New Member. Harman TL300 Owner

[CRE10]

Spent most of the day reading about the TL300 on this site. Very good information and wish I would have read some of it sooner. This is my 3rd winter with this stove, but only my 2nd while actually living in the place. The first was just during construction.

The majority of my reading today was about the Fire Dome / AB. Some of you mentioned you can hear it when it switches to that? I'm wondering if I'm deaf or just not listening for the right thing. I usually have the blower on low, but turned it off and have been trying to listen tonight.

For 3 winters now it has been a good stove with no real complaints. I just started having a couple minor issues the past week, but may have them figured out. This stove really doesn't like moist wood. We had ran then snow all week. I think the moist wood then warmer temps in upper 30's and lower 40's was some heavy moist air causing it to not draft well so I would get some smoke in the house from it not being a hot fire. Then when I opened the lid it would kind of shoot flames and backdraft. With the damper open the flue really gets hot quick so it makes this stove hard to get going at times.

I'm interested in the Fire Dome cleaning/mainentance. I'm also not sure the differentiation of the shoe brick and Fire Dome. Is the shoe brick covering the fire dome so I can't see it? I've never had my bricks out and I've got a fire in there right now so I can't mess with it.

 

[branchburner]

Welcome to the forums!

That photo in the other thread that you revived is the shoe brick. It, along with the other bricks in the firebox, can be removed to access the CP (combustion package) in the back of the stove. You cannot remove the CP from the front, as least not on my stove, but you can get a vacuum in there to clean out any buildup of ash. (Be careful, though, the CP is very fragile.)

Your backdrafting indicates poor draft, but a clogged AB wouldn't be a factor with bypass damper open. Sounds more like the weather and the wood, or your flue (is it clean and clear?). If the bypass is closed, though, trouble getting a good secondary could be due to ash buildup in the CP. That can cause backpuffing and smoke spillage, which can also result from shutting the air too far too soon.

I can almost always hear the whooshing sound when the AB is working well, but sometimes it is faint. If you don't hear it kicking in, walk outside and check your stack: you should see no smoke. You need a good coal bed, and burning smaller splits and branch wood can help with that when first trying to get coals. Yes, the wood must be very dry, and yes, the flue can get really hot while trying to get sufficient coals to engage the AB.

After two seasons, it is possible you have some ash buildup. If even with drier wood, colder weather and deeper coal bed you find you are not getting the AB to kick in, remove the shoe brick when the stove is totally cold and give the CP a cleaning.

 

[CRE10]

On my phone now but will respond better later. Never cleaned the AB. Cleaned stove pipe in November. It drafts good with the double wall up through my structure. Only backdrafted with the moist wood after rain on a warm very foggy day. Stove is burning out today for AB inspection and cleaning tonight.

I think I need to clean the AB and stage my wood better when it rains and snows. I love my stove and would buy it again.

 

[CRE10]

AB looks ok. Yes, it's dirty and part is flaking off, but it's intact and should be ok. It was plugged with ash. I vacuumed it out. I'm thinking when I cleaned the stove pipe creosote may have gotten there then my fired turned it to ash. For 2-3 years of burning I'm not surprised it was plugged like that. I definitely should have read up and joined here sooner. I need to replace a fire brick, the shoe brick gasket, and the brick air gaskets. I think I will be fine until next fall though. I'm anxious to see how if performs now, but it's really not that cold right now. I'm going to get some more barrels to stage my wood in so that a week of snow and rain won't derail me too bad.

Some may complain and say these stoves are finicky and require more maintenance, but I would buy it again. For 2-3 years I'm not too worried about it. All my tractors, track loaders, trucks, trailers, etc require more maintenance than my stove. I heat a 1800 square foot place with it. I have spray foam insulation and also a geothermal heat pump, but I hate paying bills. I am on an expensive electric utility and can keep my bills at $115 in the coldest part of winter. $115 for electric and $25 for water isn't too bad of living at all each month.

This is my first baseline of winter for being in this place full time so I will have a lot better idea of how much wood I need per year plus I'm not working on the house trying to complete it so I will have more time to cut.

 

[CRE10]

I hear the AB. It's not really what I was listening for, but now I know. I live in an extremely high windy area so the "woosh" that you guys described was going over my head. My "woosh" is kinda what I had pictured as my outside wind blowing and me hearing it in the stove pipe. I was thinking that the wind was blowing over my peak and kind of shooting down in to my chimney pipe last year so this year I added an extra foot to be further above my peak. I still hear the "woosh" but I know it's the AB. I will take pics and post my chimney pipe and set up to describe it better.

 

[branchburner]

I think I need to clean the AB and stage my wood better when it rains and snows. I love my stove and would buy it again.

Glad you got the AB cleaned.
I try to keep all my wood for the season under cover, so it's not the least bit damp... and that after being c/s/s for at least a year.