Bad Smell in House Harmon Stoker

Hi - I am new to this site.

We have a older Harman Magnum in the basement.

I have been reading all I can, but just getting more confused. I started the fire about 2 hours ago and while I have fire, I can still put my hand on the top of the stove, the vent is barely warm and the NEW Field control R-C draft control is closed. I think i have it plumb and level, but with the weight all the way out it seems to snap closed pretty tight

How long should it take to get the fire hot?
Settings-
1. thermostat is on 2nd floor set to 75 (room temp 55) yeah I'm cold!
2. on 4
3. off 10
4. fan 4

feel control - SUGGESTIONS?? there are 7 "dots" where is a good staring point? At 4 dots, the fire is getting close to falling into the ash box.

Thanks!
Dave T

Welcome to the forum....
your timer settings sound ok as a starting point, you may need to adjust as time goes on.

sounds like you are pushing enough coal if you can get it too go off the grates still lit so that leads me to airflow

sounds like there is not enough air getting to the fire so we'll start with the usual questions...nothing that can't be solved with a little inspecting....

how 'open' is the cover plate on the combustion fan? mine is about 1" open at its widest point.

is the combustion fan seated correctly so its air is getting to the passageway under the grates?

was the fan cleaned recently to get the crud off the squirrel cage blades?

how 'clean' were the holes on your grates?

did you clean out the fines under the grates?

I just fired up my Harmon stoker and I am getting a bad smell from the power vent - flue gas? I don't smell it around the stove (in basement) but it is coming from the heated air blower.

titleist1 wrote:Welcome to the forum....
your timer settings sound ok as a starting point, you may need to adjust as time goes on.

sounds like you are pushing enough coal if you can get it too go off the grates still lit so that leads me to airflow

sounds like there is not enough air getting to the fire so we'll start with the usual questions...nothing that can't be solved with a little inspecting....

how 'open' is the cover plate on the combustion fan? mine is about 1" open at its widest point.

is the combustion fan seated correctly so its air is getting to the passageway under the grates?

was the fan cleaned recently to get the crud off the squirrel cage blades?

how 'clean' were the holes on your grates?

did you clean out the fines under the grates?

I SMELL A BAD ODER coming from the power warm air vent!!!
The plate is open about an inch
I think the fan is in correctly
I did not clean the fan*
The grates are clean
I did clean out the fines
The vent pipe is warm and I can see smoke coming out the chimney

llama99 wrote:I SMELL A BAD ODER coming from the power warm air vent!!!

Can you better describe the odor. Paint fumes,sulfer,electrical,something dead,lint,dust,ect.

The vent pipe is warm and I can see smoke coming out the chimney

Smoke?????

KLook wrote:

The vent pipe is warm and I can see smoke coming out the chimney

Smoke?????

OK - went out and looked again. No smoke. Must have been my eyes. It's kinda foggy misty rainy here.

Dennis wrote:

llama99 wrote:I SMELL A BAD ODER coming from the power warm air vent!!!

Can you better describe the odor. Paint fumes,sulfer,electrical,something dead,lint,dust,ect.

Sulfer - I don't smell it next to the stove, but it is the same smell you get if you open the door.

Bad smell there at powervent exit is normal.

coalnewbie wrote:Bad smell there at powervent exit is normal.

The entire first floor smells.

llama99 wrote:

Dennis wrote:

llama99 wrote:I SMELL A BAD ODER coming from the power warm air vent!!!

Can you better describe the odor. Paint fumes,sulfer,electrical,something dead,lint,dust,ect.

Sulfer - I don't smell it next to the stove, but it is the same smell you get if you open the door.

do you have the stove pipe and thimble sealed.
do you think you have enough draft??? YOU NEED A MANOMETER TO ADJUST THE DRAFT PROPERLY
What is the weight set at on the baro. Just to start and ballpark try at .06,might be high but will pull more air from stove
ARE YOUR CO DETECTORS WORKING,if not buy new ones
open windows if needed

I just got a new CO detector - reading 33 in the room where power vent outlet is on the first floor - stove is in the basement.

llama99 wrote:I just got a new CO detector - reading 33 in the room where power vent outlet is on the first floor - stove is in the basement.

Is there any chance you have a leaky house siding,rim joist,windows or wind blowing the exhaust against the side of the house and leaking into the first floor.
Is there a leak where the power venter is exhausting thru the wall and blowing up into the first floor

Is it a new stove?

If its a new stove then the smell is just the paint/oils burning off. That should be over in a few hours.

Is it a sulfur smell?

That indicates the stove could possibly be venting in house.

How is the draft on the power vent?

Dennis wrote:

llama99 wrote:I just got a new CO detector - reading 33 in the room where power vent outlet is on the first floor - stove is in the basement.

Is there any chance you have a leaky house siding,rim joist,windows or wind blowing the exhaust against the side of the house and leaking into the first floor.
Is there a leak where the power venter is exhausting thru the wall and blowing up into the first floor

I used the detector as a "sniffer" around the stove. I got 50+ readings at joints in the vent pipe, where the SS chimney liner comes out of the wall and along one side of the stove.

It is new pipe I just installed this week. What do folks use to seal joints? The stove store guy said I didn't need it. Could I be pushing too much air into the stove? The liner is only 5 1/2 inch. Now,I didn't use the stove last year because I had shoulder surgery, the pipe was bad and needed to be replaced. But it worked well for several years.