Shaking Down a Harman

Devil505 · Post by **Devil505** » Mon. Mar. 17, 2008 8:09 pm

MountainPreacher wrote:Hey! Went great after I poked down from the top with the flat pry bar and got those ashes out, then, as I posted, I shook the fire too much and it started to die. So, I split up some kindling and threw coal on top of that and has been fine since.

After reading all this great information posted up top, I see that I just need to be a little more agressive and alert with the dead spots and not just leave them alone.

Good for you! Glad it's still going!

MountainPreacher · Post by **MountainPreacher** » Tue. Mar. 18, 2008 12:09 pm

LsFarm wrote:You need to make the 'L' shaped poker.. I used a piece of the wire frame from a large political sign.. the wire frame was made from 3/16" steel wire.. I bent a 4" bend, 90* on one end, and a loop on the other end for a handle... then from through the ashpan door up from below, you can feel for the openings between the grates and grate fingers.. poke up and down, like a toothpick between teeth.. You want to dislodge the ash that has not fallen down, dislodge it so it opens air passageways to the coal fire above.

If you use the wire poker under every 'dark spot' you see in the firebox, you will soon get air to the whole bed of coals. As the fire burns down, you will see hot spots [very good air flow] and dark spots [reduced or blocked air flow]. Use the poker to 'clean up' the shaking operation.

If you are using really large coal, nut and stove mix for example, some of the ash is just too large and too hard to get through the gaps in the grates, without dumping the fire. And sometimes these large pieces wedge between the grates and lock them open..

Have you tried Pea size coal in your stove?? Lots of hand feed stoves burn and shake down the pea size better.

Hope this helps. Greg L

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THIS IS A GREAT TOOL! Wow! It does a great job and someone should/could improve on it and make a more refined tool with this idea - though this works wonderful! THANK YOU!

MountainPreacher · Post by **MountainPreacher** » Wed. Mar. 19, 2008 11:32 pm

I cannot believe the difference I am getting with the coal since I have been working the fire with the home-made tool that Greg L recommends! The ashes are SO much less and the coal burns down MUCH MUCH BETTER!

If you are not "Flossing" your grates (Well, you are cleaning between the teeth of your grate!), after you shake, you need to! I am using less coal and getting so much better burns now. It's like a TOTALLY different stove. Just amazing. THANK YOU for the great advice again!

This tool works fabulous and pretty simple from under the grates. And there's been no need to use any other tool as this lets you work the coal around. Open the door and let the coal fire up, shake and then work the dead areas with this Flossing Tool. It opens up the coal so it will burn. Load on a 2" layer and let that get going good - then top off and within 45 minutes to an hour the entire bed will be burning. Try it, you'll find it is worth the little effort and time!

spaserg · Post by **spaserg** » Fri. Mar. 28, 2008 2:59 pm

HI, there! I have same prblem in my Mark III , Dead spots after several days of burning. especially at corners and edges, dead ash not moving ,not shaking out by lever .So, I use my poke to move it and by twisting poke to clean spot from ash and klinkers.After that I add fresh coal. I think its construction of Mark series.One bad think more: ash pan smaller and I have to use small shovel to clean ash pan compartment. This create A LOT of DUST!! Makes me crazy!! Small grey dust!!

Devil505 · Post by **Devil505** » Fri. Mar. 28, 2008 4:17 pm

spaserg wrote:HI, there! I have same prblem in my Mark III , Dead spots after several days of burning. especially at corners and edges, dead ash not moving ,not shaking out by lever .So, I use my poke to move it and by twisting poke to clean spot from ash and klinkers.After that I add fresh coal. I think its construction of Mark series.One bad think more: ash pan smaller and I have to use small shovel to clean ash pan compartment. This create A LOT of DUST!! Makes me crazy!! Small grey dust!!

I have the Harman TLC-2000 & I also have bad spots that I have to poke down. That being said, this is my 3rd stove from different mfg's & they all have dead spots so poking is just part of my normal routine. The ash pan on the TLC is huge, so that makes things easier!