That nasty Harman whistling auger tune.

[MrJitters]

A tune, like most, I am not too fond of. So I tore into my stove and pulled the feed motor, auger and burn pot. Removing the burn pot was the toughest part as my P43 is on it's 15th Vermont winter and those 5/16 nuts fought me to the last thread. I decided to remove the burn pot for a couple of reasons. Firstly it has never been off and I've had a few spare gaskets on hand so felt it was time and secondly I could not find my bit extension for the 2" wire wheel to clean the tube effectively at the burn pot end which is where the whistling is coming from. Problem solved. Next time I have that extension in hand so the burn pot prolly will not need to be removed again at least in my lifetime. LOL.

These Harmans are great stoves, but they require one to have a nice little stash of spare parts on hand when one runs them as hard as I do going through 6 ton of pellets for 15 years straight. Nothing runs forever without servicing, even a Harman.

The Pellet Pro feed system, is in my humble opinion, the best in the business BUT is does require the periodic removal of the auger to facilitate the cleaning of the tube to keep the old girl quiet.

To date I have replaced myself the Distribution blower, combustion blower, ignitor, the 3 pots on the board (with my son's soldering skills) and the ESP probe.

Just thought I would share this old guy's happy love affair with what keeps him toasty warm during these long Vermont winters. Merry Christmas to all here. Good cheers to all.

 

[Mt Bob]

How to clean auger tube without removing burn pot- straight shot from the back-

 

[MrJitters]

How to clean auger tube without removing burn pot- straight shot from the back-
View attachment 305073

Thank you for that pic Mt. Bob Do you have a link or any info on that I would appreciate it. Thanx!!

 

[Mt Bob]

It's called a flex hone, widely used in automotive and other industries. Almost any diameter from 1/2" to 6". There are several manufacturers.

 

[brenndatomu]

How to clean auger tube without removing burn pot- straight shot from the back-
View attachment 305073

Great idea...the ole ball hone!

 

[MrJitters]

Yep, that's the ticket right there. Any preference on grit size. I'm thinking 240 grit would do the job of removing carbon without taking too much metal with it. LOL.

Amazon product ASIN B002XUL0LS

 

[Shank]

It's called a flex hone, widely used in automotive and other industries. Almost any diameter from 1/2" to 6". There are several manufacturers.

Curious what grit and diameter you run. I have not measured the tube yet (not by the stove) but need to pull my auger and clean the tube.

 

[Mt Bob]

Don't remember dia. loaded it out, have not got it back yet, but 1 3/4" comes to mind. But 320 grit. Now mine is not the long reach one, unfortunately, and have to use a drill bit extender from the rear, but even then, can reach in from front at an angle to clean the "throat" of the tube., as it does not have to be parallel to still work. When need another, will try to find the long reach one.
I went with 320 because that is what I have used on Meyer plow lift cylinders, removes rust but metal is slowly removed, and leaves a smooth finish.

 

[Mt Bob]

Flex-Hone® Sizes

The Flex-Hone® is available in sizes from 4mm to 36

www.brushresearch.com

 

[MrJitters]

Not sure about the XXV, Integra or Accentra but the P43 has a 2 1/8 inch auger tube.

 

[gfreek]

How far back in the tube does the carbon build up ?

 

[MrJitters]

About an inch and a half to two inches. I think it's the first half inch or so that gives all the problems though. It gets to the point where it can make the auger a bit noisy even if one does not have the dreaded whistle.

 

[gfreek]

About an inch and a half to two inches. I think it's the first half inch or so that gives all the problems though. It gets to the point where it can make the auger a bit noisy even if one does not have the dreaded whistle.

OK. I try to get into the auger tube with mini wire brush as far as I can...

 

[MrJitters]

You can try but with the auger in the way I would suspect it may be difficult. On the other hand, I have not tried it with one of those mini toothbrush size brushes so worth a try. Good luck.

 

[MrJitters]

Well, after 15 days the whistling came back. I am at a total loss given all I have done to rectify the issue. Now my only recourse is using 325 Mesh graphite powder applied to the feed plate at the bottom of the hopper whenever it comes back. This is a shoemaker's remedy but I have no choice. We cannot live with this noise. It has to be coming from the auger as the graphite works almost instantly but the auger was removed, wire wheeled, the auger tube wire wheeled and even the burn pot removed for a complete cleaning and re assembly with a new gasket, of course.

I am most definitely having a WTF moment over this. 😀

 

[Mt Bob]

Do you actually see carbon hitting steel? Any chance you have ended up with one of Harman's "singing" augers? Easy to fix with a few spot welds. Anyway, listen to this vid, might help.

 

[MrJitters]

Do you actually see carbon hitting steel? Any chance you have ended up with one of Harman's "singing" augers? Easy to fix with a few spot welds. Anyway, listen to this vid, might help.

Yes, I saw quite a bit of carbon buildup at the end of the auger tube, but oddly very little carbon on the auger itself. After wire wheeling the auger tube it did look like there was more space between the auger and the tube. That is where I put all the blame on the whistling tune.

That video is 9 years old and he said the stove was 5 years old at that time so that stove was built right around mine in 2008 so I could very well be dealing with an auger built similarly. I am going to look into that and pull that damn auger again next warmer day we have.

Thank you for sharing that video. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

 

[Shank]

Do you actually see carbon hitting steel? Any chance you have ended up with one of Harman's "singing" augers? Easy to fix with a few spot welds. Anyway, listen to this vid, might help.

Interesting,

I tore my auger out yesterday and it seems my auger is like this one but I do not have any "singing" (yet anyway). However wire wheeling the auger tube and auger and filing the auger made a huge difference on sound. I also found my chain was not tensioned correctly (seems someone messed with the tensioner and sunk the head of the bolt into the plastic so it couldn't be tightened).

Pretty happy to have no more squeal or popping. This will give me something to remember if I get any more noise.

 

[sandpipe]

I have found that my Invincible Insert's intermittent hi-pitch auger noise is related to the type of pellet. Hardwoods in the past have given me annoying sessions of squeal, but since switching over to softwoods my stove has rarely made any auger noise. When it does it is much less loud and only lasts for a short time. My current theory is that a tiny piece of hardwood pellet gets pressed between the auger and the tube causing the squeal and softwood pellets are less likely to get as hard-pressed.

 

[brenndatomu]

Dumb question from a non pellet burner...would spraying the auger/tube with some silicone spray lube do any good...or maybe a graphite spray?

 

[gfreek]

Dumb question from a non pellet burner...would spraying the auger/tube with some silicone spray lube do any good...or maybe a graphite spray?

Some say powdered graphite, which I have used, add in the hopper when pellets are low.. and I since mine is manual light I try to spray the end of the auger with creosote remover every start. It hasn't been that cold, so usually after the large starting flame and gets up to temp it idles down mostly and I think that doesn't help..
I had the whistle the other day,,, usually if I crank up the flame for a while it goes away....