Help: Harman Accentra FS feed/auger problem

[Betweenthepipes]

I have a 10 year old Harman Accentra FS that I bought used last year. It worked flawlessly my first winter, but I now am experiencing a problem with the auger and/or feed rate.

When the stove is running on high, the feed rate and auger work properly. I get a nice flame height and great heat. When I switch the stove to low, however, the flame gets extremely low. So low, in fact, it backs up into the auger tube area. This has caused a very squeaky auger because (i'm assuming) carbon build up. The auger has now started having problems even turning on occasion, accompanied by a very loud screetch sound that mimics a squirrel going into a wood chipper (not the same sound as the notorious tuning fork squeal).

Whenever the stove is on low (room temp or stove temp, auto or manual) I can't keep the fire to the front of the burn pot. It always backs down towards the auger tube. Even if I jack the feed rate to "6", the pellets are not feeding any quicker. The fire is barely there and the pellets are burning before they are even dispensed through the auger opening.

Please help. I can't run the stove on high all the time or else I'll heat myself out of the house. Anyone have any thoughts? I'm open to suggestions on room vs stove, auto vs manual, and how to get the feed rate to actually pump out pellets. I've read the Harman sticky, but can't seem to fix this issue.

 

[Bioburner]

Had a similar issue with another brand of stove and was the motor was weakening and not pushing enough fuel. Another stove, was a Harman, had a partial auger obstruction not allowing a full flow of pellets. I would start by pulling the auger assembly and checking the auger for plug or bad spot.

 

[Betweenthepipes]

Any suggestions on pulling the auger assembly? Has anyone done a tutorial? I am capable of doing a thorough cleaning, but pulling motors and what not may be beyond my technical ability.

 

[Bioburner]

Have you ever removed and cleaned the feeder box of fines? It has wing nuts on it to remove. It is a suggested cleaning item to keep your auger working properly.

 

[Betweenthepipes]

Yes. I vacuum that weekly

 

[Bioburner]

The feeder box I am talking about is right by the auger motor. If you have been vacuuming that weekly that's way overkill This stove have a direct drive or the chain drive?

 

[Betweenthepipes]

Chain drive. Totally intimidated by it.

The fines box never had more than a tablespoon or so at any given time.

If I need a new auger motor, I doubt I'll be able to do that on my own. Likewise for a control board replacement if that is my issue, however I don't think that's it.

 

[Bioburner]

I have never tangled with the chain drive. I would suspect the auger having a bad spot or plug. Not having seen the system closer cannot give good direction. Surprised no one else has checked in with some insight or help.

 

[Betweenthepipes]

Anyone have any idea or suggestions?

 

[Hoot23]

It's very easy to pull the auger and motor from the tube. I just did mine a few weeks ago because my stove was squealing like crazy. At first it was the bearing on the motor that was doing it, so I went to my dealer and he gave me a new one because stove was still under warranty. It worked fine for a week and the the squeal came back, this time from inside the tube. So I pulled the auger, scraped the crap outta the tube end, cleaned everything up and it ran fine. For two days, then back to squealing. My dealer gave me a new auger, I swapped it out, and she has been good so far. While the auger and motor was out I took the slide plate out too and cleaned everything. It's pretty simple, intimidating at first. But once you get in there you'll find it's not that bad.

My dealer charges $65 for a service call and it only takes about 30 minutes to do.

 

[Micmann]

If you bought it used there is a chance the augur, augur tube and feeder box have never been cleaned thoroughly and this may be the start or progerssion of "sticky stove syndrome". I believe the Accentra's are prone to this condition if I remember correctly from past posts. Do a search on it. It may eventually lead to smoke in the hopper as well. This happens when gases back up into the augur tube and then into the feeder box creating a sticky mess that the fines stick to and creosote builds on as well. Low burns seem to perpetuate the problem as well. Newer stoves have a air intake crossover tube. Many have installed it on their older stoves as well. I had the sticky problem with my P61. It also squeeked like I think yours is. Here is a link to a post with some pictures and a video. https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/harman-p61a-flutter-flame-woofing-issue.116554/page-2 It's not your stove and my issue started as a fluttering flame, but it may help. Also check the manual or Google Harman Accentra manual and check near the last pages. There will be a parts breakdown picture that will give you an idea of what everything looks like if you decide to take things apart. There should be one with the chain drive and one without.

As to stopping the low burning, as far as i can tell most harman stoves do this on low burn and is normal. Maybe other could chime in as to how theirs burns on low and how low the burning is. Mine does and even more so since installing the intake bypass because it allows air into the augur tube. And naturally the flame is going to follow the oxygen source. However it does not seem to burn to deeply which is good. Since new stoves have the bypass and allow air into the augur i assume the low burning is ok.

I would theorize by the age of your stove that it may look like the before pictures in the post link above. It's a messy time consuming job, but not to difficult if you can take things apart and put them back together again.

 

[Lousyweather]

any deposits on your slide plate?