Older Harman Invincible Insert with black soot issue.

[nhmtb]

Soot issue started last year. Has been fine for 5+ year before that with cleaning, maintaining myself.
I hired a pro to clean and thought maybe I was missing something, but I actually think I cleaned better than he did.
He said if the black soot continues to change ESP or chimney sweep is probably the issue. I did both.

So to sum up steps taken:
1. Replaced ESP x2.
2. Replaced door gasket as seemed to fail the dollar bill test.
3. Swept chimney for blockages.
4. Replaced control board.

Running out of ideas. After replacing the control board it seems to have gotten worse. So I will definitely have to play with feed settings.
Both combustion and distribution fans seem to be working fine.

Used 1-00-06142 control board and set dip switch 6 to on, all others off.

Glass turns black with soot, but heat output seems fine. If anyone has any ideas, it would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Washed-Up]

Sounds like an air issue, how is your OAK setup?

 

[Mt Bob]

How about the air vents around the glass,not plugged or shut off?

 

[nhmtb]

I am not sure what OAK means. I did see that in the 7 page sticky and skipped over those as I think it might not be pertinent to my stove.

I did try vacuuming with a 1/4# hose what I think is the side vents to the vents around the glass last night.
Also tried vacuuming the air vents around the glass as best as I could. Haven't tried the stove again yet. Going to use the 1/4" hose throughout the stove and check if the new board has an auto/manual switch and investigate that. The old board did not have that option.

Thanks!

 

[Mt Bob]

I am not sure what OAK means. I did see that in the 7 page sticky and skipped over those as I think it might not be pertinent to my stove.

I did try vacuuming with a 1/4# hose what I think is the side vents to the vents around the glass last night.
Also tried vacuuming the air vents around the glass as best as I could. Haven't tried the stove again yet. Going to use the 1/4" hose throughout the stove and check if the new board has an auto/manual switch and investigate that. The old board did not have that option.

Thanks!

Well,I do not know the air flow for the old Invincibles,but all newer Harmans have an air tube feeding the air wash for the glass,and,lots of people just try to vacuum them.Over the years,the ash builds up in this tube.So what happens is the glass gets dirtier faster,after cleaning.The vents/tube need to be blown out with compressed air.Easy to do on the newer Harman stoves,from inside where the fresh air goes into the stove.But I do not know about your older unit.

 

[Washed-Up]

OAK is an outside air kit....it’s what the stove draws in to burn the pellets and exhausts

 

[nhmtb]

I am thinking it has to be the air vents. I did try vacuuming last night, but I like the idea of blowing them out.
I will use the reverse end of my vacuum since my compressor is a bit far away from the stove. Thanks all for the suggestions.
BTW this is in insert so it just vents into the flue of my fireplace.