Harman Mark I New Owner

 
waytomany?s
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Post by waytomany?s » Tue. Nov. 30, 2021 6:51 pm

WESOman wrote:
Tue. Nov. 30, 2021 1:03 pm
It is wonderful watching a problem go away.
I thought that watching Biden go to the G20 summit.


 
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BlackBetty06
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Post by BlackBetty06 » Wed. Dec. 01, 2021 7:33 am

But hopefully in KW’s case, the problem doesn’t return!

 
kenny wise
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Post by kenny wise » Wed. Dec. 01, 2021 7:21 pm

Yeah, im really pleased with the results.

Lighting it off this weekend, looking forward to burning some anthracite!!

 
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exwoodburner
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Post by exwoodburner » Mon. Dec. 06, 2021 10:48 am

Although it is still decently warm where I am located I have had my new Mark I going non stop since the day before Thanksgiving as part of my learning / self instruction to coal burning. The stove easily supplies enough heat for the whole house for these mild conditions and it is just idling most of the time. Where is the proper location to place a thermometer on a stove like this? when people give stove temperatures where are they taken from? I have mine on the side of the stove at the top. It usually reads anywhere from 300 - 400 degrees there depending on how hard I'm running it. I imagine if I lowered it down closer to the firebox it would read higher. Where is the best location to take stove temps from? Another thing I learned is the importance of poking. I almost lost the fire two different times after about a 2 or 3 day continuous burn. At least with my stove shaking alone is not enough to get all the ash out to keep them from choking out the fire. With the help of this forum I realized I needed to poke the ashes prior to shaking. I had a long 90 degree hook for pulling 5th wheel handles on semi trailers hanging in my garage and works perfect for this. I poke down in about 10 - 15 spots around the perimeter of the fire box through the load door prior to shaking. Using this procedure I have not had any problems with the fire being sluggish or wanting to go out for almost 2 weeks. Once you get the routine down this really is a "hands off" process. I spend 10-15 minutes at 5:00am and about 10-15 minutes around 6:00 or 7:00pm tending the stove and that is it. Really looking forward to the actual winter months when it gets really cold out.....

 
Jerrybro
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Post by Jerrybro » Mon. Dec. 06, 2021 11:59 am

I have 4 on my MkIII. 1 on the side that I use as the main temperature. 2 on the top because they are old and I haven’t tossed them yet, and 1 on the pipe at the connector into the chimney.

 
zeke1256
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Post by zeke1256 » Mon. Dec. 06, 2021 12:14 pm

Re: Exwoodburner, sounds like you're doing real good, I have the same stove and keep 1 temp. gauge on the left side near the top and 1 on the pipe going towards the chimney, maybe a foot from the stove back. Your poking idea is good, I also poke from the bottom door up into the grate slots with a 3/16 or so 90 degree poker. however you'll get some fine ash coming out at times. Just remember don't go too far on the shaker strokes, short and quick strokes are good. If you jam it, wait awhile and hopefully it will burn up or poke it up from the bottom.

 
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Homesteader
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Post by Homesteader » Mon. Dec. 06, 2021 2:37 pm

Exwoodburner, The way you are tending your MI is almost exactly the same way I've tended my MII for the 5 years that I've had it. I Shake down in the morning load it up then in the afternoon empty the ashpan and shake down then load again. I have a piece of 1/2" threaded rod that I put a 60 deg. bend in to poke down around the edges of the fire box once every few days to break up the ash bridging. I also have a piece of welding rod that I put a 90 deg. bend in to "floss" the grates from below on occasion.

I have my cheapo magnetic thermometer mounted just above the load door. Usually run the stove between 300 up to 450 deg.


 
Storm
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Post by Storm » Mon. Dec. 06, 2021 6:26 pm

I too have a Mark 1 for the last 11 years and it’s going good. If the blower is to much cooling the stove, I installed a dimmer switch on the fan motor. This way I limit the warm air and some noise. It heats our farm house 1500 sq. ft. Insulation r-30 walls, r-50 attic. Triple pane windows. As of now 15 degrees with a 40 mph wind. Living room 73 degrees, upstairs 70.
Very happy

 
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exwoodburner
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Post by exwoodburner » Fri. Jan. 21, 2022 3:22 pm

So I have had my new to me Mark I going nonstop since 1-2-2022 and everything has been going good. Not really having any trouble except for this: I woke up this morning and the fire was still going good on the left side and middle with a nice orange glow. The thermometer was reading 400 degrees like normal. The right side however seemed to be out. The coal on the right side was all grey and ash looking with no orange glow like the left and middle. I didn't think too much of it and shook the stove down as I always do. I pushed some of the good hot coals from the left side over to the right when I was done shaking and reloaded fresh coal over the whole fire box as I usually do except for one corner to have a source of ignition for the volatiles. About 20 min to a half hour later once I had blue flames across the whole fire box I returned to fill in the pilot light area. Same procedure I always use. Except for today the right side (which seemed to have burned out last night) never ended up catching. Below is a picture I took at 3:00 in the afternoon. I filled the firebox at 7:30 in the morning today. I'm baffled as to why the right side seemed to go out last night and then never relight after 6 hours of pretty hard running (its very cold here today). What is going on here? I'm stumped......

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franco b
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Post by franco b » Fri. Jan. 21, 2022 3:25 pm

It's ash bound on that side.

 
Hounds51
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Post by Hounds51 » Fri. Jan. 21, 2022 3:42 pm

Yep Ash Bound.
You probably have clinkers on the grate. Best way to fix this is with a straight poker. Go under the coal in the front, and rake the poker across the grate, the whole length and width of the dead spot only.
Wait a while. If it dont start to catch, say in an hour or so, shake your grates gently, and that should clean her out.
Happens all the time to me.

 
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ASea
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Post by ASea » Fri. Jan. 21, 2022 3:45 pm

Give it a good shake till you see orange coals drop down into the ash pan. Poke it from underneath if you can. Normally I dont recomend poking or stirring from the top but sometimes thats what needs to be done to get the clinkers and all the fine ash out. Sometimes the Chubby can be an absolute bear to shake down. With all the ash buildup it eats up allot of coal capacity. Good Luck! And stay warm!

 
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exwoodburner
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Post by exwoodburner » Sat. Jan. 22, 2022 7:25 am

I quickly made up a poker out of 1/4" all thread with a 90 degree bend at the end so I could go through the ash door and up into the grates like you said. It worked great. I poked up through the entire dead zone for about a minute or so and I began to see draft coming up through the dead zone since there was disruption and fly ash in the fire box. Within 20 minutes or so the dead zone had a nice orange glow to it and blue flames on top. Thanks for the tip. I will start to poke from below before I do my shakedown procedure.....It is currently -1 Fahrenheit and my house is 71 upstairs.

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waytomany?s
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Post by waytomany?s » Sat. Jan. 22, 2022 7:40 am

Did you find any clinkers or just ash?

 
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ASea
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Post by ASea » Sat. Jan. 22, 2022 11:23 am

Glad you got everything worked out.


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