So my stove was not burning hot enough and I cleaned it a few days ago. Today I gave it a quick clean and decided to pull the stove out a bit to see how much access I would have to clean the back portion or I guess venting. Did not get it out very far but managed to get the feed cover off and cleaned it. Put stove back in place and now the fire is burning worse, more lazy. What did I do? Any suggestions before I call the pros. My stove is a harmon accenture, one year old and I have not had the venting cleaned out. Burned about 2 tons since new. 3 more tons waiting! Thanks
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- Thread starter mrjoshuanyc
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reallyte
Feeling the Heat
You most likely need the venting cleaned and your stove professionally cleaned. I highly recommend you contact a local dealer.
Lake Girl
Moderator
Venting and exhaust pathways within the stove need to be cleaned. Call your dealer/sweep for cleaning and watch how they do that ... then do it yourself after the next ton.
Thats what the dealer told me and it was. My brush was not getting all the way through. My wife was watching the right side with the flash light and she got caught with some ash when it cleared. Not to happy but she will be when it heats the house again! Its blazing right now, waiting for the stove to warm up to make sure thats all that was wrong. Sure seems like that was it though. Thanks guys
So heres my update. Stove was burning well for about 24hrs. Its seems like it has gone back to being lazy. Going to give it another clean and see what happens. Dealer is saying they are now scheduling cleanings now but only doing service calls. I did have a clog in the left tube which I cleared so I am not sure what the deal is. The first day after the tubes were cleaned my house was a comfortable 68. Now it's 62.
ok, cleaned the left tube....check. How about the combustion blower chamber? What about the liner?
I am getting better at this but I am still nervous about pulling the insert out. Not sure how heavy it is. I was going to slide it out and secure the front on jack stands but I am pretty nervous about damaging the thing. I gave the interior of the stove a good cleaning and the left chamber was blocked. I had to use a plumbing snake to help clear it. I ran the brush through about 20 times and sure enough the stove is running hot. House was holding at 68/69. 2000 sq ft house so Ill take that. My fireplace ledge is about 10inches from the floor, any suggestions on pulling the stove out. Downloaded instructions on cleaning the stove but damn it makes me nervous because of the weight. Burning oil makes me absolutely nuts so I need this stove running efficient.
jgrz0610
Burning Hunk
Home depot sells angle iron and all thread. Make some rails out of the angle iron (just cut to length) and make some jacking stands with the allthread (drill holes, use nuts and bolts) and a piece of allthread to secure the two rails together so they don't wobble out on you. Then you can slide that puppy right out and do what you need to do. Just a suggestion.
fmsm
Minister of Fire
Your stove needs to be maintained on a REGULAR basis. What you have described as a good cleaning is routine maintenance that I perform every other week. After every ton the stove needs to be pulled and all motors need cleaning along with your vent pipe. The fine box needs emptying as well. Please go online to the Harman site or you tube and watch some videos on how to clean your stove. Also keep in mind what you are burning for pellets will have a direct effect on the amount of ash produced. That and how much you burn have a direct correlation to how often you need to perform both routine and what I call per ton maintenance.
I agree, just need the confidence to do so. When I purchased the stove, I was told that they come once a year to do thorough cleaning. I was waiting to see how they did it so I can do it myself. In the mean time I thought I was doing a good job keeping up with the stove. I run it pretty much 24hrs a day. I need another set of hands to get the stove out and one the floor to clean. Will be done soon.
fmsm
Minister of Fire
Pull out the manual as a guide, roll up your sleeves and have at it! If you run into a jam we have your back out here!
Look online for some videos, they are a great resource. You can watch how it's done and back it up to watch different parts again and again.
jgrz0610
Burning Hunk
Check out these threads for some ideas:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/posts/1380280/
https://www.hearth.com/talk/posts/1522812/
you do not need to build some froofy stand to support the stove when you pull it out.....a few 2x4's, cut to 2' long or so, stacked one on top of another to the height of the hearth would suffice.
The unit is heavy, and you will need to take care not to damage the wiring when you pull it out.
As for confidence, you need to just do it. There is no way to clean the fines chamber, the combustion fan chamber, and vent pipe without doing so. It isn't a thorough cleaning if you don't do this. There's some pretty good resources on the 'net as well to show you how.....and even if the seller says he'll come out and do it, really, you need to do this once a month, otherwise, you *might* have a dead stove due to lack of maintenance by the time they get out there, whenever that will be. Fr'instance....that left tube which was blocked would never have gotten there had the stove been adequately cared for.....now you know that, but obviously your dealer didn't tell you so...you might also take a look at page 30 and beyond in your manual...it details how to clean the unit...here is a link to your manual if you don't have one:
(broken link removed to http://hearthnhome.com/downloads/installManuals/Accentra_Insert.pdf)
here is another cleaning link for you, with more pictures!:
http://homewarmth.com/pdffiles/accentrainsertcleaninginstructions.pdf (this is for the "old" version insert, which if yours is a year old, is the one you have)
anyhow hope this helps.....cannot stress enough how important it is to read your manual and do the required service. Without doing so, you are setting yourself up for failure, through no fault of the stove or dealer, and will likely result in an expensive service charge that could have been avoided.
Ok so I went to the dealer and bought a cleaning brush for the flue. Asked about the cleaning of the stove which means pulling the insert out and they insisted that once a year is good enough. Rail kit is $300 from them, I went to home depot and bought some metal rails for electrical use. Very heavy duty. Made a quick rail system which needs tweeking but I got the stove out and cleaned the flue. OMG the amount of ash that came out was insane. I cleaned the duct system and followed the instructions you guys shared with me. Hoping this does the trick. Stove is very clean and should put out some nice heat. Dealer wanted me to try a higher quality pellet too. Hope I dont need to buy different pellets. The fireside ultras were working great and I have 2.5 tons left.
fmsm
Minister of Fire
You should be ok with the FSU's, it has been a pretty good pellet this year. They are a little ashy but that may explain why you encountered an abundance of ash. I'm glad you were able to pull it out and do it yourself, you now will know what to do every 30-50 bags. Stay warm........
so, OP, with the amount of ash you got out of that thing, are you still inclined to agree with the dealer In that you need only clean the backside once a year?
No way once a season is good enough. Stove is burning much better. You guy rock!
So after a good cleaning including the entire venting system the stove was burning awesome. House was nice and toasty. This morning I came down stairs and the thermostat read 62! The stove seems to be running well but im not getting that super heat like yesterday. Did I not do a good enough job? Im losing my patience. Got the stove cranked all the way and it's 66 in the house.
what are your stove settings, and what pellet are you burning? Where is your room sensing probe placed?
Im burning Fireside ultras. Room sensing probe is tied up under the stove. Im guessing that is the facory position. I shut the stove down last night, gave the burn pot a good scraping and lit it up. It was burning well and house got pretty comfy. Ill stay on top of the cleaning and see how it goes. Once the temps came out of the teens the stove was heating better. Maybe the room is drafty? God I hate burning oil!
yea, Josh, been pretty cold.....might just be the air doesn't move well in your place, or its drafty.....might also consider moving your room sensing probe......
I have a fan blowng the hot air out of the room but the room also has 8 hi hats. Maybe losing energy there as well. Ill try moving the sensor.
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