What happened to the Harman Oakwood?

[b-rider]

I've been heating my home for the past 10 yrs with my Oakwood with the grill insert on top (yes, it RULES!), but I have been absent from this forum for several years, and just learned thru another un-related forum that Harmon doesn't even sell freestanding wood stoves anymore. What gives? Am I right? Was there something wrong with this stove? Mine has been doing well.....

 

[begreen]

Welcome back! Good to hear that your stove continues to please. The Oakwood was a troublesome design, like the Lopi Leyden. If everything was right with draft and in the hands of an experienced wood burner, it could be a nice heater. But in the hands of a new wood burner it could be a hassle, especially if the wood was poorly seasoned.

Harman was bought up by HHT which didn't need more freestanding wood stoves. (HHT also now owns Vermont Castings.) The Harman line is now focused on pellet stoves and fireplaces.

 

[jetsam]

I've been heating my home for the past 10 yrs with my Oakwood with the grill insert on top (yes, it RULES!), but I have been absent from this forum for several years, and just learned thru another un-related forum that Harmon doesn't even sell freestanding wood stoves anymore. What gives? Am I right? Was there something wrong with this stove? Mine has been doing well.....

That sounds awesome. Give us some pictures of you grilling something!

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I hope they still sell parts if i ever need any. My TL-300 also has the grill option. Although i have the grill iv never tried it.

 

[bholler]

The majority of my customers that have or have had down draft harmans had lots of trouble with them. And they required often and expensive parts replacement. Yes they can be great stoves but they just didn't work well for many people. And they are a real pita to work on

 

[b-rider]

Hmmm, can't immediately figure out how to do "quotes", but I wonder, Bholler, if you could describe what issues your customers had? I'm pretty sure after 10 yrs now I've learned it's idiosyncrasies and I've never encountered a condition that stopped me from burning, but maybe I'm overlooking something.....

I'm a mechanical guy, and took the back off about 4 yrs ago (note to self: do it again after this season) and cleaned all the fly ash off and out of everything, and ordered new gaskets and such. It WAS a PIA to do that, and I think I adjusted the damper mechanism and tightened a few bolts, and I clearly remember cementing together some broken firebricks; maybe required maintenance like this was beyond the interest of most folks? I can understand that. But I have no problem taking something apart, then I know how it works.

The proper time/temp to close the damper took a while for me to figure out, and it IS sensitive to the condition of the wood, but like I said, I have that dialed in by now. I also NEVER, EVER, load from the front, or even open the front. Everything is done from the top.

Randy! You've NEVER used your grill! Wow, that's a sure-fire way to impress your friends, and my wife and kids love it, even though my wife said "no way" when I bought it, about the idea of an open top and grilling in the house.

My old name here was simply brider, but I couldn't remember the old e-mail I used to re-set my psswd, so I just created a new ID.

This forum was the only way I could've installed the stove in the first place. I did 100% of it myself, from buying it, building the floor pad/hearth myself, bringing in into the house, and cutting a hole in the roof and installing the SS piping. All to local code. Thanks again to everyone here!

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I'm pretty sure after 10 yrs now I've learned it's idiosyncrasies and I've never encountered a condition that stopped me from burning, but maybe I'm overlooking something.....

Nice to hear from a fellow Harman owner who has had very few problems with their stove. I have a few friends who have the TL-300 and they love the stove. Mine has been great. I suppose eventually ill have to replace the Combustion Package but for now it still performs like new. I am careful not to leave the bypass door open too long, i think that may be a source of trouble for some. I burn mostly dry pine and oak. Ill eventually use the grill and also the fireplace screen(that turns the stove into an open fireplace) which iv only used once.

 

[bholler]

Hmmm, can't immediately figure out how to do "quotes", but I wonder, Bholler, if you could describe what issues your customers had? I'm pretty sure after 10 yrs now I've learned it's idiosyncrasies and I've never encountered a condition that stopped me from burning, but maybe I'm overlooking something.....

I'm a mechanical guy, and took the back off about 4 yrs ago (note to self: do it again after this season) and cleaned all the fly ash off and out of everything, and ordered new gaskets and such. It WAS a PIA to do that, and I think I adjusted the damper mechanism and tightened a few bolts, and I clearly remember cementing together some broken firebricks; maybe required maintenance like this was beyond the interest of most folks? I can understand that. But I have no problem taking something apart, then I know how it works.

The proper time/temp to close the damper took a while for me to figure out, and it IS sensitive to the condition of the wood, but like I said, I have that dialed in by now. I also NEVER, EVER, load from the front, or even open the front. Everything is done from the top.

Randy! You've NEVER used your grill! Wow, that's a sure-fire way to impress your friends, and my wife and kids love it, even though my wife said "no way" when I bought it, about the idea of an open top and grilling in the house.

My old name here was simply brider, but I couldn't remember the old e-mail I used to re-set my psswd, so I just created a new ID.

This forum was the only way I could've installed the stove in the first place. I did 100% of it myself, from buying it, building the floor pad/hearth myself, bringing in into the house, and cutting a hole in the roof and installing the SS piping. All to local code. Thanks again to everyone here!

The majority of users we work for burn out the combustion chamber every 3 to 5 years. We have had many problems with the damper mechanism especially the one with gears on the outside linking the damper and lid. Expensive replacement brick hard to learn to run correctly. No way to monitor temps in the combustion chamber. Etc. Like I said some people figure them out and they can be great stoves. But most average users have trouble.

 

[jetsam]

I went out and googled up my own picture because you Harman owners are slacking.

That's crazy! I love it.

What is the plan to prevent overfire while the grill is in use, though? It looks like with a few steaks on there, you're admitting enough air to overfire the stove but not enough to dilute combustion air sufficiently to bring firebox temps down.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

WHy not just close the lid. too much cool air flowing around those steaks. Makes more sense to close the top.

 

[b-rider]

That actually isn't the Oakwood in your image, looks like a later sheet-steel model, but the grill insert is the same.

I can't explain the thermodynamics, but I don't get any overfire happening when using the grill with the lid open. I suspect Harman tested this before releasing the design, as they sure as heck wouldn't want to rely on homeowners to monitor the continuous overfire if the grill caused it. I DO close the lid sometimes, to quicken the cook time, or create a nice toast on the top of burgers. The size of flame is easily controlled with the air lever.

 

[b-rider]

Here's an image of an Oakwood, from right here on this forum, somewhere. Yes, the meat grills up that nicely!

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I would only do this at the coaling stage in the burn. Leaving the lid open does suck in a great deal of excess air sending it up the flue. Same with the fireplace screen. both are equivalent to and actually the same as leaving the door wide open.