Harman Stove Company SF-150 SF-250 manual Operating Instructions, Starting a Wood Fire

One-eighth to 1/4" accumulation on interior parts is normal. The most important area is between the pipes indicated by the arrow in Figure 6. Under normal operation it is not necessary to clean the cham- ber. Excessive accumulation will only occur when wood is burned very slowly for long periods of time. If this is the case, we recommend you clean the chamber and burn the stove hotter. If the extra heat from the hotter fire is too much for your home, switching to coal, in the warmer months may be the answer.

We recommend you check yourFigure 6 interior spiral chamber once a year.

11. Operating Instructions

Add small, compact pieces of hard- wood when the kindling is burning hot. Keep the draft controls fully open to establish a hot fire quickly. The ash door also may be opened during start-up to accelerate the ini- tial burn.

When a substantial bed of red wood coals are built up, start adding coal (pea or nut is preferred to stove coal for starting) small amounts at a time. Keep the draft control open.

Continue adding small amounts of coal until there is a solid bed of burning coal. Do not add too much at one time. Allow sufficient time between each small loading (at least 5-10 minutes), so that each loading has time to ignite thoroughly before the next load is put in. When a sub- stantial bed of burning coals has

11.1Starting a Wood Fire

Take about eight sheets of newspa- per, crumble up into balls and place on top of grates on dual fuel models and on the firebrick in the wood models. Next, lay some fine kindling on top of the paper. This kindling must be dry and no larger than 3/4" diameter and should be layered in a criss-cross pattern to allow good air flow. Then, lay some slightly larger pieces (2" diameter) of wood on top of the kindling. Open draft controls fully and light the paper at the bot- tom just inside the door. Now, close loading door (also ash removal door on dual-fuel models) and allow kin- dling and wood to catch fire. After about five minutes, open loading door an inch or two for a few sec- onds before opening completely. This method will allow the smoke to clear away from the door opening. Now the fire should be well-estab- lished and ready for some larger wood. Add four or five pieces of 3" to 4" diameter wood. Close door and let burn for about 5-10 minutes. Now open loading door using the same method as before and load stove with wood to the desired full- ness. All Harman wood and dual fuel stoves may be loaded with wood as

full as possible for high output and long burn time. Then close the door and allow all the wood to catch fire . After all the wood is burning well, you may reduce the air entering the f i rebox by turning the draft contro l s c l o c k w i s e .

WARNING! DO NOT CLOSE BOTH DRAFT CONTROLS ON LOADING DOOR AT ONCE AND THEN OPEN THE DOOR, AS THIS WILL CAUSE AN EXPLO- SION OF THE UNBURNED GASES IN THE FIREBOX!

Close and open the draft controls one at a time to the desired setting. This setting should normally be between one and two turns. Less than one turn will cause excessive creosote buildup and over two turns may cause excessive heat.

NOTE: EACH STEP IN THIS PROCESS WILL TAKE LONGER IF YOUR WOOD IS DAMP OR WET AND WILL INCREASE SMOKE. Normally the bottom draft control is kept closed to burn wood.

11.2Starting a Coal Fire

Start a fire using the same proce- dure as for wood.

been established, fill the stove to the top of the firebrick. A deep bed of coal always will burn more satisfac- torily than a shallow bed.

When most of the wood is burned and the coal is completely ignited (usually 5-10 minutes or less after filling the stove), the draft control should be turned down to the prop- er operating level. (If the ash door has been opened, it must be closed to prevent overfiring, which can cause dangerously high tempera- tures.)

11.3Loading

Coal should never be added unless there is a reasonable hot fire. The coal bed should be bright and vigor- ous.

If the fire is burning hot and there is a deep bed of coals, full loads of coal can be added at any time. However, if there is not a deep bed of coals, it is best to add small amounts of coal at first.

11.4Increasing Heat From a Low Fire

Every effort should be made not to let a coal fire burn too long so that