Stupid Harman user---what did I do?

[Souzafone]

This will be my third heating season. First year,great no problem. Last year noted poorer performance at the end of the season. After reading the manual thoroughly yesterday I realized I had never removed the feed cover to clean, in fact had never removed the rear covers since they are almost against the wall. Needless to say, when I removed the feed cover it was completely full of fines. I vacuumed and used my hand to clear the box, then vacuumed what had fallen, as well as the intake area. Reassembled and started the stove, all good. When the room reached the proper temp it "idled". I don't know the correct term but it kept running correctly at reduced heat. I turned the thermostat up to make it come back on & the fire continued to become weaker. The status light was blinking 5 times and the stove restarted normally after a reset. Tired it again today and the stove lit & got up to temp ok, but when it reached requested temp it wouldn't reignite to maintain the temp. Same thing 5 blinks and I noticed no distribution motor light. I turned the feed rate up to 5 and turned the fan speed all the way up and this caused the distribution motor to come on. When it did it blew fines out the front, and I noticed a small pile coming out of the rear covers also. What do I need to do, and what did I do wrong in the first place besides wait for 2 years to clean the feed box. BTW the manual is very weak on this matter, but I'm sure you've run into this before. Thanks in advance & sorry for the long post.

 

[MrWinkey]

Rookie here but I would check the gasket and such on the feed plate door you took the fines out of.

It has a wing nut on my model that you need to tighten down.

Does your setup have a cleanout T?

Harman does have the manuals on how to clean the stove on their website and I cannot rember the 5 flashes code off the top of my head.

 

[Souzafone]

Think I figured it out. The feed box was so overfilled with fines that when I took the door off some dumped right into the impellers for the distribution motor. They would only come out when the fan hit high speed. Took the motor out and shook it out, the housing for the impellers had more inside. Buttoned it all up and just restarted, but I should be good. Hopefully.

 

[jtp10181]

Well I gathered it is a pellet unit.... what model is it? Where are you located?

 

[mgambuzza]

Here's a site with different types of Harman Stoves and their cleaning/maintenance procedures. The instructions are in PDF format and you can save or print for future reference.

(broken link removed)

 

[Souzafone]

Sorry for the lack of info. It's an Accentra and I'm in Mass. The link with cleaning instructions is clearer than what came with the manual, thanks. I'm now getting a 6 blink code, but runs fine after reset. I'll check the door under the burn pot to see if it got filled with fines somehow, then I'll clean the flue. I should mention that I cleaned the entire stove yesterday, which I've done twice a year, excepting the feed area.

 

[GVA]

other than the slide plate access what else have you missed per the link by mgambuzza?
Under the burnpot can get filled quite quickly and should be cleaned frequently...
I'm going out on a limb here for Y'all pelletpeople (darn southern accent starting already) Clean your stove per the posted link between 25 and 35 bags it'll keep the efficiency up.........DONT wait till you burn a ton.
After you clean under the burnpot tap the burnpot on the top a couple of times, you'll find more ash I can assure you of that...
You need to vacuum out the dist blower too at least once a year... more if you have pets...
When you cleaned it yesterday did you vacuum out the exhaust flue on the stove or run a brush? You need to make sure that you don't hit the ESProbe, as bending it will send screwy signals to the control board.....
hope this helps....

 

[Souzafone]

Everything else was cleaned except the feed area. I vacuumed into the flue as far as I could, it didn't appear to be very dirty, but I suppose it's possible I bent the probe. Should it be sticking straight up, or at an angle? Thanks again.

 

[jtp10181]

I know this isn't exactly on topic but can someone explain this ESProbe I have heard about a few times. What does it do? Where is it exactly? I only know Quad pellet products as of right now.

 

[BrotherBart]

I know this isn't exactly on topic but can someone explain this ESProbe I have heard about a few times. What does it do? Where is it exactly? I only know Quad pellet products as of right now.

The ESP probe monitors exhaust temp. If the exhaust temp gets too high it shuts down the feed motor.

 

[Souzafone]

Re-checked everything this morning. Found 1 problem. I had cleaned right up to the probe, but in the process almost buried it. It sits at 10 o'clock with the probe pointing toward the middle of the hole. Still have 6 blink status. Think I've finally got it. The only thing left was a flue obstruction so I pulled the service cap off the tee outside and the cap was full. Guess I need to break down and buy a brush to do the whole thing.

 

[Souzafone]

Happy now! Brushed out the flue and life is good. Moral of the story---don't just clean the parts you can see from the front but use a good flashlight to look inside, open the back of the unit, and clean the flue. Next time the process will be a lot quicker. Isn't it fun to see a newbie in action? Thanks for the help, hopefully this helps someone else.