Harmon Accentra igniter area getting clogged often

[bradleydavidgood777]

Hi,

My Harmon Accentra Insert (2013) igniter area is getting clogged often.

Please see this short video.

Thanks!

 

[jackman]

Cleaning the ash off the burn pot daily is typical. I would lower the feed rate and try a different brand of pellets. I set my feed rate at 3. This keeps the pellets burning hotter farther back in the pot. I clean out under the burn pot monthly.

 

[bradleydavidgood777]

Yes I clean the ash off the burn pot daily. I will try the feed rate 3.
You have to clean out under the igniter, the plate with the wing nuts monthly?

Thanks!

 

[jackman]

You have to clean out under the igniter, the plate with the wing nuts monthly?

Yes, about 3 or 4 times during the burn season.

 

[Washed-Up]

As said above daily routine…however keeping it on low will cause build up…run it on room temp high and it’ll help

 

[bradleydavidgood777]

Yes, about 3 or 4 times during the burn season.

OK thank you!

 

[bradleydavidgood777]

As said above daily routine…however keeping it on low will cause build up…run it on room temp high and it’ll help

I thought by "cleaning the ash off the burn pot daily" meant off the top, which I do, I scrape the burn pot and clean off the ash daily.

I was asking about cleaning out the bottom of that by taking off the plate with the wing nuts, which requires a cold stove. And he clarified about that. Are you saying that area below is a daily thing?

About the room temp high, that makes a lot of sense because the blowers will clear more ash all of the time. I will run it on high.

Thanks!

 

[Washed-Up]

No you shouldn’t have to clean u set the burnpot daily, however running it on low will cause the holes in the burnpot to carbon up. I clean the burnpot holes in my P61 with a pick or drill bit at least once a month to make sure they are clean and clear of carbon. I think you’ll notice a big difference running it on room temp high.

 

[MarkF48]

I may or may not clean/scrape the top of the burn pot daily. It depends on the appearance of ash buildup when I do it. When it is cleaned/scraped some of the ash will fall through the holes into the lower section where the ignitor is located and can build up over time.

I do clean out the lower section where the ignitor is located usually when I empty the ash pan and do a cleaning of the rest of the inside area. With the front plate removed, with my finger ( I wear latex gloves during cleaning), I sweep out the bottom of the ignitor area. Some here will blow out the inside of the ignitor box with a can of compressed air. I use a rubber hose that I blow air into the ignitor box which seems to clean off any remaining ash that is on the ignitor. The stove (Harman XXV) is in test mode for the whole cleaning which helps reduce fine ash from floating into the room. At the back of the stove I vacuum out the box where the pellet 'fines' collect.
As a final step before before closing the door on the stove I put a small handful of sawdust from the woodshop in the burnpot which really seems to help speed up ignition of the pellets in a fresh cleaned stove.

Edit....... Forgot to mention... If I do clean/scrape the burn pot, I give the sides of the burn pot a couple good taps with the metal scraper tool which presumably shakes some ash off the ignitor. This tip was something I picked up a few years ago on the forum. Whether it helps or not I'm not really sure, but takes little effort to do and maybe it helps.

 

[bradleydavidgood777]

No you shouldn’t have to clean u set the burnpot daily, however running it on low will cause the holes in the burnpot to carbon up. I clean the burnpot holes in my P61 with a pick or drill bit at least once a month to make sure they are clean and clear of carbon. I think you’ll notice a big difference running it on room temp high.

Great, thank you, it has been running on high all morning, and I am excited to hear that it should make a big difference.

I also was told on another forum to check the feeder chamber, because it may be full and that would cause something like this.

But I had it professionally cleaned before the season started, so I'm hoping they did that. Of course there is a chance that they missed it. Cleaning that requires pulling out the stove, since it is located on the right side and only accessible when the stove is out. I have not pulled out the stove myself yet, but I am contemplating it.

First I'm going to let it run on high room temp for a while, and one day soon, shut it down and clean out the burn pot clean-out with the wing nuts.

I also changed the feed rate from 4 to 3 when Jackman suggested that.

So we will go with these changes for a while and see how it does.

Thanks for the help!

 

[bradleydavidgood777]

I may or may not clean/scrape the top of the burn pot daily. It depends on the appearance of ash buildup when I do it. When it is cleaned/scraped some of the ash will fall through the holes into the lower section where the ignitor is located and can build up over time.

I do clean out the lower section where the ignitor is located usually when I empty the ash pan and do a cleaning of the rest of the inside area. With the front plate removed, with my finger ( I wear latex gloves during cleaning), I sweep out the bottom of the ignitor area. Some here will blow out the inside of the ignitor box with a can of compressed air. I use a rubber hose that I blow air into the ignitor box which seems to clean off any remaining ash that is on the ignitor. The stove (Harman XXV) is in test mode for the whole cleaning which helps reduce fine ash from floating into the room. At the back of the stove I vacuum out the box where the pellet 'fines' collect.
As a final step before before closing the door on the stove I put a small handful of sawdust from the woodshop in the burnpot which really seems to help speed up ignition of the pellets in a fresh cleaned stove.

Edit....... Forgot to mention... If I do clean/scrape the burn pot, I give the sides of the burn pot a couple good taps with the metal scraper tool which presumably shakes some ash off the ignitor. This tip was something I picked up a few years ago on the forum. Whether it helps or not I'm not really sure, but takes little effort to do and maybe it helps.

Thank you MarkF48 for this detailed information.

I was scraping the burn pot daily and tap tap tap, as I was told by the service tech to do that. After I called them back, about the issue of clogging, the guy on the phone suggested not to tap, but he was back and forth on the issue. Even tho I was tapping, it seemed to me that tapping would drop more ash into the igniter area than goes out the bottom, because that burn pot clean-out with the wing nuts is closed while doing the daily tapping.

When I cleaned the stove thoroughly, a week or two ago, I passed the hex wrench thru the holes and I think maybe only 1 hole had anything to speak of in it. I think the holes are staying mostly clear, it's just ash building up in that igniter area.

When I did that thorough cleaning, I did the same as you, I used my finger to clear the ash out of the igniter area, and tapped the burn pot with the metal tool also, and got that whole area clean. It was packed.

Having the stove in test mode is a good tip. I think I did that because I was taught to by the service rep, but it is a good reminder anyway.

Thanks for the help!

 

[bogieb]

Depending on how much I burn, I have to clean out the igniter area every 10-14 days on my P43. The holes in the pot are never blocked and it burns fine, so I take that as a function of the stove and its entire configuration set up. OTOH, I rarely have to clean out the fines box. I've never had the stove refuse to start because of ash in the igniter area, but the flames do start to get a bit lazy, so I know it's time to just sweep out that area real quick. I do do the tapping when I scrape the burn pot.

My P61a is the exact opposite; it doesn't get much ash under the burn pot so I just clear it out it at my regular cleaning (about one per month). The fines box I could probably clean every 10-14 days as it is always packed full whenever I clean it - but I don't and haven't had any issue with it.

 

[bradleydavidgood777]

Depending on how much I burn, I have to clean out the igniter area every 10-14 days on my P43. The holes in the pot are never blocked and it burns fine, so I take that as a function of the stove and its entire configuration set up. OTOH, I rarely have to clean out the fines box. I've never had the stove refuse to start because of ash in the igniter area, but the flames do start to get a bit lazy, so I know it's time to just sweep out that area real quick. I do do the tapping when I scrape the burn pot.

My P61a is the exact opposite; it doesn't get much ash under the burn pot so I just clear it out it at my regular cleaning (about one per month). The fines box I could probably clean every 10-14 days as it is always packed full whenever I clean it - but I don't and haven't had any issue with it.

Great information thank you bogieb!