HARMON pellet feed #'s

[E350]

First I would like to say nice forum site, A lot of info.

My ? is this. We have 2 harmon pellet stoves. One is my fathers wich is a fireplace insert and I have a P61A. We have both read the manuals and talked to our service guy. What exactly does the feed rate mean on these stoves. The service guy says the higher the # the longer time between auger cycles. Any answers out there.
Thanks Steve

 

[lessoil]

As far as I know, the numbers indicate how many seconds
the auger stays on. I do not know what the time is between auger runs.

 

[Jester]

Now sure, but bottom line on my P38 is the higher the number the more pellets it uses.

 

[mjbrown]

the higher the number the more pellets it uses


mike

 

[BubbRubb]

#1 is the winner. The pellet feed rate is from 1 - 6 and it indicates how many seconds out of the minute that the auger will feed pellets. If you run your stove in "Room temp" mode then the stove is limited to how much heat it can produce if you have the feed rate turned down. Of course, if it doesn't need as many pellets as you are allowing it then it won't use them. I run my P68 in room temp mode with a feed rate of 3 1/2 and find that this is the good balance. The only time you are limited is when you first turn the stove on and it really wants to crank to get the temp up to your setting.

 

[djarseneault]

#1 is the winner. The pellet feed rate is from 1 - 6 and it indicates how many seconds out of the minute that the auger will feed pellets. If you run your stove in "Room temp" mode then the stove is limited to how much heat it can produce if you have the feed rate turned down. Of course, if it doesn't need as many pellets as you are allowing it then it won't use them. I run my P68 in room temp mode with a feed rate of 3 1/2 and find that this is the good balance. The only time you are limited is when you first turn the stove on and it really wants to crank to get the temp up to your setting.

Actually the feed rate sets the MAXIMUM that the stove CAN burn. I say CAN because the ESP actually is part of the equation and will limit total heat output too.

1-6 does not equate to seconds but rather to 10 second intervals. what I mean is this: on 1 the max the stove can feed is 10 seconds out of a minute. on 4 the max is 40 seconds out of a minute etc.

the important thing to know is the feed rate is something that is set for pellet quality (this is why most people with premium pellets end up on a feed rate of 3-4). It is not something that you change day to day to control your heat output, that is what the temp dial is for.
The way you are supposed tho set the feed rate is to run the stove on stove temp high with the temp dial on 7. then the feed adjuster is set to give approximately 1" of ash on the front edge of the burn pot.

 

[E350]

Thank You to all the responses guy's, The manual really does not discuss this in theory. Now all I have to do is try to explain it to my 77 year old father.
Again great site and thanks to all.

 

[lecomte38]

Help me understand this. I think I get the feed rate - 10 sec per minute times the number selected. In manual mode what is the room temp knob control. It it seems to be acting like the feed knob. highre setting, moor pellets, more fire.

 

[escobarmj]

Think of it like the numbers on a stereo or amp. Highest number corresponds to highest heat output. Number 1 corresponds to lowest. I believe that at each setting the unit tries to maintain a constant heat output and fuel consumption by controlling off the ESP temp probe.

 

[BubbRubb]

I'm under the impression that if you have the feed rate set at 3 (indicating it feeds for 30 secs (3 x 10sec) out of each minute) but your temperature is set to 80 and the stove needs to burn hotter to get the temperature up and the auger would need to run for 40 secs out of the minute to produce the heat, the stove will only feed for 30 secs out of each minute due to the feed rate set at 3. However, if you have the feed rate set at 4 and only a feed rate of 3 is needed in room temp mode then it will feed at that lower rate.

 

[djarseneault]

BubbRub and MikeJ you are 100%correct

 

[E350]

You would think Harmon would somehow discribe this better in the manual ? Thanks for replies

 

[kyburnr]

Does any of this translate into pounds / hour of pellets?