How Often Do You Clean Harman Burn Pot?

[F4jock]

I find that when ash builds up in and on the lip of the burn pot of my Harman Accentra insert the flame gets higher and seems lazier. I thus pull the ash forward and out several times a day. Am I being too anal? Doesn't seem to hurt leaving it alone overnight. Temp stays fine. Stove operates well. Holes are clear and I clean the underside weekly during the normal procedure. Pellets only produce a pan or so of ash per ton. Thoughts?

 

[JDenyer236]

I do the same, I scrape in the morning before heading off to work, again when I come home from work, and once more before bed. It's so easy to do I figure why not. My previous stove had to be shutdown to get the ash out of the pot due to the pot being fairly deep.

 

[alternativeheat]

I find that when ash builds up in and on the lip of the burn pot of my Harman Accentra insert the flame gets higher and seems lazier. I thus pull the ash forward and out several times a day. Am I being too anal? Doesn't seem to hurt leaving it alone overnight. Temp stays fine. Stove operates well. Holes are clear and I clean the underside weekly during the normal procedure. Pellets only produce a pan or so of ash per ton. Thoughts?

Depends entirely on the pellets and ash content plus overall quality of the pellets being burned. Lousy pellets will ash up so bad the ash disrupts the flame enough to direct it towards the glass. Really ash free pellets never build up the ash in the first place. You also should scrape under the glowing pellet pile and scrape any carbon off the pot now and then. But ashy pellets I do the same with as you are doing.

 

[F4jock]

Depends entirely on the pellets and ash content plus overall quality of the pellets being burned. Lousy pellets will ash up so bad the ash disrupts the flame enough to direct it towards the glass. Really ash free pellets never build up the ash in the first place. You also should scrap under the glowing pellet pile and scrape any carbon off the pot now and then. But ashy pellets I do the same with as you are doing.

Lots of people report that the flame gets pushed towards the glass under those circumstances but that doesn't seem to be the case with me. Ash buildup isn't excessive. Sometimes doesn't even reach the edge. Gonna try gritting my teeth, let it go and observe.

 

[alternativeheat]

Lots of people report that the flame gets pushed towards the glass under those circumstances but that doesn't seem to be the case with me. Ash buildup isn't excessive. Sometimes doesn't even reach the edge. Gonna try gritting my teeth, let it go and observe.

You have decent pellets by the sounds of it. Heavy ash will build and really pile up. The best grades of softwoods don't build at all.

 

[F4jock]

You have decent pellets by the sounds of it. Heavy ash will build and really pile up. The best grades of softwoods don't build at all.

Haven't used softwood. Tried a blend and didn't much like it. Very ashy. Running Lignetics hardwood now. Second year. Last year's were darker but not much difference in the burn or ash.

 

[alternativeheat]

Haven't used softwood. Tried a blend and didn't much like it. Very ashy. Running Lignetics hardwood now. Second year. Last year's were darker but not much difference in the burn or ash.

Not all softwoods are created equal. There are crap ones of those too. Hardwood gets a bad rap on ash and ease of starting in some stoves. These AWF super premium white pine are all but ash free. My problem with pine and spruce is I am allergic to their pollen in the summer time when that pollen is out ? The pellets make me itch but I don't quite break out. My eyes itch too some days. I don't get that with hardwood.

Edit: If you get a chance to try the Maine Woods blends see how those work for you. I had good luck with those and the Tractor Supply version of those in my p61. I don't know what blend you tried but again blends, well actually not all pellets are not created equally. Nuff said !

 

[fmsm]

every week or two no need to do it more often, next to no buildup with my pellets

 

[gfreek]

Usually morning and evening I pull off the ash, give the pot a quick scrape to rid of carbon and that's it..

 

[RKS130]

Whenever the stove is cold I clean thje glass and scrape it out. I have not found burn pot scraping to be a problem, nor have I seen problems resulting from failure to scrape.

 

[twodogs02]

I hate build up, if I get it and notice it, it's getting pulled into the pan.

 

[john193]

When I had my xxv I wouldn't touch the stove for a whole week.