interesting sandy. i knew the vit k treatment but i didn't realize it was heparin! which leads me to my mystery, though i never would use poison bait. it is all this talk of rats and mice. someone is trying to move into my romeo's sleeping box in the shed. but my reason for posting is quite hilarious- he went to investigate why my 15 some pound bag of composted manure was moving. i am standing at the back door and hear "SQUEEK!" i wish i saw it, but alas i had only my tshirt and undies on and it was still daylight. hey, i work midnights, ok? :) i had a mental picture of it jumping in the air and squeaking at the same time. the big oaf ran out of the shed, belly to the ground, and wanted back in the house. that surprised me. my old man at romeo's age would have had his whiskers twitching in anticipation. so, my mystery continues....though maybe in the process we have discouraged our visitor. i also took the top off his sleeping box to make it less inviting. i have found no rear projectiles. i am also considering leaving the feeders empty for awhile. i would hate to do that. just sharing a story. i didn't want to start a thread just for it. it almost applies.

Identifying your poop may be important. Years ago a Cal. State pathologist lectured the microscope society we attend about racoon roundworm, Baylisascaris procyonis. Racoons make "latrines", as in a family will all go in the same place all the time. He discussed how a suburban family had a neighbor who would leave 50lb. bags of pelletted dogfood in a vacant lot for the furry banditos. Racoons used the roof of the house next door as a latrine, but the owners didn't realize that. Every rain the poop came down in their toddler son's sandbox. The sandbox was now full of racoon roundworms in which the child played and of course wasn't wearing gloves or washing hands before sticking them in his mouth. The child became infested and the parasites went to his brain which they damaged, permanently. I don't know what racoon poop looks like, but clearly other folks on this list do and it would be worth showing them your poop, and being careful about said poop.

first and formost there is are some real good pellet experts over at www.hearth.com. There is a harmon dealer that posts there with the handle of harryback. PL pipe is a specific kind of pipe listed for pellet stove installates going through combustable walls. When you reline the chimney you us stainless steel liner, (rigid or flex) you dont want to use double wall because of the corrosion and moisture issues. You cant hook up a stronger exaust blower for two reason, that would void the listing and warrenty of the stove, second, it would change the combustion properties of the stove and make the stove burn different then designed. Harmon makes a fine stove, so does lopi and quad. Harmons are bottem feed stoves, quad and lopi are top feed stoves. Bottem feed stoves can burn a wide varitey of fuels, but jam easier. Top feed stoves are hard to jam, but have less fuel options. There are more differences then that but thats the basic stuff. All pellet stoves are potential problems. Most all are extremly safe, but they will require maintenace and can break down. Most dont work when then power is out so you need a battery backup if thats a concern. Pellet fuel is expensive. Its alot more then natural gas but cheaper then oil or propane. If you have natrual gas in your home, its a very cheap way to zone heat with very little maintenace and they work with the power out. HTH

Anyone replace their auger on a Harman Pellet stove Accentra auger and know the procedure? Mine never really looked right from the start, it look liked you took a file and filed it thin on both sides about 11-15 mm on the end, looked flat spoonish on the end. You coud see the metal curl over time and sure enough the tip has broken off. I am not sure if it hurts performs having the tip of the auger missing but at some point I would like to replace it. Anyone have instructions on doing this. About Harman, this is a love/hate relationship: Couple of things I dislike about Harman and something to keep in mind, Harman Company itself will not help you, if you do get replies they are vague to the point of useless, usually referencing you to a local dealer as the main point. What local dealer? I had to drive 3 hours to the nearest retailer to buy the stove. Many Harman dealers will give you the cold shoulder if they know how far away you are from them. They see less interested in selling you a part and instructions wanting to install it, having one of their people work on it. With my old sheet metal Breckwell that rattled like a tank, Breckwell listed each part number in the manual, if you were the orginial owner and could prove it they would sell you the part at a huge discount, give you instructions. Most of the motors in a Breckwell are standard stuff and working on a Breckwell is like working on a lawn mower. Breckwell seem to understand local dealers come and go, not located in every city, people move with their stoves, aka move away from dealers, and that these things are long term investments. I like the auto running model of the Harman over the Breckwell but if I were located in Alaska I would take a Russian like built Breckwell over a Harman any day. I gave away my old Breckwell, it was a 1990 model, it is on its fourth owner. Gee.