Just bought a used Harman P68

[cpetku]

Earlier I posted that I wasn't impressed with the small flange on the outside plate of the 3PVP-WTI thimble for connecting the 2" flex pipe. My 2" ID to 2" OD reducer arrived today from Amazon
Amazon product ASIN B0019I8SH4.

I powdercoated it black since OAK is low temp and then used the silicone sealant to secure it to the outer plate as its a non-interference fit and I didn't feel like slotting it then adding a clamp as this is heavy steel. This leaves at least 4 inches of pipe inside the room with a 2x4 wall construction and the 2" flex slides over this nicely. This will allow cleanly sealing both the stovepipe and the OAK pipe to the inside of the thimble when I'm done. Of course the pipe can be shortened for personal preference, but since it is less intrusive than the stove pipe (which is sealed to the outer thimble as well), I left it alone.

I'm no longer concerned that stress on the flex will cause it to break inside the wall and now the inner plate doesn't require trying to thread the flex pipe through it. Probably just over-kill knowing it would simply use the wall cavity as a duct under these failure conditions, but I think its a better install. When I first looked at the flex shipped with the WTI, I tried to collapse it thinking this would provide protection if I didn't cut it down to size. However when I extended it later, I saw it wants to unravel and open at its seams. Since the flex pipe is cheaply made, this provides the ability to easily change it when it gets damaged (e.g., pulled to long or falls apart when cutting or gets stepped on...).

I'll post again when the 2"-3" adapter for the stove side of the flex arrives and comment on any difference in the flame when using a 2" flex.

 

[cpetku]

The 2" to 3" adapter pipe arrived from China a couple days early so I installed it and took a couple of pics. The advantage to this pipe over the previously documented walker pipes is it uses a single adapter to connect the 2" Duravent Oak flex to a 3" harman inlet.

The pipe measured 2"OD and 3" ID as described in the ad and was about 5" long. This pipe took a total of 16 days from order to receipt. It is available on Amazon for a few dollars more, but still ships out of China with an even longer estimate, so Ebay was the best choice.

The 2" Flex fits nicely on the small end of the pipe and can clamp down easily. The 3" end is a little loose on the harman inlet, so I may decide to simply seal it with RTV to prevent drafts from outside. It allows for a nice clean exit of the flex from the stove and really looks like it belongs there. The stainless steel finish is a plus.

Since I previously mentioned a mod to the Duravent 3PVP-WTI thimble, here's what the pipe looks like (I powder coated it black)

With the long nipple, it probably won't need a clamp and the flex can still sneak into the wall cavity if desired (then caulk to the thimble for air tightness).

No apparent change in the flame inside the stove with the 2" OAK

The ash bucket is simply a 4ga trash can with a tight sealing lid. The handle locks the lid in place when carrying the ash out of the house.

Again, I powder coated the outside black to complement the stove. Since I don't intend to place burning pellets inside, the standard PC is durable enough, but high temp (1200f) PC is available if necessary. This was less expensive than the painted fireplace buckets and good enough for my needs. Of course you could use the StoveBright spay paint for a better match in gloss.

And for safety (in case of a hopper fire) a nice big fire extinguisher close onhand.

This should be my last post on this thread as installation is basically complete. Hopefully including images of where stuff came from doesn't violate site policy...

 

[P51mustang]

Very nice.....

 

[Highbeam]

The fire people yell at us to put those extinguishers not at the likely source of flame but near the building exit. Something about not heading into the fire to get your firefighting tools but instead heading toward the exit to get the tools before choosing to go back towards the danger ready to fight or escape with your life. That’s a nice big extinguisher.

 

[johneh]

Why is your stove not protected by a surge protector( suppressor)?

 

[cpetku]

The fire people yell at us to put those extinguishers not at the likely source of flame but near the building exit. Something about not heading into the fire to get your firefighting tools but instead heading toward the exit to get the tools before choosing to go back towards the danger ready to fight or escape with your life. That’s a nice big extinguisher.

Thank you for the advice. I'll move it to the other corner of the room near the stairway. I have a second one on the first floor of the garage between the old and new structures (most accessible spot with egress on both sides). I've never had to use one but I figured the garage should have good equipment in case of class B fires so I ordered one for the shop area as well.

With regard to surge protectors, thanks for the reminder. I need to take my old UPS BackUps unit upstairs and see if it does the shutdown properly. If so, I'll buy a new one for the computer. Changed the batteries last year.

Also I did RTV the adapter to the input flange last night. Removed the three sheet metal screws to allow working on a bench. The seal was nice and solid this morning and air tight. so it went back on the stove. All in all I'm impressed by the servicability of this harman stove.

 

[Washed-Up]

Well written and executed....enjoyed this thoroughly. Impressive!

 

[cpetku]

Why is your stove not protected by a surge protector( suppressor)?

Tested with an old APS Back-UPS XS 1500 which was a good unit in its day. The shutdown mechanism of the stove works properly and the stove draws 85W when the combustion blower kicks in every few seconds. This is probably about 40W on average as the stove shuts down, so I ordered an APC BX1000M . This should use similar stepped sine wave as the old XS and will have plenty of reserve at this low draw to ensure the stove burns out the remaining pellets as it shuts down. Also note the next unit up in the BX series (1350) only has about 65% of the surge capabilities of the slightly older BX1000M. One last post next month when the UPS come in to let others know this is a compatible option for the Harman stoves. Harman no longer lists APC units for the controlled shutdown.

 

[cpetku]

One last post next month when the UPS come in to let others know this is a compatible option for the Harman stoves. Harman no longer lists APC units for the controlled shutdown.

One last try to close this thread out. No pictures of the install this time to minimize risk of another comment that costs money :^)

So the APC BX1000M UPS arrived today. Nice compact unit with more than enough run time to shut the stove down orderly in case of a power failure. The stove works fine with it in line mode and when unplugging the UPS from the wall the stove enters shutdown mode running the combustion blower a short time every few seconds. So, this is an option for anyone who wondered if a current APC unit would work properly with the Harman Stoves shutdown sequence.

I chose the BX1000M over the BE850M2 in order to get the display and better styling (hidden plugs) since only the stove will be plugged into this unit. Also the BX1000M has the best rating of 1080 Joules of protection compared to 354 Joules on the smaller BE850 or 789 Joules on the larger BX1350M or BX1500M.

Monitoring output power, the display might be useful to quickly identify if the ignitor opens up or if a fan motor is starting to bog down. The stove draws about 410W while the ignitor is on and 85W when heating with the distribution fan on high.

Untill the next thread,

--Craig

 

[Ssyko]

 

[cpetku]

I was kind of worried that someone would notice I don't have a spark bucket yet. I hear the ones designed for pellet stoves are hard to find which makes them expensive when you happen to find a nice lightweight one to hang from the end of the exhaust pipe...

Flame On (its cold out there) ,

--Craig