We just cleaned our stove and now it keeps feeding pellets but won’t ignite. I tried unplugging, resetting, emptying front tray, and even manual lighting (no gel).  I can’t get a fire started and I can’t get the pellet feed to stop!

You may have a bad ignitor.  Does the burn pot get hot after you restart the stove
and let it feed for a few minutes?  Make sure all ventilation holes in the burn pot
are open and not plugged with ash or caked on carbon.  Also, tap the burnpot to
knock down all ash laying on top of the ignitor and empty the burn pot clean out
door.

It’s getting warm but no ignite.  I think the burn pot is clean, she vacuumed the darn thing.

Correction - After turning it off and back on, it sat another few minutes, then started smoking terribly (inside) and now I’ve got a raging fire which looks like it will explode through the roof!

And Harmon doesn’t talk about this issue!

Usually, the fire will be “tall” after the stove has been initially lit on “auto” mode.
This should calm down after a few minutes and then catch up after the feed mechanism
starts to feed more pellets in.  You may have to adjust the pellet feed level slightly lower.

Did you clean out the ignitor home under the burnpot? Mine has a couple of wingnuts and a cover to remove.
Also make sure you put the ignitor wires back into it correctly. I am sure the manual says something about it.
You will have a hard time starting the stove in manual mode without starter gel.
Just my 2 cents.

The ignitor is on its last legs and it wont be long before it stops working altogether.
How do I know? No reason, only I am on my fourth one in less than two years.

Hammerjoe is right.  I posted a thread to Accentra Problems posted by Noheat in november with my igniter story if you want to read it.  The igniter is simple to replace however there seems to be a serious problem developing with the igniter that is supposed to be the best on the market.  It’s actually on back order at the factory for a while, so unless it’s in stock with a dealer, there are no more for distribution yet.

We have a P68 and the ignitor died last weekend.  A quick call to our dealer on Saturday had us use a gel to restart while a new ignitor was being shipped.  That worked out OK for the interim.  Today (Thursday, 1/24) the dealer was here with the new ignitor and replaced it without incident.  He advised there is a known problem with the ignitors and he was on his way to replace another (this was the 10th he’s replaced).  As an aside, he mentioned that we had a potential problem in running the stove in “room temp” as when it cycles down it causes a low burn near the auger and that results in a build-up of carbon which can clog/damage the auger.  He recommended we run in “stove” mode and just turn the stove to “off” when the desired temp is reached.  That sounds like it defeats the reason we bought the stove in the first place (the ability to automatically control the room temp and turn itself on/off as needed).  Anyone else have this issue?  Right now we’re running it in stove mode and have the feed at “4” and the temp dial at “4 or 5” depending on how warm we want the area.  Thanks in advance for any input . . .

In the accentra, I’m sure its the same for your P68, stove mode is primarily used for viewing rather than heat.  The idea is that when a temp setting is under 5 the distribution blower will not operate.  The feed rate can be turned up and it will produce a larger fire.  In my accentra the window is large and the view is great.  I mention this because heating efficiency is compromised in how you are running your stove.  Feed rate burns more fuel for a taller flame but doesn’t distribute the heat into the room.  There’s heat for sure but it is operating like a radiator instead.  Now that you have a new igniter, run the stove in room temp like you bought it for.  The stove shuts off at the desired temp and restarts as needed.  The service guy you were talking to is likely referring to the way you have to run the stove with no igniter, which is manual mode.  In this mode the stove does not shut off.  It just burns at the lowest possible setting until the room temp probe requires more heat to stay at the setting you selected.  I am forced to do this everytime I lose an igniter because my stove is my primary source of heat.  Restarting with Gel each time is both time consuming and inconvenient.

Not familiar with the Harman but I’ve found that using a map gas or propane torch to start the pellets manually is less trouble than messing with the gel.

The Accentra/Advance (I think my XXV needs it too) has a modification where 5 holes get drilled into the burn pot near the auger.  This is to help prevent the carbon build-up.  Only the newer stoves come from the dealer with the mod.  My dealer told me that mine should have it since i bought it in May.  It does not.  I also get smoke in my hopper when the pellets are low.  There is a mod for that as well.  Mine does not have it.  Apperently Harman has only issued that mod for the Accentra and Advance, but I know mine needs it.  I’ll be talking to my dealer about it soon.

Thanks HV14, pegdot and Stilllife1 for the information.  We’ve switched back to room temp mode.  I’ll ask our dealer about the mod to the burn pot.  I figure we have another 18 months on the 3-year warranty so if the igniter dies again it will still be covered.