Thinking of Buying a Harman Mark III

I'm new to this forum. I'm hoping for some good advice/suggestions.

I bought a Dutchwest model 2479 non-catalytic woodstove 2 years ago. It has turned out to be complete junk. I burn nothing but seasoned hardwood in it and I've never over-fired it (to my knowledge). I certainly load it up with wood and leave the damper open on really cold nights, but I would think the stove should be able tolerate that. However I'm no expert. The refractory panels are all broken up, the grate on the bottom of the stove was so warped that I had to flip it upside downin order to remove the ash pan easily, and the top panel on the inside of the stove is so warped that there is a 3 inch opening even with the damper closed. Either the stove is not designed to be filled with wood, or it's just a complete piece of crap. I'm hoping I can get a few hundred bucks for it. I paid $1500 for it new. Any thoughts????
I'm considering buying a Harman Mark III. My home is a bi-level, approx 2200 sq. feet, and the stove will be in the basement. I like the idea of being able to burn wood or coal. I hate getting up in the middle of the night and having to load wood. Does anyone know anything about this particular stove? I've been told that it's high quality. I've never burned coal before, but I've been told that if I start I'll never want to mess with wood again.

Any thoughts or feedback would be appreciated.

I have a Mark I heating 1900 sq ft on two floors. The Mk III should be more than enough. I used two ton of nut coal (give or take) between Halloween and now. And except for a couple mid season cleanouts, it's been running continuously. As long as you have a good chimney and a barometric damper, you should have very little problem. Plenty of answers here and everybody is helpful if you get stuck.

My first reaction to your story is that the wood stove is way too small. No stove on Earth should need to be left wide open full blast full time to do it's job. The 2479 is rated at 55,000 BTU. The way it ran for you it may have been putting out much more. The Harman Mark lll is rated over 90,000 BTU. One would guess it would be plenty large enough to do the job, but I'd be looking at your house from a technical, mathematical point of view and do a heat loss study. Then you'll have a better idea of what you actually need to heat the place. The Mark ll is over 70,000 BTU's. If that is enough perhaps that would be a better choice, but, without knowing the numbers we're just guessing. Maybe the Mark lll isn't large enough! They also make the SF 250. That bad boy puts out 120,000 BTU.

The Harman mark series stoves are very well built and should outlast you. Using coal you could get 12 hour burn times without any problem so you won't have to get up in the night to load it. You definatley would not want to leave the combustion air wide open on a mark stove or the coal will overfire and it would ruin the stove. A bi-level is a perfect design to heat with a stove in the lower level. I think you'd be happy with the result.

Thank you very much for the remarks.

Freddy, you mention doing a heat loss study to determine what size stove I'll need. I think I know what you mean by that, but I'm clueless as to how it would be done.

Skinsfan wrote:I'm considering buying a Harman Mark III. My home is a bi-level, approx 2200 sq. feet, and the stove will be in the basement. I like the idea of being able to burn wood or coal.

I would recommend anything that Harman makes & I would especially recommend you look at the TLC2000. I have almost exactly the same size house as you do & have been heating with a TLC for years. Compared to the Mark series, the TLC is a bit bigger for longer wood logs, can be top loaded, has a HUGE ashpan & burns coal very well! (I use it strictly for coal & it is the best coal stove I have ever had...my 3rd in almost 30 years!)
**Broken Link(s) Removed**Coal is so much easier & more controllable (for cooler burns in Fall/Spring) than wood that, once you have burned coal for a week...you'll never want to burn wood again!
(Some people with FREE firewood will sell it to buy coal!)

[quote="Devil505I would recommend anything that Harman makes & I would especially recommend you look at the TLC2000. [/quote]

Devil, How long of a burn do you get on a load of coal? I just checked the specs on the TLC2000, and it looks like they re-used the same basic stove design for my DVC-500. They have almost the exact same dimenions. I don't know why, but the DVC-500 is rated slightly higher on BTU output than the TLC2000, BUT theres no way I can burn wood in it.

DVC500_at_last wrote:[quote="Devil505I would recommend anything that Harman makes & I would especially recommend you look at the TLC2000.

Devil, How long of a burn do you get on a load of coal? I just checked the specs on the TLC2000, and it looks like they re-used the same basic stove design for my DVC-500. They have almost the exact same dimenions. I don't know why, but the DVC-500 is rated slightly higher on BTU output than the TLC2000, BUT theres no way I can burn wood in it. [/quote]

I think you're right. Looks like they took the TLC stove body & just added different guts for you DVC. Burn times obviously depend on stove temps but I would say at normal temps (below 200* for me) I'll get maybe 18 hrs or so, and 12 hrs when I really push it in January. (This time of year, when I just have it idling during the day at maybe 120*...I'll bet it would burn for close to 48 hrs b4 it would go out!) Again, I'm home so I generally will throw a few shovels of fresh coal in a couple of times a day (when it's cold out) to keep things fresh & avoid ever having to save an almost dead fire, so it's tough for me to give you an accurate answer. Maybe Jack Magnum can answer if he reads this thread.
Another thing I would recommend, that adds burn time to the TLC, is to add another coarse of firebrick on top of what it comes from the factory with. That makes loading allot easier, prevents coal from getting wedged behind the firebrick when loading & gives you more room for more coal by banking towards the back.

Edit: Kinda tough to tell from the pics below but I added another layer of bricks which are held tight by an angle-iron across the back & wedged tight with the side bricks. If you look at the pic of it on the brochure (Linked above) you can get a good idea of what you get from the factory. It needs another coarse of brick, imo.

Devil505 wrote: I think you're right. Looks like they took the TLC stove body & just added different guts for you DVC. Burn times obviously depend on stove temps but I would say at normal temps (below 200* for me) I'll get maybe 18 hrs or so, and 12 hrs when I really push it in January. (This time of year, when I just have it idling during the day at maybe 120*...I'll bet it would burn for close to 48 hrs b4 it would go out!) Again, I'm home so I generally will throw a few shovels of fresh coal in a couple of times a day (when it's cold out) to keep things fresh & avoid ever having to save an almost dead fire, so it's tough for me to give you an accurate answer. Maybe Jack Magnum can answer if he reads this thread.
Another thing I would recommend, that adds burn time to the TLC, is to add another coarse of firebrick on top of what it comes from the factory with. That makes loading allot easier, prevents coal from getting wedged behind the firebrick when loading & gives you more room for more coal by banking towards the back.
Edit: Kinda tough to tell from the pics below but I added another layer of bricks which are held tight by an angle-iron across the back & wedged tight with the side bricks.

Yep, I can see the extra layer, and the angle iron. My bricks are the same, but I only have 3 of them. they kept spreading apart when the stove heated up. The ledge they sit on is WAY too short for all three. I fixed that by using some refractory cement between each brick. Now all three bricks are a single piece, and can be removed as a single large brick.

Good info for Skinsfan to make a decision.

With my DVC-500, with full hopper, I can go 3 days at idle (lowest temp setting) without touching it. Like the past few days, its been very warm here. As a DV, it runs just as good at idle in warm weather, as it does at full throttle.
Back in January, I tried running it at full-throttle for a complete hopper load of 95lb, but I never completed the test. After a couple hours, it just gets the lower level of the house WAYYYYY too hot. I had to idle it, then open some windows and doors when the Lower level temp got over 115F

DVC500_at_last wrote:I had to idle it, then open some windows and doors when the Lower level temp got over 115F

115*!! ..Warmest I ever let my basement get is 80* & that's to hot for me!

Another thing I recommend with a TLC is to make sure you get a blower fan! (like a dummy....I ran mine for 2 winters with no fan & then I was finally convinced (by members here) to add one....& what a difference!!
I can heat my house while burning much less coal with the fan on than without it!
(I bought a 3-speed blower fan at Lowes that sits behind the stove & just connects with a duct fitting & foil tape for less than $40.00 & it works great!.....I never have it on higher than medium speed)

I appreciate all of the conversation. I'm learning alot. The only negative I've heard about Harman is their customer service. But, if the Mark III is as qaulity as I'm hearing, I shouldn't need to utilize their customer service much, huh?

If you have a good dealer you should be fine. Have no issues with the Mark II that I have.

Skinsfan wrote:I appreciate all of the conversation. I'm learning alot. The only negative I've heard about Harman is their customer service. But, if the Mark III is as qaulity as I'm hearing, I shouldn't need to utilize their customer service much, huh?

There is a customer service phone number directly to Harman now, since they've been sold. I'll try to trace it down again for you but customers can call them direct now.

Edit: Found it....800-664-3119.

Skinsfan wrote:I appreciate all of the conversation. I'm learning alot. The only negative I've heard about Harman is their customer service. But, if the Mark III is as qaulity as I'm hearing, I shouldn't need to utilize their customer service much, huh?

You answered your own question. EXACTLY my point Find a good dealer that will spend some time with you taking about it, as he is the one you will be talking with if your ever have a problem. My dealer is a one-person shop, and he NEVER answers the phone. But I only live 5 miles from his shop, so if I have a question, I just stop by his shop when I am out and about running errands.

I tell everyone the story of my Mark III when they ask about the quality........

It sailed from my tailgate to the back of my cab at, ooh , I'd say about 30 mph after jamming on the brakes (a necessity in MA ). All I got was a broken fire brick! (and a good sized dent & crease in the bed!)

It heats my drafty house very well. I installed 2 of the biggest hot water coils that Hilkoil makes, & now the far room & upstairs are toasty warm in the winter. If you push this stove, it will eat coal like a fat girl at a free buffet!

I went thru 5.25 tons in just 4 months of steady burning for a 1600 -1800 sq.ft. (drafty as hell!) house. This thing will have a river running beneath it in my basement for 85% of the time, & I still bet it will still be useful as it sits 40 years from now. 1/4" steel everywhere on this stove ( like all Harman Mark series ). HEAVY as hell!

Here's my project of getting it down my rickety stairs with help from only 2 people -- one of which just pressed a button! HOLY CRAP IT's DONE!!! and No One Got Killed or Maimed!!