Harman Mark 3

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Thechap
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Post by Thechap » Tue. Dec. 27, 2022 4:12 pm

I've had my Harman Mark 3 coal stove probably going on 15 years. I started the coal stove fire around the end of September. I usually don't shut it down until around the end April.

For an unknown reason I lost the coal fire about a week ago. I cleaned the stove and restarted it. I can not, and I mean I can not keep the stove going. I'm using the same nut coal as to when I started this in September. The coal burns very well. The stove was "professionally" cleaned a couple years ago for the first time owning the stove. There was hardly any ash in the stove or the pipe.

Any ideas why I can't keep the fire? Thanks everyone!! The temps are any from 15 to 45 degrees.

Chap


 
coalder
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Post by coalder » Tue. Dec. 27, 2022 4:46 pm

How are your gaskets around the load door & the glass? If they are worn, that would allow excess air to be drawn over the coal bed rather than thru it.
Jim

 
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Idlorah
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Post by Idlorah » Tue. Dec. 27, 2022 4:51 pm

What kind of flue setup do you have? Is it possible that you lost draft? (EX: clean out door on masonry chimney is open)
I also have noticed on my stove since I don't have a barometric damper that when OAT is below 10 I have excessive draft that makes the fire burn out extremely quick.

 
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CoalHeat
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Post by CoalHeat » Tue. Dec. 27, 2022 5:00 pm

The fire is going out and leaving unburnt coal inside the stove? Or is the stove burning all the coal up quickly and then going out?

If everything is the same (airtight stove, no issues with chimney) I'm gonna say you got into a bad batch of coal.

 
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ShawnLiNy
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Coal Size/Type: Nut

Post by ShawnLiNy » Tue. Dec. 27, 2022 5:06 pm

Get a flexible bbq lighter ( color baro with foil if applicable build a hot hot kindling fire , let it get going than shut everything down ) with lit bbq lighter check perimeter of feed door first ( gaskets cook and move over 2-3 yrs ) shaker pass through and finally ash door , it will be obvious if you have even a small leak , if nothing shows check back , sides for any cracks .

 
Thechap
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Post by Thechap » Tue. Dec. 27, 2022 5:24 pm

coalder wrote:
Tue. Dec. 27, 2022 4:46 pm
How are your gaskets around the load door & the glass? If they are worn, that would allow excess air to be drawn over the coal bed rather than thru it.
Jim
The door gasket is fine. The bottom door seal isn't the best. I wasn't to concerned with this. Right now I have the bottom door open but the coal still isn't burning.

 
Thechap
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Post by Thechap » Tue. Dec. 27, 2022 5:26 pm

CoalHeat wrote:
Tue. Dec. 27, 2022 5:00 pm
The fire is going out and leaving unburnt coal inside the stove? Or is the stove burning all the coal up quickly and then going out?

If everything is the same (airtight stove, no issues with chimney) I'm gonna say you got into a bad batch of coal.
I have been using the same coal as to when I started in September. I have coal left in the stove when it goes out, even with the bottom door open. This coal is the first ton I bought. I have about a 1/2 ton of it.


 
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ShawnLiNy
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Post by ShawnLiNy » Tue. Dec. 27, 2022 5:53 pm

Thechap wrote:
Tue. Dec. 27, 2022 5:26 pm
I have been using the same coal as to when I started in September. I have coal left in the stove when it goes out, even with the bottom door open. This coal is the first ton I bought. I have about a 1/2 ton of it.
After the updated info ( have you opened the pipe fly ash can pile up in any horizontal run , in top of stove , or elbow ) are you able to get an active wood fire or is that lazy ?

 
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warminmn
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Post by warminmn » Tue. Dec. 27, 2022 6:25 pm

Chimney cleanout door sealed shut?

 
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ShawnLiNy
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Post by ShawnLiNy » Tue. Dec. 27, 2022 9:28 pm

A picture or 20 would help clarify, hopefully you got it , last clean several years ago ( screams fly ash , I’ve had 3-4 year periods with nothing in a 3’ horizontal run and other single 5-6!week runs that have 3/4’ on bottom of pipe actually stops the mpd )

 
Bocephous
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Post by Bocephous » Wed. Dec. 28, 2022 8:10 am

warminmn wrote:
Tue. Dec. 27, 2022 6:25 pm
Chimney cleanout door sealed shut?
That would be my guess, as well.

 
Thechap
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Post by Thechap » Wed. Jan. 11, 2023 4:34 pm

A week or so ago I contacted the business I purchased the stove from and asked them to come clean the stove. The two gentlemen they sent cleaned the stove as well as the chimney. The chimney is stainless flu pipe without a clean out. They removed the pipe inside the house and sent the brush through the pipe. They were here a couple of hours. I mentioned that the load door seal was possibly bad because I could slide a dollar bill in the door when it was closed. They found the seal was bad and replaced it using a "Harman" door gasket. They did mentioned the gasket was small but should be okay. The bill for this visit was $272.00 Well the smaller seal didn't work and was worse than the one they removed. I called the same company yesterday and said the door seal was worse. The lady pulled the work order and said the gasket change wasn't noted on the work order and for them to return the bill would be a service call of $110.00 plus parts. The workers came today and replaced the door seal. I was told to keep the door closed for 24 hours for the glue dries. The bill for this circus was $130.00 I still question as to how long I have to wait before I can use the stove.

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Wed. Jan. 11, 2023 4:47 pm

Wow... A lot of that could have been avoided by installing a manometer, which is around a $50 investment or less. I can't believe a bad seal around the load door is the problem. It would need to let a copious amounts of air in over the fire to be a detriment to the primary combustion air. You would nearly need to have the load door open at least a half inch or more for it to cut off air coming in under the fire, provided that your draft is good.

 
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ShawnLiNy
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Post by ShawnLiNy » Wed. Jan. 11, 2023 5:05 pm

Thechap wrote:
Wed. Jan. 11, 2023 4:34 pm
A week or so ago I contacted the business I purchased the stove from and asked them to come clean the stove. The two gentlemen they sent cleaned the stove as well as the chimney. The chimney is stainless flu pipe without a clean out. They removed the pipe inside the house and sent the brush through the pipe. They were here a couple of hours. I mentioned that the load door seal was possibly bad because I could slide a dollar bill in the door when it was closed. They found the seal was bad and replaced it using a "Harman" door gasket. They did mentioned the gasket was small but should be okay. The bill for this visit was $272.00 Well the smaller seal didn't work and was worse than the one they removed. I called the same company yesterday and said the door seal was worse. The lady pulled the work order and said the gasket change wasn't noted on the work order and for them to return the bill would be a service call of $110.00 plus parts. The workers came today and replaced the door seal. I was told to keep the door closed for 24 hours for the glue dries. The bill for this circus was $130.00 I still question as to how long I have to wait before I can use the stove.
this is horrible service to leave you and not let you know when you can use it ( 4-5 hours is more than enough ) hopefully they used parchment or newspaper to prevent spilled glue on the mating side

 
Dreamcatcher
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Post by Dreamcatcher » Wed. Jan. 11, 2023 8:11 pm

I would try different coal the quality of the coal is a lot different then years past How often do you tend your stove ? I have found that with this coal you need to tend the stove more often I use to get 10 to 12 hrs now I getting 7 or 8 between shake downs if not I get a lot of unburnt coal and a lot of ash


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