Question on Harman Magnum Stoker

I am new to the site and new to using a stoker. I had a hand fired mark 3 and used it to heat my home. Wanted to eliminate the need to shake down etc that is why I got the stoker. Stoker is 4 years old and in excellent condition. Problem I have is getting the right settings to heat home. I have the on at 5 and off at 12 and the slide on combustion at 1/3 closed. The extend time is at 6.This doesn't seem to be correct also I am running them on the control box and a thermostat. the coal is well burned nice ash looks like granola crumbs. I noticed posts that others eliminate the controller and direct power them to a outlet or another source. So if I power them to a outlet do I also eliminate the thermostat? Do I put a rheostat on both the combustion and distibution blower? and what would be a good starting point on a feed setting? The stoker is in the basement since it is forced air would it be wise to pipe it upstairs? What would be the best size pipe 6" and would I need to put cool air returns in to get circulation? If anyone can help me out with this I would appreciate it. thanks bob

Welcome to the site!
The controller bypass they are talking about is plugging the combustion fan directly into an outlet rather than the controller box. The thermostat is still connected and the distribution fan and stoker motors are still plugged into the controller box.

Your settings aren't too far off of mine. My on time is 3 minutes and off time is 12 minutes my extend time is 8 minutes.

I don't have the duct work on mine and it works fine moving the heat, but others here do and are quite happy with the heat distribution.

What is the temp of the basement and first floor?
What is the temp in your flue pipe compared to the temp on the stove?

What is your draft measurement? Do you have a baro connected?

Do you have a CO monitor?

in the basement where the stove is I have to thermostat set to 75 and my thermostat for my gas furnace is reading 70 but the one for stove states 75. upstairs I have 2 thermostats one for heat and other for central air they are reading 65. I have 4 co2 monitors in place I don't have a heat gun but the pipe you can touch the stove is hot but only in the fire region area. I am looking for a draft meter to check at stove and before barometric damper to see if I am balanced. The damper that came with stove was rusted and couldn't adjust it so I installed a new barometric damper I placed the weight on the right side slide all the way towards point it moves when stove is working and when there is wind present. I know that this may not be the correct placement without checking with meter. I also noticed people setting a manometer on stove. never used one before or if they are the same as a draft meter. The placement of the thermostat is another item of question. The lay out of the basement has the steps almost dead center of the house the stove is placed if looking up the stairs from basement to the left I had the thermostat set up just to the right of the stairs thinking it would give me a better idea of what the temp would have to be downstairs to get what I wanted upstairs. when I had the mark 3 the temp downstairs would be around 78 and upstairs would range from 70 to 72. I moved the thermostat closer to stove to see what difference it made. My concern is with it being further away and the blower running that I may burn more since the air circulating is cooler at that distance. the stove pipe being warm and able to touch made me think that I am not losing heat up chimney but again I am not familiar with this set up and perhaps it should be hotter. the stove is plenty big for my house and should do what I expect of it. In reference to the co2 detectors they all work and haven't gone off I tested each one by opening door on stove and they activated also 2 of them are brand new. I feel without the meter to test the stove I am not going to get good results along with thermostat location. is there a specific brand that is best suited for this stove? thanks for replying back and again anymore advice is appreciated.

Got a Manometer - Now What

Hello,and a Warm Welcome to Coal Advice Central ! These Guys Go The Extra Mile To Help You Feel Warm All Over! The above link should help you get going on some Manometer Principles. Titleist gave you some Great Advice on Settings,but these Heating Animals always create their own Thumbprint based on your particular set of parameters in the structure you're Heating. Don't get discouraged,we'll walk you through it. You are correct in your CO coverage,and I thank Titleist for hammering the CO Point right out of the Gate! Also,Airflow of the Hot/Cold in a Loop is always the Master. Circulation made easy let's the Stove get the Heat where it needs to be. That stove has the 6" outlet on the top of the stove jacket. If you use it,you have to plug the front jacket vents just above the main door to force the air path into your new ductwork pipe. I've used something as simple as large door gasket material. Others have probably got even better ideas on that one. The idea of picking up a couple of magnetic thermometers helps too. One on the Stove top end(Front Face Top) and one on your Black Pipe Exhaust gives you a decent indication if your sending a pile of heat up the chimney compared to the stove temp. It's early,and I may have missed it,but what type of chimney do you have? How tall? Does it clear the peak of your roofline? Also,are you burning rice coal,and where from? How's your ash output in the pan amount compared to the amount of coal you're burning? I think you've landed at the right place,and many more Folks much smarter than me will be stopping by to help,no doubt!

I have a Super Mag Stoker which has different controls so I can't help you out there but If you want to heat the living area upstairs I would pipe the heat up. I did. And my basement stays comfortable just from the convection heat it throws. Yours may vary. I don't have a cold air return. I just leave my center of the house basement door open. The cold flows down the stairs and heat will actually flow along the ceiling of the stairwell from the basement.
I used steel duct work for the first 15 ft because it gets so hot then flexed insulated the rest of the way to a register I put into the living area. I could of put two but between them the house is great. I have a 2000 sq ft cape

I have an older magnum in the barn. don't use the control box at all. Plug the combusion fan and distribution fan into the outlets and use the manual feed adjustment. No thermostat connected. Works wonderful.

I think you are close to getting it but just need to get your thermostat setting adjusted to get the temp up to what you want upstairs. Your basement set up is very similar to mine and I went through the exact transition you are. I had a mark III in the basement and moved a mag stoker into its place and been very happy with the results.

As you mentioned getting the manometer connected will help you dial in the baro. Your combustion fan restrictor plate is open a bit more than mine (I am only about 1/3 open) that is why I mentioned the CO monitors to make sure you weren't pressurizing the firebox. However different coal will need different air settings so you may be just fine. I would recommend a bar-b-que probe temp gauge for the stack and maybe an IR gun to measure temps on the firebox so you can keep an eye on the delta between them. Yours will be different but after firing for a good long time my stack runs about 200* while the firebox is about 650*, if it is much different than that I start looking for reasons why.

Since you had good temps upstairs with the Mark III your heat distribution sounds good and I think you will see similar heat distribution results with the mag stoker like I did. No doubt it would improve some if you used the duct connection though. Don't worry about it running most of the time during cold weather, it's made for it. If your firebox temps get above 700* you may want to close the combustion fan restrictor plate a little.

I moved my thermostat upstairs so the temp up there is what controls the stoker and I don't have to figure out that X degrees in the basement means Y degrees upstairs. I also got a $25 digital rather than the bimetallic that came with the stove. It sounds like your 'stat is off calibration like mine was based on the difference in its reading versus the furnace 'stat although it could just be mounted a little crooked.

When I made the move to the stoker I thought I'd be burning less coal but it turned out about the same. The reason is I only burn coal now and not any firewood (or phone books) like I did in the Mark III. Also, I burn into the shoulder months longer because the thermostat controls the heat much better than the hand fed and its easier to leave it lit and idling through a warm spell when before I'd let the stove go out for a day or two and then relight it.

Thanks to all that replied with advice I appreciate it. I have more questions though. If you run with out thermostat are your combustion and distribution running full speed or are they on rheostats? Also considering I am close what are some suggestions for the feed set point? 1 dot 2 dots ?? Also typically how much ash is in your pans daily in the dead of winter vs coming out of the heating season? If anyone has pictures of their duct layout and wouldn't mind sharing them I would appreciate it. I actually hooked up a half system this evening before I left for work that I made up for my mark 3. Wife said there is a difference upstairs. thanks again

Harman Magnum Stoker Timer Settings/Setup

This will help,snow. Do you have the Harman Manual for your unit?

Mine is running at 2 dots of movement.

In the cold weather I am emptying the ash pan every 24 hours because I need to, in warmer weather I still do it every 24 hours so I don't forget to!

I am curious about the advantages of running without the 'stat. I understand running the combustion fan all the time helps burn the coal more completely and I do this myself in the real cold weather and I can see running the distribution fan all the time helps wash the heat off the stove continuously. But I don't understand the advantage of running the feed motor all the time?

I have the owners manual for the stoker. Hooked it to the thermostat upstairs and ran some pipe to the register I have and now the house is nice and warm. Picked up manometer this evening from a friend and will hook that up tomorrow. thanks to all again for the help.

Snow,that's Solid ! Glad to hear. Stay Patient with any fine tuning. Remember to make small adjustments and then hands off for an hour to let it do it's thing. It's a slow process with Coal to get the control and show loop closed to where you can see your adjustments' results. Stay with it and stay with us!

Titleist1, for me it is the only way I have to run the stove. No thermostate and I am not sure the control box even works. Tried playing with it when I first got the stove but the adjusters are worn. I just use the magnum on cold days when I am working in the barn so I just adjust the feed rate manually. I dial it back when I want minimum fire. So far hasn't gone on on me. I thought about rebuilding the control box as an offseason project but by the time I stop using the stove it's time to prepare the boat for fishing.