Should I replace my Whitfield Advantage II Insert

[MartyD]

Hi,

I have a Whitfield Advantage II insert that I purchased in the fall of 1995. I typically burn the stove on the lowest setting, except for a few days a year when the temps dip below 20 degrees in Baltimore. I am faithful about vacuuming out the ash after every 2 bags of pellets. I also remove the firebricks and clean out the exhaust pipe after every ton. I oil the fans once a year as well. The only repairs to the stove have been the replacement of the igniter once or twice and the low limit switch once,

This past December, my family room filled with smoke because there was a small fire in the tee of the exhaust pipe that runs to the chimney. Fortunately, I was home when this happened and was able to quickly extinguish the fire. After removing the exhaust pipe from the stove, I discovered that it was pretty full of ash after only burning 10 bags of pellets. I also noticed that the sealant on the tee had cracked. I'm not sure whether the sealant failed first or the hot ash build up caused the sealant to fail. I took the exhaust pipe to my local pellet stove dealer and they could not explain what caused the fire (they did mention that it's possible that the exhaust fan was failing or the circuit board was surging). Since the integrity of the pipe was fine, they suggested that I apply new sealant and replace the gasket around the door. I performed the suggested fixes and the pellet stove has been running fine. However, I'm still concerned that there could be another fire since it's not clear what caused it in the first place.

I talked to my dealer about the longevity of Whitfield pellet stoves. They said that they are excellent stoves, but at 23 years old, my stove is probably nearing the end of it's life. I'm contemplating replacing the Whitfield with a Harman Accentra 52i. My local dealer has an end of season clearance sale - the Harman is marked down $600. I'm really torn as to whether to keep the Whitfield and roll the dice or buy a new Harman. Will the Harman be as reliable as the Whitfield? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Tim_M]

A few years ago I replaced a 10 year old Whitfield Profile 30 insert with a 7 year old Accentra insert, and have had no regrets. My Whitfield required almost daily maintenance whereas my Accentra can go weeks with very little attention. But in addition to that, I think Harman’s bottom-feed design tends to result in less ash being blown into the venting. I know that when I would do my annual chimney cleaning with the Whitfield I would remove a significant amount of ash (and surprisingly even some creosote), but now when I do it I find very little ash in my chimney.

There really is no comparison when it comes to the build quality of the 2 stoves. I’m not familiar with the Advantage II, but my Profile 30 had a large door with 3 glass panels, and the pins on which the door hinges pivot were starting to wear from repeated opening and closing. At some point this was going to cause the door not to seal tightly to the stove, a real concern since those pins were welded to the body of the stove and would be very difficult to repair.

The Whitfield was very cumbersome to remove from the fireplace for annual cleaning due to the need to remove 4 collar bolts at the rear of the stove. The Accentra simply slides out of its mounting bracket.

I could go on about the design of the heat exchangers in the 2 stoves - the Whitfield’s were inexplicably partly covered by steel panels on either side making access / cleaning almost impossible - and several other considerations. Obviously the Harman is a much more expensive stove, all the more so if you’re looking at a new one, so you’ll have to decide for yourself whether it’s worth the extra money. But for me the upgrade was definitely worth it.

 

[zrock]

so since you have a insert im assuming that you have it run up through your chimney and out. When was the last time you had the chimney cleaned top to bottom? Im thinking buildup in chimney let loose and caused the fire. Im usually a fan of just repair it and move on as its always cheaper to repair then buy new. But for the price your dealer is selling for honestly it would make more sense to go with the new

 

[MartyD]

so since you have a insert im assuming that you have it run up through your chimney and out. When was the last time you had the chimney cleaned top to bottom? Im thinking buildup in chimney let loose and caused the fire. Im usually a fan of just repair it and move on as its always cheaper to repair then buy new. But for the price your dealer is selling for honestly it would make more sense to go with the new

Thanks for the response. Our pipe only runs a few feet into the chimney. We vacuum out the bottom of the chimney at the end of each season. We have never had the chimney cleaned by a professional in the ~23 years that we have had the pellet stove. Our dealer told us that wasn't really necessary. Should I do that?

 

[MartyD]

A few years ago I replaced a 10 year old Whitfield Profile 30 insert with a 7 year old Accentra insert, and have had no regrets. My Whitfield required almost daily maintenance whereas my Accentra can go weeks with very little attention. But in addition to that, I think Harman’s bottom-feed design tends to result in less ash being blown into the venting. I know that when I would do my annual chimney cleaning with the Whitfield I would remove a significant amount of ash (and surprisingly even some creosote), but now when I do it I find very little ash in my chimney.

There really is no comparison when it comes to the build quality of the 2 stoves. I’m not familiar with the Advantage II, but my Profile 30 had a large door with 3 glass panels, and the pins on which the door hinges pivot were starting to wear from repeated opening and closing. At some point this was going to cause the door not to seal tightly to the stove, a real concern since those pins were welded to the body of the stove and would be very difficult to repair.

The Whitfield was very cumbersome to remove from the fireplace for annual cleaning due to the need to remove 4 collar bolts at the rear of the stove. The Accentra simply slides out of its mounting bracket.

I could go on about the design of the heat exchangers in the 2 stoves - the Whitfield’s were inexplicably partly covered by steel panels on either side making access / cleaning almost impossible - and several other considerations. Obviously the Harman is a much more expensive stove, all the more so if you’re looking at a new one, so you’ll have to decide for yourself whether it’s worth the extra money. But for me the upgrade was definitely worth it.

Thanks for the reply. It sounds like my Advantage is much easier to maintain than the Profile. I shut the stove down every 2 days and clean the glass and vacuum out the ash. This takes <5 minutes. After every ton, I remove the firebricks and vacuum the chambers behind them. I also slide out the stove (not on rails but still slides rather easily) and remove the exhaust pipe to vacuum it out. This takes less than a half hour. I watched the Harman Accentra video on the maintenance and it looks about the same as the whitfield. It's hard to tell in the video, but it looks more difficult to access the exhaust pipe to clean. Is that the case?

I forgot to mention that I'm a bit concerned that the Accentra is going to be too big of a stove for my house. I keep my Whitfiled on it's lowest setting (burns a 40lb bag in about 24-36 hours) and it keeps the temp comfortable. Since the Accentra is a more efficient stove, I'm afraid it's going to make the area too warm. Did you notice that difference when you moved from Whitfield to Harman?

How has the reliability of the Harman been? Have you had to replace any parts in your 7 year old stove?

 

[zrock]

It's probably not something u have to worry about for years. But I figure after 23 years their would be some buildup in their

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

 

[SWelsch]

I have to replace my natural Earth insert about a year ago. I live in your area and I went with the harman Accentra 52i at the dealer suggestion. Totally satisfied with the stove

 

[Tim_M]

Thanks for the reply. It sounds like my Advantage is much easier to maintain than the Profile. I shut the stove down every 2 days and clean the glass and vacuum out the ash. This takes <5 minutes. After every ton, I remove the firebricks and vacuum the chambers behind them. I also slide out the stove (not on rails but still slides rather easily) and remove the exhaust pipe to vacuum it out. This takes less than a half hour. I watched the Harman Accentra video on the maintenance and it looks about the same as the whitfield. It's hard to tell in the video, but it looks more difficult to access the exhaust pipe to clean. Is that the case?

I forgot to mention that I'm a bit concerned that the Accentra is going to be too big of a stove for my house. I keep my Whitfiled on it's lowest setting (burns a 40lb bag in about 24-36 hours) and it keeps the temp comfortable. Since the Accentra is a more efficient stove, I'm afraid it's going to make the area too warm. Did you notice that difference when you moved from Whitfield to Harman?

How has the reliability of the Harman been? Have you had to replace any parts in your 7 year old stove?

From what I understand the 52i is significantly different on the inside than my older generation Accentra (although it looks much the same on the outside). I think a lot of the enhancements were meant to simplify the maintenance on the stove but I can’t really comment on the results of those changes. On mine nothing is that difficult to access when cleaning.

The room sensor and temperature control allow for fairly precise and easy regulation of the heat output. However the 52i may be more than you need.

The only things I’ve had to replace so far are the igniter, and a pot switch on the control board. It’s a small $3 part on the control board which commonly goes bad on older models, but I’m not sure if that’s true for the 52i.

 

[Pellet-King]

Burning your stove on low and with cheap pellets will cause buildup of creosote in your exhaust pipe, one year I had blockage in my pipe , used the leaf blower trick and black lil chunks of creosote came out on my roof, i never seen that before, thrun that stove up to a 3 once and awhile and blast it out