.
igniter cover is seated
I have not cleaned the slide plate which may contain pellet fines because the access is very difficult, could this be the problem?
why is there so much noise in the air intake hole? I do not have outside air vent directly connected.
 
Here is the flow of air thru the stove
Comb blower runs and exhausts thru the flue...
Next where is the air drawn from?
Air comes thru the air intake and damper... Part goes to the airwash the rest goes under the burnpot thru the holes in the burnpot into the burn chamber..... Then it should follow the path of the exchangers then to the comb blower and out the pipe....
Why did I just mention that whole flow pattern?
No Idea but I would suspect that the noise is amplified and more noticeable thru the intake.
If it is possible I would take the comb blower out and put the stove to test and check to make sure it's not the blower that is whistling
 
Many thanks for help.
I have removed blower and hand held it during test mode, no siren type of noise.
I removed slide plate, vacummed fines, no change in sound.
I cleaned fan blades, it hums along fine.
Perhaps where air is divided into combustion and air wash , a shroud or plate is vibrating. Similiar to the distribution blower problem the Harman,s had earlier.
 
Still leaning towards a gasket leak of some kind, or possibly a airflow blockage on the inlet, I'll leave it to Harry now
 
GVA said:
Still leaning towards a gasket leak of some kind, or possibly a airflow blockage on the inlet, I'll leave it to Harry now

geez....thanks, GVA, and you were doing so well, too.

Some things are difficult to diagnose without seeing them. CHeck the seal of the connection from the hopper to the stove body...if not sealed, it can pull air and whistle as well, tho Ive not seen it in the XXV. Something is making the noise tho. Try unplugging one fan at a time while the stove is in operation and see if you can isolate it that way.

Also, you state you had .45 inches of draft when installed.......what is it NOW? (another reason why draft checks are important...kudos to your dealer for getting one!)

And, NEVER jam a hose into the pipe.....you run the risk of damaging your ESP probe that way....bend it even a little, and it'll fault out with error codes. If your going to do that, remove the ESP probe first.
 
Cannot measure draft now as the tech guy stole meter when he quit his job and went out west(Alberta)
ESP probe is ok,no error codes
noise is definitely in the intake draft hole
a friend down the road has the same stove and I'll check his, I think there is way too much air being pulled into the stove
how could the draft change so dramatically? could the bolt loosen during use?
 
checking draft woul dbe telling in this case....the dealer should get themselves another meter. Id be very leery of thinking the stove is pulling TOO MUCH draft, I think it much more likely its not pulling enough, and the cobustion blower is sucking air thru somewhere it isnt supposed to.
 
I had a high pitch noise in my XXV , almost a whistle noise. When the tech came to my house to check, they could not fix the problem on site because of room restriction behind stove. They had to bring the stove to their shop overnight. They confirmed it was an air leak , and sealed with silcone.
 
Robzheat
My noise could be similar to your whistle.
Do you have any idea where they put the silicone?
I am leaning toward a worn door gasket, they should last longer than one year.
I am really dumbfounded why this would happen after a good cleaning of stove and pipe.
 
I noticed some fraying on the corner of the door gasket and perhaps the air leak is there and the sound is being transmitted to the rear air inlet.
Does anyone know the size oe the rope gasket around the door ?
I plan to buy a generic brand of gasket instead of Harman as I expect it is very costly.(gasket not under warranty).
 
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