The dealer told me to install the plate with the angle facing down and toward the door between the 3rd & 4th grate. And I was to stand the bricks up on end with the spare lying behind to hold the others in place. ( What a joke! ) ':!:
The problem:
This will allow about 4" of air ( or draft ) to move right on under the coal bed, thru the blank grates and into the flue. The firebox is 15" wide but the plate is only 13" wide. So I am not only losing draft behind the firebox reducing wall, but along both sides. And when I would shake down, the entire unit would rock. This is the poorest design with little or no thought provided by the engineers/designers at Harman. I mounted the unit oppsite the way the dealer suggested which blocked the draft in the rear from escaping but still lost draft on the sides. VERY FRUSTRATING ':x'
Mad I returned it with a drawing I created to show the flaws. The dealer's son agreed it could not work & refunded $80. The boss was in Salt Lake and I am glad he was, he's not very good after the sale and in an earlier conversation the previous week, swore it should work. ( Maybe he needs some training at the Harman factory ). ':twisted:'
I designed my own reducer.
Cut a 1/4" steel plate the exact width of the box. 15 3/8" wide x 8 1/2" deep or two of five grates. It rests on the back & side edges. I used the heavy bricks and stood them up, I used some standard bricks for filler behind the heavy bricks. This simple design works GREAT! The shakers do not even bump the plate. I loose no draft and can maintain an excellent coal fire. I plan on welding strips of angle which will hold the bricks in place later next week.
It's hard to believe Harman would even sell this reducer kit. There is no way it will work. But the owner/dealer claimed it will. I told his son to send the unit and my DRAWING back to Harman so *Stu the welder* can design a better reducer plate., one which will work. I wasted gas, & time with this piece of scrap metal. But my design works perfectly. And it was FREE. ':)'
