Pellet stove newbie and Harman XXV-tc

[Wozy]

Hello all from frigid Manitoba, Canada ( current temp -26C)
I am a recent pellet stove owner and new to this forum. Hoping I can get some feedback on a couple of questions.
We had a Harman XXV-tc in Majolica brown porcelain professionally installed with a direct vent through the wall in November, 2018. We absolutely love the performance and aesthetics of the stove.
The XXV-tc has the electronic Easy Touch Control and we use a programmable wireless room sensor.
There are two issues which I am wondering if are normal:

1. Black soot build up on the glass. It literally builds up within 15 minutes after being cleaned. I’ve played around with the feed limit (default is 65%). Moved to as low as 50% and as high as 75% but no change. I’m mainly using Spruce Pointe pellets and have also used LaCrete. Pellet brand doesn’t make any difference. Temperature setting is mostly at 22 C. Stove is cleaned fairly thoroughly after 20-30 bags.
2. White exhaust smoke is very heavy and visible when temps fall to about -20 C. This is constant not just during start up. It’s clean smoke, no black flecks in the snow.
3. Also, what is the Pressure Switch used for? It is currently set to Off.

The installation company did a great job but unfortunately don’t have experience with this model or it’s electronics.

 

[Connecticut Yankee]

If your stove has an adjustable damper, try opening it. I was getting soot on the glass at first, and giving the fire more air proved to be the solution. If there is no adjustable damper, it may be possible to increase the speed of the combustion fan.

Refer to your manual for details.

 

[Wozy]

If your stove has an adjustable damper, try opening it. I was getting soot on the glass at first, and giving the fire more air proved to be the solution. If there is no adjustable damper, it may be possible to increase the speed of the combustion fan.

Refer to your manual for details.

Thanks CY. The XXV does not have an adjustable damper nor am I able to increase the combustion fan speed.

 

[Dataman]

It's easy to clean the glass. I have XXV (Older Model got in May). Wet paper towel. It's part of Daily Cleaning. Along with Burn Pot. Mine gets smoke on it too. Nothing I tried makes it go away except WPT.

 

[Mt Bob]

Check and make sure your stove has the latest programming.It should have come with a USB stick to do this.You may have to change the combustion blower speed,in the dealers menu,on the control board.There are some threads here about how to access the dealers menu,I do not know how to do it.Search for dealers menu,or hidden menu/adjustments.

 

[Wozy]

It's easy to clean the glass. I have XXV (Older Model got in May). Wet paper towel. It's part of Daily Cleaning. Along with Burn Pot. Mine gets smoke on it too. Nothing I tried makes it go away except WPT.

Yeah I hear yuh Dataman. I clean regularly with newspaper on the hot glass. Does an ok job but is a PITA. One reason I bought the XXV is cause of the large viewing area. I’m just kinda hoping it would stay clean for at least a couple of hours. I give it a more thorough liquid cleaning when the glass is cold....maybe once a week. When you say you use a WPT you’re doing that on cold glass, right?

But, it seems that dirty pellet stove glass is a fact of life!

 

[Mt Bob]

Yeah I hear yuh Dataman. I clean regularly with newspaper on the hot glass. Does an ok job but is a PITA. One reason I bought the XXV is cause of the large viewing area. I’m just kinda hoping it would stay clean for at least a couple of hours. I give it a more thorough liquid cleaning when the glass is cold....maybe once a week. When you say you use a WPT you’re doing that on cold glass, right?

But, it seems that dirty pellet stove glass is a fact of life!

Getting dirty in 15 minutes is not a fact of life,stove or install has a problem.

 

[Wozy]

Getting dirty in 15 minutes is not a fact of life,stove or install has a problem.

I admit I’m a newbie on pellet stove operation. That’s one reason I chose the Harman....the lazy man’s stove. Can you suggest what could have gone wrong with the install?

 

[Wozy]

Check and make sure your stove has the latest programming.It should have come with a USB stick to do this.You may have to change the combustion blower speed,in the dealers menu,on the control board.There are some threads here about how to access the dealers menu,I do not know how to do it.Search for dealers menu,or hidden menu/adjustments.

Thanks Bob, I’ll check that out.

 

[Wozy]

Go to diagnostics screen
- Go to page 6
- Touch blank space in lower right hand corner
- Enter password 1979.


So I found this thread and it works. Gets you into the dealer menu on the Harman Easy Touch Control board.

 

[Oregun]

I have an 2012 XXV stove. Never seen any smoke come out the chimney. I burn in room temp mode all the time and use
Bear Mountain doug. fir pellets. Seems like it takes 6 or more hours to build up a light haze on the glass. The haze is
only on about 1/3 of the total area of the glass. From your description I would check your air intake to ensure is it not
obstructed in any way.
Best of luck troubleshooting.

 

[Mt Bob]

Go to diagnostics screen
- Go to page 6
- Touch blank space in lower right hand corner
- Enter password 1979.


So I found this thread and it works. Gets you into the dealer menu on the Harman Easy Touch Control board.

Nice.But I know nothing about all the options,you may have to let us know when you figure it all out.Stay warm.

 

[Wozy]

Nice.But I know nothing about all the options,you may have to let us know when you figure it all out.Stay warm.

Will do

 

[Wozy]

I have an 2012 XXV stove. Never seen any smoke come out the chimney. I burn in room temp mode all the time and use
Bear Mountain doug. fir pellets. Seems like it takes 6 or more hours to build up a light haze on the glass. The haze is
only on about 1/3 of the total area of the glass. From your description I would check your air intake to ensure is it not
obstructed in any way.
Best of luck troubleshooting.

Thanks Oregun. I’ll check out the air intake. I am wondering if the extremely low temperatures will result in visible exhaust. We can get temps of -20 to -35C (-4 to -31F)

 

[Mt Bob]

Yea,I was going to comment on that,I forgot(sue me).A lot of times,"visible smoke" is actually water vapor.Pellet stoves in high humidity areas,and,in cold temp areas,can produce what people think is smoke,but is moisture.My OAK has a Y fitting,and,depending on temps and humidity,I switch it to use inside air for combustion,even though it wastes a bit of heat.Where you live,I bet the moisture content of the air is usually high.

 

[Wozy]

Yea,I was going to comment on that,I forgot(sue me).A lot of times,"visible smoke" is actually water vapor.Pellet stoves in high humidity areas,and,in cold temp areas,can produce what people think is smoke,but is moisture.My OAK has a Y fitting,and,depending on temps and humidity,I switch it to use inside air for combustion,even though it wastes a bit of heat.Where you live,I bet the moisture content of the air is usually high.

I was kinda wondering if it was vapour and not smoke. Actually winters in Manitoba are dry. Right now the humidity in our house is 16%

 

[Mt Bob]

I was kinda wondering if it was vapour and not smoke. Actually winters in Manitoba are dry. Right now the humidity in our house is 16%

Humidity inside your house is irrelevant,if using an OAK.Comeone now,Manitoba is a highly humid area,most of the year!!All free to look up on the net.

 

[Wozy]

Humidity inside your house is irrelevant,if using an OAK.Comeone now,Manitoba is a highly humid area,most of the year!!All free to look up on the net.

Ok you got that one.

 

[rickwai]

If you can unhook outside air pipe from the back of the stove and see if condition changes. Really seems like restricted incoming air. The Harman pass thru has a insulation sheet that needs cut out if you are using the outside air.

 

[Wozy]

If you can unhook outside air pipe from the back of the stove and see if condition changes. Really seems like restricted incoming air. The Harman pass thru has a insulation sheet that needs cut out if you are using the outside air.

Thanks rickwai. I watched the installation and saw that the insulation sheet was cut out for the flex tube. That flex tube is glued to the stove inlet and clamped at the wall inlet. The stove is very close to the wall but I’ll attempt your idea about unhooking it to test results.