Am I running my Harman Magnum too aggressive??

There is supposed to be a cover over the mesh that can be adjusted to limit the flow of combustion air to the fire. It pivots on one of the sheet metal screws that holds the mesh in place (see pic). If you don't have one maybe you can approximate this temporarily with something like a junction box cover or even the lid from a tin can to cover some of the opening.

Mike

Pacowy wrote:There is supposed to be a cover over the mesh that can be adjusted to limit the flow of combustion air to the fire. It pivots on one of the sheet metal screws that holds the mesh in place (see pic). If you don't have one maybe you can approximate this temporarily with something like a junction box cover or even the lid from a tin can to cover some of the opening.

Mike

Combustion Blower.JPG

I have been experminting with air regulation on my blower and for a temporary fix,I was using foil tape.The tape will give you a temp. fix untill you find the plate needed for the blower.

Dennis wrote:

Pacowy wrote:There is supposed to be a cover over the mesh that can be adjusted to limit the flow of combustion air to the fire. It pivots on one of the sheet metal screws that holds the mesh in place (see pic). If you don't have one maybe you can approximate this temporarily with something like a junction box cover or even the lid from a tin can to cover some of the opening.

Mike

Combustion Blower.JPG

I have been experminting with air regulation on my blower and for a temporary fix,I was using foil tape.The tape will give you a temp. fix untill you find the plate needed for the blower.

I have a hand fired boiler and reduced the air flow by 50% and don't have clinkers any more

Yeah, I don't have that cover! Ok, this is a stupid question.. What is a "clinker"?

PeteM wrote:Yeah, I don't have that cover! Ok, this is a stupid question.. What is a "clinker"?

Clinker = "the coal is clumping together and hanging off of the edge of the grates".

Mike

Oh ok, now I know the term.. thanks! Ill find something to cover the fan tonight. Is 25% a good starting point?

A couple few...ok many things....

Welcome to the forum....awesome that they left you the stoker there!!

Do you have a CO alarm? If not the Kidde nighthawk with the digital display is a good unit. You should have a couple alarms through the house. Your smoke detectors should also have a CO feature to them, especially the ones in the bedroom area.

do you have a temp gauge anywhere on the stove or flue pipe? a magnetic one is fine. I have a magnetic one on the side of the stove and a bar-b-que probe style inserted in the flue pipe. when firing for a while my temps are about 650* on side and about 275* - 300* on flue probe. Yours will be different, but it gives you a ballpark idea. Let us know what your temps are.

a manometer / baro damper will help dial in the draft to get more efficient with your coal usage and heat production. They are not necessary, but are recommended (even in the latest harman manuals).

There is supposed to be an adjustable cover on the combustion fan. The convection fan does not have the cover. The combustion fan is the one mounted higher, the bottom one is the convection fan My cover is set so the opening is only about the width of my index finger at its widest. Without a cover you are pushing a lot of air into the firebox and could pressurize it beyond what your flue can exhaust which means the exhaust will come out other unintended placed, like poorly gasketed doors and back through the hopper. Is there any moisture on the underside of your hopper lid? That would indicate exhaust gas there.

looks like the coal is 'clinkering' which is a combination of firing real hot and the characteristics of the specific coal you are burning.

how many 'dots' are you pushing with your feed rate? There is a gauge on the side of the stoker that moves when the feed motor runs. There are marker dots on the stoker housing (may be hard to see after all this time) that tells you the length of the 'stroke' of the pusher block. Although I should mention I recently came across an older mag stoker that did not have this gauge. For comparison I think I am pushing about 2 dots, haven't looked for a while.

25% sounds ok. After you do that you'll need to periodically check the location of the fire to make sure burning coals aren't going over the edge - you may need to make further adjustments in the air and/or feed.

Mike

Ok, where to start..

Yes, I have 3 CO detectors that are brand new. Two of them have CO2 output displays (one downstairs and one outside bedrooms). The other is at the top of the steps. I haven't had a reading on any yet, they all register 0. They had one from '05 that they left which actually did go off but the 3 other alarms didn't budge over 0 so I figured it was either faulty or picking up some smoke.

There isn't a temperate gauge anywhere on the system. Is a BBQ-Style essential in the flue or would a magnetic one work as well?

Ok, I will need to look into a baro.

Ok, I definitely don't have a cover on the combustion fan. There is a pic earlier in the thread of the combustion fan and that is the one I took the mesh cover off of and there was no lid at all so right now it's running wide open. There is moisture on the top of the hopper lid.

There are 6 or 7 dots on mine and right now I am pushing either 3 or 4. I was pushing about 2 or 3 but some wet coal was added which clogged the mechanism.

Thanks for all your help by the way..this is a real informative place!

titleist1 wrote:There is supposed to be an adjustable cover on the combustion fan. The convection fan does not have the cover.

Agreed, but I can't find where anyone has been talking about the convection fan/distribution blower.

Mike

Pacowy wrote:

titleist1 wrote:There is supposed to be an adjustable cover on the combustion fan. The convection fan does not have the cover.

Agreed, but I can't find where anyone has been talking about the convection fan/distribution blower.

Mike

Just thought I would mention in to make sure he wasn't cornfusing the two fans that are there. I had that happen in more than one conversation. Maybe that cornfused the issue more!?

bar-b-q style is not essential, magnetic will work on the flue as well, the temp registered on it will be lower than the probe style. I don't know what the magnetics are running these days, but I only paid $10 for the probe to experiment with it, I'd get the cheaper one, whichever style that is!

damp coal is OK and keeps down dust as you load the hopper. wet coal as you found out will cause problems. the moisture on the hopper lid could just be the water from the wet coal evaporating from the heat of the stove. Leave the hopper lid ajar so there is some air circulation in there allowing the coal to dry out from the heat of the stove.

as mentioned duct tape or a refrigerator magnet can be used to block off the fan some. Start at 1/2 covered and watch the hopper lid for moisture after you get some dry coal in there. When you get the manometer you can dial in how much it is covered.

edit to add....don't forget to back off the feed rate when you get the dryer coal back in the hopper!

Ok, I will need to run for some duct tape and a magnetic temp gauge. There is damp but not wet coal in the hopper at the moment. I'll tape up the fan half way and then watch where the fire moves. Thanks for all the tips!

You don't want any moisture collecting on underside of the hopper lid.

This can be controlled by adjusting the amount of combustion air (over the fire draft) and a barometric damper...both with a manometer.

With excess combustion air, you would be on the lighter side with the *over the fire draft*...maybe even a little pressurized (positive).

The manual for your stove spells this all out.

Ok, I didn't have any duct tape left last night so I ran this morning to grab some for the fan. When I get home I'll cover it 50%.

I bought a magnetic stove thermometer and I'll get some temp readings. Should I put it directly on the side of the stove and then on the pipe? Pipe after or before the baro?

I bought some Blaschak bagged coal to hold me over until I can run Saturday and there are no more clinkers. The ash pan is a lot lighter and it seems the stove is doing less work and using less coal to maintain the temps.

I also put a bid on an eBay manometer, so I should have one sometime next week.

I'll try and find where the previous owners left the manual..