P68 First Time Cleaning...Questions

[Enigma869]

Good Evening All...

It's finally starting to get cold here in New England, so I'm burning a bit more often than I was. I'm thinking that with temperatures in the mid-fifties tomorrow, it may be a good opportunity to clean my Harman P68 for the first time. I'm coming from an Accentra insert, which seemed to have much more to cleaning it. I used to take the steel plates off and scrape down the heat exchanger with the Harman tool that came with the stove, and then run the brush through the exhaust holes on either side.

According to my dealer, there isn't much to do with the P68. In fact, he told me that there was no need to remove the fire bricks to clean it. He said he does that once, at the end of the season cleaning. He said that I simply need to loosen the thumb screws on the underside of the burn pot and vacuum inside of there well. Is that it? That seems WAY too easy. I assume that I should try to vacuum the fan area in back of the ash pan? Where is the heat exchanger on the P68? I'm used to seeing the grooved exchanger on the Accentra that the tool was perfect for. Any and all advice offered is GREATLY appreciated. I just want to ensure that I don't miss anything that I need to be giving attention to.


John

 

[The Grintch]

I clean the burn pot, remove the plate and vacuum under the burn pot, scrape and dust the heat exchanger and vacuum the fan behind the ash pan on Sunday. Takes about 20 min and 2 beers. Newcastle or Sam Octoberfest this time of year, this week it will be Newcastle... It was on sale!

 

[P38X2]

The heat exchanger is the entire top of the inside of the firebox. IMO, the scraper tool isn't the best tool for that job. Get yourself a cheap stiff paintbrush or utility brush and use that. If you get enough build up on it that it needs to be scraped, there's something very wrong with yer stove. Also, the area under the burn pot really doesn't get that dirty. I do mine every 3 cleanings or so and there's only minimal stuff to vacuum. Could go every 6. YMMV

The P series are VERY easy to clean.

 

[TheMightyMoe]

Read the manual, it's available on the website.

I do under the burn pot every cleaning, but once a year would probably be fine.

Turn off the stove VACUUM EVERYTHING including behind ash can. I use a 1" inch line to vacuum to my stack out through the stoves exhaust to reach the clean out. Much easier then pulling the clean out on the 90*.

DON'T FORGET THE FINES BOX. Once you know how much it fills over time, you'll know how often to empty it.

 

[DAKSY]

Do yourself a favor & turn the feed knob to "TEST." That will keep the dust in the exhaust stream as you're cleaning the upper 1/2.
Keep the ash pan access door closed...
Start at the top - the accordion heat exchanger - with a brush or scraper (I also use a 2" wide wood chisel because the handle is short
& it's more maneuverable than the Harman scraper) & work your way down. Brush everything you can reach into the ash pan.
Loosen the thumb screws & remove the igniter cover, THEN scrape the burn pot. Look at the holes in the burn pot & make sure they're clear...
A small piece of 12 ga wire works very well for them... Rap on the top of the burn pot with whatever tool you're using to loosen anything that's
accumulated on the igniter coil... You generally don't need to worry about using your
vacuum in the igniter cavity. Your index finger will get everything out of there. Remove the ash pan & dump it.
Close the upper door & brush everything in the lower 1/2...Vacuum up everything that's loose & the inside of BOTH of the doors. Clean the glass.
Replace the igniter cover & tighten the thumbscrews. Replace the ash pan, Close the doors & turn your feed knob to 3 - 3.5 & let er rip...
I clean the fines box at the end or the beginning of each season. & I put 4 - 5 tons threw my stoves each year, & there's not an overly excessive
amount of fines in there, but YMMV

 

[Enigma869]

Start at the top - the accordion heat exchanger - with a brush or scraper (I also use a 2" wide wood chisel because the handle is short
& it's more maneuverable than the Harman scraper) & work your way down.

Thanks for all the great feedback. Just for clarification, the heat exchanger you're saying to brush off is simply the top inside of the stove? Interesting. On my Accentra Insert, the heat exchanger was in back of the steel plates, so I just want to ensure that I'm understanding the anatomy correctly. I never did get around to cleaning it today, but do plan on addressing it over the next couple of days. Thank you again for all the great advice.


John

 

[DAKSY]

Thanks for all the great feedback. Just for clarification, the heat exchanger you're saying to brush off is simply the top inside of the stove? Interesting. On my Accentra Insert, the heat exchanger was in back of the steel plates, so I just want to ensure that I'm understanding the anatomy correctly. I never did get around to cleaning it today, but do plan on addressing it over the next couple of days. Thank you again for all the great advice.
John

Yep. On the insert it would be visible thru the glass door as it runs vertically. In the P series units, the heat exchanger is under the stove top The air temperature coming out of the front vents is heated as it passes over that accordion. If it's too caked with fly ash, you'll lose heating capability...

 

[Ed P]

If you want... go on YOUTUBE and type in P68. A guy made a really good video on cleaning his P68. The only thing he doesn't do is put the feed knob in the test position.

 

[Lousyweather]

also, most late model Harman stoves have a DVD which comes with.......and includes....TADA How to clean it!

 

[Enigma869]

also, most late model Harman stoves have a DVD which comes with.......and includes....TADA How to clean it!

My dealer must have forgot to include the DVD, because I certainly didn't get it.

Ed...

Thanks for the Youtube tip. I watched that 7 minute video and it was helpful.

John

 

[brokenknee]

I never received one either.

 

[The Grintch]

I didn't get one either.

When I called Harman they said they don't include them anymore because everthing is on their web site. I asked him to send me one and one arrived 5 days later.

 

[P38X2]

I got one with my 8/2013 made P68. Totally boring cuz I've cleaned my stoves a 100 times...but I watched it anyway

 

[Enigma869]

Glad to hear that I'm not the only red-headed step child, who didn't receive it.

 

[Sniz]

I'll be doing this for the first time this week as well. thanks for all the input guys.