harman mark 3, can't seem to shake it right..

Either the ashes just tamp down and bridge, or I move the shaker too far and jam it. Is this endemic to this design? It's a great stove but the ash removal system is pure junk! The only way to clear ashes out of this thing is to use a poker and stir the fire until the ashes drop out.

I've actually bent the shaker handle trying to straighten it out once jammed. There has to be a better way.

Any help would be appreciated.

Ops

When you have a good amount of ash such as in the morning, shake full stroke, briefly stopping at the end of the stroke to allow the ash to drop. Repeat a few times. Once you see red amber, move to a short choppy stroke. If you are jamming up, you may be shaking too long.

If you are bridging the ash, you probably burning UAE or some other red ash. Try white ash next time. It will not bridge as easily.

Hi Ops164, my shaker system is set up differently but accomplishes the same thing. My shaker comes out of the front, middle just above the ash door, there is a set screw on the shaker rod that I can adjust to either lengthen or shorten the shake stroke. My stove is over 30 yrs. old and I have yet to see another like it. You might be shaking with too long of a stroke. Is there a way to mechanically attach something to the shaker rod or the stove itself so you can shake with out having to worry about opening the grates too far? A limiting stop adjustment, for lack of a name. My other thought was if you were shaking prematurely and not letting the coal cook down enough.

Ops164 wrote:The only way to clear ashes out of this thing is to use a poker and stir the fire until the ashes drop out.

Be careful with too much stirring, it will put a weak fire out.

Ops164 wrote:I've actually bent the shaker handle trying to straighten it out once jammed.

Use your poker tool from underneath the grate to loosen a coal jam. You will brake something reefing on the grate system. Then you'll be really ....I've broke my grates a couple times.

Ops164 wrote:There has to be a better way.

Short choppy strokes till orange embers are falling down thru the grates and there is a nice prominent glow radiating down thru into the ash pan.

Short choppy strokes....if you go too far and coal will get lodged between the grates. Also, if you continue to have problems there is always the possibility of rocks in your coal supply.

Hi,

If you are jamming the shaker, it’s not because there is anything wrong with the removal system, it’s because you moved it too far. As someone else pointed out it’s because you are shaking it too long and wide and the larger pieces of coal are trying to go through. If it jams, stop right then and come back in an hour or two or maybe the next service. Just throw some coal on the fire and wait. The jam will burn up and you can easily resume shaking. You won't lose the fire, coal burns for years underground, it may cool down but if it has the smallest amount of air, it’s not going to go out anytime soon.

I always try to start my shaking with an empty ashpan. If you see darker shadows on the empty ash pan before you shake, then you need to poke the coal bed before you shake. Pay attention to the area just inside the loading door, it does build up ash. Do not stir; the coal bed does not like to be messed with. When you shake the fire keep the doors closed and watch the glow through your air intake valve. The minute you see a steady glow or feel any blockage, you are done - no matter the amount of ash that came down. There is no reason to shake anymore, you will jam it with larger pieces of coal and could lose the majority of your coal bed. Don’t expect to get a lot of ash every time either, it depends of the heat being produced. If you have any glow in the ash pan you will be ok.

Good luck, shaking a coal stove is an art, you’ll get there, Lisa

Rob R. wrote:Short choppy strokes....if you go too far and coal will get lodged between the grates. Also, if you continue to have problems there is always the possibility of rocks in your coal supply.

Not true with a Harman shaker. Go long at first, slow down when you feel coal.

Agree with CAP...
if you have deep ash long strokes then short choppy...
Mark the throw of the shaker with chalk...
when the stove is empty...
look at what the shaker arm does...
Then mark 2 sets long and short...
or you can get a nice DS Machine stove...
with hopper feed...

I had a Mk I and now a Mk II and I've just gotten resigned to the fact that I'm going to have to poke/stir the fire.

If not, I get build up of very fine ash in the corners and right below the door.

I only have to do it every couple days though so it's not too bad.

As was mentioned, just have a decent fire going before you do it.

If you don't go long, you won't bust up the clinkers. Going long grabs hold of the clinker. But this more applies to red ash coal rather than white coal ash.

Harman designed their shaker to go long for good reason...

Ops, you burning Blaschak bagged nut by any chance?

SMITTY wrote:Ops, you burning Blaschak bagged nut by any chance?

No, I'm burning some bulk coal from a local feed mill. It does have sort of pink ashes with a noticeable sulfur smell.

Ops

I've been burning for 7 seasons now, and the past couple years I've had the WORST luck with rocks or super hard clinkers in the coal. No matter how careful I am shaking, the grates end up jammed open. The past week I've got lucky and was able to dislodge the rocks without dumping the fire. Been a real pain in the ass! Could very well be a bad run of coal like I've had.

I've noticed when I shook too far that I would get stuck from time to time and now just slightly shake mine 2x a day and it's been great.

My routine is to poke the bed with my 4' long poker to break up any bridging that may have occurred and determine how deep my ash build up is.

Then I do the short choppy strokes until I see small bits of glowing in the ash pan.

Hey OPS, are you getting a better 'feel' for the shaking yet? I think once you learn t 'feel' the coal bed through the grate handle, you
will have more success.

Remember that what you are trying t accomplish is to open up air passageways in the bottom of the coal bed.. the coal burns from the bottom up,
so as the coal turns to ash, it clogs up the air passageways. The ash settles on the grates, and very little falls through the gaps..
So even a slow opening or tilting of the grates will cause the ash to slide off it's resting paces and go through the gaps.
Just don't open the gaps too far, or you will have pieces of coal jam in the gaps.
You can 'feel' the coal come in contact with the grates.

On Harmans, the front and back of the grate system tends to get clogged up with ash, this is because the front and rear grate is adjacent to the wall or firebrick of the burn pot So in the center there are two grates next to each other, everything is moving when you shake it down, but at the front and rear there is the stationary firebrick and one moving grate, so more ash tends to stay put..

The bent-poker is the best way to dislodge this ash,, go through the ashpan door and 'floss' between the teeth of the grates at the back and front,, you will have cascades of ash fall down once you open up a passageway and agitate it a little
You can tell when the front and back of the grates are clogged, the fire will be dark in those areas, because of lack of combustion air available..

You'll get the 'feel' for it..
Greg L