Like's and Dislikes of Harman VF3000 Boilers

Since Harman only makes one stoker boiler, I captured that in the title. Future newb's may not know that.

OK, this is the last thread for the "quest for info"

Likes/Dislikes on the Harman VF3000 stoker boiler, post them here.

ok, common guys. I know we have several very active members who are using the VF3000.

Let's here what you have to say!

Are these guys hiding out somewhere tonight? Beatle, they don't want to give you all that free info, they want you to wait, wait, wait, pay too much, and find out for yourself!

I really like mine other than it does not like to be fed wet coal

No serious complaints. The heat exchanger tubes are hard to get to to clean after the season. The boiler has a handle that you pull back and forth to knock off excess fly ash from the tubes but to actually wipe them down is very difficult. Lousy manual.

Plus side, it does the job for me with no problems. Simple reliable design. Easy to work on and clean other than the damn heat exchanger tubes.

I wish it had an auger like the EFMs or AA130s.

Overall I would recommend it if it suits your set up requirements.

When was this boiler first made and how long approx. do they last on avg.

The Likes are:
Very well built, most of the boiler panels are cut with CNC equipment and machine welded.
Very simple stoker mechanism, quiet when operating. No Bumps in the middle of the night.
The stoker assembly is rugged and easily serviced.
The base is seperate from the boiler weldment and allows the flue to be on either the left or right side. Cleanout slide makes cleaning fly ash easier.
Very low flue outlet, lots of heat exchange area.
Oil burner option for thoses who want dual fuel.
Price competitive with the lower end of the stoker boiler market, on par with Keystoker, less expensive then AA, AHS, and EFM.
Since Keystoker dropped the KA4, the Harman is sized midway between the KAA2 and KA6. It was a good fit for my application.

The Dislikes are:
Recovery time not as quick as AA or AHS, takes time to build up large fire.
Oddball 7" flue size.
No insulation under sheet metal covers, but easy to add at installation.
Manual, not real clear especially with electrical details and dump zone wiring.
Johnson Controls electronic aquastat is versatile, but confusing to less technical folks.
Stoker motor has no internal cooling fan, tends to run hot, especially when pushing a lot of coal. Easy to remedy with external cooling fan.
Harman has up until now only worked through dealers, no direct factory contact. If you have a good dealer, your golden, if not, oh well. My experience has been that replacement parts through Harman are reasonable, a plus.

I believe they have been in production since 1989.

I'm happy with mine, and would purchase again.

Highlander wrote:Oddball 7" flue size.

Did you install 7" pipe on yours? Although in the specs it says 7" flue, I think it's another case of a lousy inaccurate manual. The 7" pipe doesn't fit. A 6" started fits nicely in the steel thimble of the boiler and in the manual it references installing 6" pipe.

"Place the boiler a minimum of 18” from a wall. The flue pipe must be at least 18” from anything combustible. The rear of the hopper should be a minimum of 36” from the wall. The boiler should be placed on a non-combustible floor. Install a 6” stove pipe from flue opening to chimney with a barometric damper. Secure all pipe joints with sheet metal screws. Set barometric damper at .04 to .06 on draft meter."

Yes, I used a 7" stove pipe and chimney for my boiler as indicated on the front of the boiler. I tried a 6" pipe and it seemed to be a sloppy fit. From what I remember the ID of the fitting is about 6.5"