No Heat Output from Harman Accentra Insert

I have a Harman Accentra Insert, that was purchased in 2008. For the last two years, I don't seem to get the same heat output that I had previously gotten. With the exception of the below zero days, I used to burn very little oil. Now, even when it is 25 or 30 degrees I am using oil to keep the house up to temperature. I had the dealer come in late last season and check it out, and they couldn't find any issues. They said that both the ESP sensor and the control board were OK. They then cleaned it and charged me $200 for the service call.

Symptoms:

Lack of heat

pellets don't fill up the burn pot when burning. Have a good 2 inches or more of ash, even when the stove is on high.

With everything on high, both in room temperature mode and stove temp mode, the longest pellet feed time is less then 40 seconds.

Occasional 3 blinking light hinting of ESP Sensor problems, stove cleaning seems to correct it.

Flat spots on all three stove control switches that were fixed with electronics cleaner.

I can fill the burn pot and get great heat like I was used to, by flipping the stove into test mode over and over again to feed pellets.

I would think that when everything is on high that I could make pellets spill over the lip and get longer feed times if there is a demand for heat.

My thoughts are that either the control board is going bad or the ESP Sensor is going bad. I don't want to pay the dealer another $200 for a service call, because that would go a long way in covering the cost of replacing theses parts.

My question today is which part do you think is causeing the problem and should be replaced first?

Thanks for your imput.

fmsm said:

No disrespect to your dealer but I'm thinking it is a combination of still being dirty and perhaps a side order of pellet quality. What are you burning for pellets? I know in my stoves I get great heat output without "filling" the burnpot with pellets.

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I have always burned Okanagan pellets. I also keep the stove clean. When it is dirty, I can feel the difference.

mrjoshuanyc said:

Where do you store your pellets? Make sure all the vents are cleaned well.

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Pellets are stored in the garage, and I regularly clean and vacuum the heat exchanger, which is after a half ton or when I see ash build ton up.

P38X2 said:

What does the flame look like? Vigorous? Pointy tips? When it's cranking, is there a lot of fire? Does the distribution fan stay on or does it act erratic?

Could be a number of things. Gaskets all good? Given the fact you say you can't really get a good fire going, I'm leaning towards a flakey ESP or a funky potentiometer. I think I'd give the former a shot first, as they're only about $50 and fairly straightforward to replace.

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Everything works well, as I have been used too. The problem I have is that when I have a real demand for heat, due to the outside temp dropping, the stove doesn't accelerate the pellet feed. The first four years of using the stove, when outside temp was 0-10 degrees, I would burn between 2.5 to 3 bags in 24 hours. Now in the cold we are having now, I am burning 1.5 ti 2 bags in 24 hours.