Am I Running My Harman Magnum Too Aggressive??

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

Here ya go...

Ok, I have the thermometer and duck tape "installed". The baro is on order from the bay so who knows when that will be in..

I originally had the tape blocking off about 50% of the fan but the stove was reading somewhere around 350 degrees and I figured that was quite low.

I had the meter placed after the baro and it was reading around 150-175 degrees. I've changed some settings so I'll put it back on and see if it's changed at all. The meter on the stove itself is reading around 500 degrees. There is now about an inch or two of ash before the grates end. Pics are below..

Meter reading around 500 degrees Firebox Combustion Blower Tape Job

Normally the fire is a straight line aross the grates but I had just adjusted the hopper feed..

Also, it's hard to tell from the pictures but the fire is a good 6 inches from the back of the stove at least..

Have the fins on the cage in that fan been cleaned recently? Although I realize each stove setup is different, I am surprised you have the fan more than 1/2 way open. Each year I clean the fins on the squirrel cage fan real good with solvent and q-tips and it makes a big difference in how much air it can move.

No, I didn't clean them. I'm kind of learning by fire, literally.. I'll have to do that next year before the heating season. There is definitely some build up in the fan area..

I just placed the thermometer on the top left side of the stove where the air flows out and that is now reading 600 degrees under a full load to get that room temp to 80. The rest of the house is 68-72. Is that running too hot or am I OK?

PeteM wrote: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..

here is a link to a manual
**Broken Link(s) Removed**i do run my combustion fan all the time, some on here will do a speed control on it
note on the first picture, where the draft reducing cover is set on my fan

2nd picture is control settings

3rd is my burn on 3 1/2 turns out runs really good for me that way,

also some pictures of how my control box is set up , and pictures of mine burning buckwheat

if you need more help PM me for my phone number

jeff

Wow, I think my hot coals start where yours start but I don't have nearly that much ash at the end of the grates. If I were to run mine like that I don't think the room would get above 70 degrees...

Thanks for the links to the manuals!

PeteM wrote:Wow, I think my hot coals start where yours start but I don't have nearly that much ash at the end of the grates. If I were to run mine like that I don't think the room would get above 70 degrees...

Agreed. A wide band of ash in a running fire is a sign of excessive air. Room temperature air blowing through dead ash cools the stove and puts heat up the chimney unnecessarily.

Mike

Pacowy wrote:

PeteM wrote:Wow, I think my hot coals start where yours start but I don't have nearly that much ash at the end of the grates. If I were to run mine like that I don't think the room would get above 70 degrees...

Agreed. A wide band of ash in a running fire is a sign of excessive air. Room temperature air blowing through dead ash cools the stove and puts heat up the chimney unnecessarily.

Mike

stove temp on mine burning the way you see will be about 450 to 500 degs stack temp is in the 250 to 300 deg I can keep my shop area and basement @ 70 deg all heating season on 3 tons of coal, shop area size is 35 x 45 8 foot ceilings, the Harman will run about 2 months longer than my main stoker, and for the Harman stoker you only want 3/4 or less fire on the grate you will warp or crack a grate if you burn it any further out.

also rember I'm burning buckwheat in mine not rice as most do

RAYJAY wrote: for the Harman stoker you only want 3/4 or less fire on the grate you will warp or crack a grate if you burn it any further out.

Has that happened to you? I ran a Mag for a few years following the guidance from the manual for a max fire and never had a grate issue.

Mike

Pacowy wrote:

RAYJAY wrote: for the Harman stoker you only want 3/4 or less fire on the grate you will warp or crack a grate if you burn it any further out.

Has that happened to you? I ran a Mag for a few years following the guidance from the manual for a max fire and never had a grate issue.

Mike

you never want the fire falling off the grate, 3/4 fire will only leave you about 2 inch of ash on end been burning this stove for 6 years in my old house and 3 years here, and found out that running the combustion fan all the time really helps in keeping the grates like new, your over firing if you running hot coal off the grates into the pan, the manual really does not giver a exact measurement on this, only on my 2nd set of grates in this stove

Jeff

On pages 17-18 the manual specifies that there should be no burning coal within 1" of the edge of the grate, and indicates the possibility of wasted coal and/or damage to the unit only when the unit is overfired. I ran it according to this spec and never had any damage to the grates.

Mike

Pacowy wrote:On pages 17-18 the manual specifies that there should be no burning coal within 1" of the edge of the grate, and indicates the possibility of wasted coal and/or damage to the unit only when the unit is overfired. I ran it according to this spec and never had any damage to the grates.

Mike

ok your getting on me for a inch of ash ,,,,,, ...... and that is with rice coal.... I'm burning buckwheat....... and BTW I get 2 hoppers of coal to one ash pan full most of my ash is fly ash

I think Mike was mentioning the 1" only because you mentioned the manual doesn't give an exact measurement, not to give you a hard time about an inch difference.

I think the reaction to the pic must be due to the flash, in that last pic it looks like there is only about 2" of burning coal, but I am guessing there is more (unless the feeder hadn't been running for a while). I know if I take a pic of the stove with flash it washes out the fire and makes it look much smaller than it is really burning.

Anyway Pete, I didn't notice if anyone answered your question but 600* is not too hot on the side of the stove. When I am burning full out for a while I am a steady 650*.

Ok, great.

Anytime I walked by the stove I'd read the temp. At max it was running around 600 degrees, but it was normally in the 450-550 range.

One thing I do want to comment on is the hopper moisture. I probably put some coal in the hopper that was more on the wet side than than the damp side. There was noticeable moisture in the hopper and a bit of a sulfur smell. Once I put drier stuff in on Sunday the moisture and smell were gone..