Hello...I'm new to pellet stoves and this forum and need some help

[Mar2012]

I purchased a Harman P68 in February 2014. In late March, we noticed a very horrible smell coming from the outside exhaust and even smelled it briefly in the house. We also had a black tar substance inside the stove. We talked to the dealer and he said it had to be moisture in the pellets. Before the start of this winter we had them come out and clean and inspect it, and again he stated it had to be the pellets. He instructed us to burn it real high for awhile to burn off the tar. We are now having the exact same problem. No matter how high I crank it, the tar just keeps coming back. We are using Somerset pellets-the only brand I've seen in my area, Northwest Indiana. I know next to nothing about pellet stoves, but this just doesn't seem right. Does it seem like moisture in the pellets could cause this? Or, could it be an installation issue or a setting that they have done incorrectly on the air flow? Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[reallyte]

More likely an air flow issue. It would help if u described your setup for venting.

 

[Mar2012]

thanks, reallyte, I figured that would come. With my lack of knowledge and proper terminology, would a picture help explain this?

 

[GeHmTS]

If you have to ask if a picture will help, then you are definitely green. Pics please. The more pics the better.

 

[Mar2012]

Very green is very accurate. I did read the manual today, but felt like I was reading a foreign language! Sorry that I couldn't get it rotated, but let's start with this.

 

[twodogs02]

When I use lower grade pellets I will get an oily substance on the door. My vent is on the roof so I can't smell anything.

I would try hard to get a few bags of another brand, clean the stove and burn the other product, this will rule in/out your existing pellets but it does seem like incomplete combustion. Rule out the easy thing first - the pellets.

 

[bogieb]

Maybe a pic or two of the flame you are running. that might help with diagnosing if there are air flow issues.

You say they came out and cleaned it at the start of the season. Did they clean the full length of that pipe? did you see them actually do it?

 

[reallyte]

A picture of the terminating pipe helps too.

 

[AccentraRRT]

Can you get a picture of the "tar" like substance too? I get black deposits on the side of my burn out but they scrape right off.. That is typical based on the pellets you burn and why Harman recommends a quick scrape of your burn pot every time you fill the hopper. Here is a video from Harman for the P-series.. They have many videos from maintenance to cleaning, control knobs etc to help with the newbies.. I used them quite frequently when I first for my stove.

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[AccentraRRT]

I cleaned my stove last night and saw some of the "tar" like substance you may have been asking about.. I think mine built up from dirty pellets (lots of fines) and also they seemed damp ( I think my wife dumped a half bag of mixed swollen pellets in them... ( probably on more than one occasion since the last cleaning) this can contribute to that problem.

 

[AddictiveStew]

My eyes might be off here, but wouldn't you want 4" pipe for something that long? Maybe the stove is exceeding the EVL.

 

[bags]

Somersets are good pellets and I have not experienced any tar like junk. Not saying you couldn't have gotten a bad batch though. Need a pic of the flame burning and your outside vent too. I wonder how well some of these dealers and such actually clean the stoves. How long did your clean take?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

A couple of additional pictures one from the outside of the house please and the other showing the area behind the stove.

Somewhere on the stove is a manufacture date that may be of use as well.