Harman XXV Ignitor Lasts Only 2 1/2 months???

jobrien101 said:

Hi,

I'm new to this forum, but am starting my 5th season with my Harman XXV. I had to replace my ignitor last Febuary since it would no longer ignite. The ignitor worked on the stove when I first fired it up this week (it was cold here in central MA), but has since failed. I tried cleaning out the burn pot and vacuuming in the chamber where the ignitor sits, but still no ignition.
Anyway I called "The Stove Place" in Shrewsbury, MA where I purchased the stove and who put in the replacement ignitor. To my surprise they told me that the warranty expired on my replacement ignitor and I would have to come up with another $95 to get a new one. They told me that Harman does not warrantly replacement parts even though it was new and installed by them. I cannot believe that there is no warranty on replacement parts!! The Stove Place said they have a 30 day warranty on parts, but it is their warranty and not the manufacturers. Needless to say I am pissed off The ignitor lasted ~ 2 1/2 months; that is totally unacceptable to me.
To make a long story short what are my options, if any? Where can I purchase a new ignitor at a better price? I refuse to buy a new one for $95 if there is no guaraty on how long it will last. My previous one lasted ~ 3 1/2 seasons with no issues at all. Obviously no one cares about quality anymore. Did I mention that I am pissed off?

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A real bummer I`d say. That $95 bucks really cuts into any savings gained with a pellet stove not to mention the anger and frustration over 2 bad igniters already. And what`s to say the next one will last longer ?
Automatic ignition is fine but they really need to come up with a better (longer lasting) igniter.
Yup, Harman`s are among the best but like all pellet burners somethings gonna break down at some point and parts ain`t cheap let alone the labor. I just talked to a guy who ordered an auger motor, $130.00 for a 1 yr old stove. He`s not happy either.
I guess I`m not all that dissapointed I have to start my little P-38 manually. Once again for every positive there is a negative attached.

OK, here`s something I just pulled off the web that might help explain the igniter conundrum.

"Electric igniters use a 110 volt nicrome resistance wire encased in a high tempurature ceramic insulator that is prone to damage by physical shock or bending of the steel tube that surrounds the ceramic.

What happens is that the ceramic cracks & while the ignitor will still continue to function, the crack widens until eventually the nicrome wire touches the outside steel tube making a short to ground. This causes vastly increased current flow which burns out the nicrome wire leaving you with a open circuit.

The life of your ignitor is the condition of the ceramic insulator inside the steel tube & the condition of the ceramic is weather the ignitor steel tube was ever bent, or dropped or hit or bumped into,
either before or after installation. Subjected to any physical shock thqt might crack the ceramic.

The ceramic insulation also has a upper temperature limit ,over which it will not withstand more heat. This is determined by the grade of ceramic insulation and the length of “ON”
time of the ignitor.

The length of on time is determined by the computer control board of the stove & I am sure that stove mfg know how long a “on” cycle they can have without premature breakdown of the
ceramic insulator inside the ignitor.


Manuel operation vs wall thermostat opperation 11/1/08 new update

I just got off the phone with the mfg teck support for my pellet stove concerning my wanting to install a wall thermostat on my pellet stove so that I could let it run all night & the pellet stove would cycle on & off, from fire to no fire.
Aside from the wall thermostat costing $175.oo, I learned that the ignitor lifespan of 4 to 5 years on manuel opperation drops down to 1 year or less on wall thermostat opperation, because of the repeated off/on cycles
7 to 12 per night so that the electric ignitor sees 5 years worth of use in only 1 year of wall thermostat use.

The ignitor for my stove runs $90.oo +ship + handling + tax + installation , so this could be $160.oo a year
and I’m not sure that the thermostat could save 160.oo worth of pellets per year unelse pellets get a lot more expensive, which they probably will.

Anyways ,if $175.00 for a thermostat (one time only) & $160.oo for (an ignitor on a yearly basis) is ok for your budget, then a wall thermostat would be ok for you. I might install one when pellets go to $12.oo/bag because at that price, it would be cheaper to change the ignitor on a yearly basis.

There is also the option of setting up the thermostat so that it cycles from high pellet feed rate to low pellet feed rate, without opperating the electric ignitor so that the electric ignitor will last 4 to 5 years, as it does on manuel opperation.

This would provide a cycling between high heat & low heat, if that works out ok for your location. In my house
low pellet feed rate produces a 80 deg house when I wake up in the morning. So that wouldn’t help me at all.
Your situation might be very different, depending upon the heat output of your pellet stove & the size of your house."

I to replaced the ignitor last year. Cost me $70-90 bucks I think + the cost of the repair person to come out. I decided to have him come out since I didn't think the stove (Harman Advance) burned very clean and thought maybe there was some tuning he could do. I had played around with the draft settings, but it didn't seem to make any difference and expected him to know. He replaced the ignitor, but knew very little about the stove and didn't do anything with the draft settings. We disagreed on something (don't remember exactly what it was, but it was one of the modes), and he didn't believe me until I showed him the manual... You would think he should know better...

Anyway, the ignitor worked the first time I used it this fall, but has not worked since. Harman has realized that they can make a lot of money on this ignitor since it doesn't last very long, and they increased the price to $120! This is really bothering me... On top of that, the warranty is only 3 months... Has anyone tried to replace the ballast on these things. I see these kits on eBay, but would like to know if anyone has tried them.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Advance-Ballast...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2553d4f652

Overall, I am not very happy with Harmon products or their service and don't like to shell out $120/year for a small simple part like that.... I have called Harman a few times, but they are useless and only tell me to contact their dealer...

I start my Harmon in auto mode and immediately switch to manual, because I don't want the constant cycling on and off, because common sense told me that the ignitor could wear out pretty fast that way. If my ignitor goes, I guess I'll just start it myself with gel; I'm not going to pay in excess of $100 for an ignitor. I like my pellet stove, but it sure was not a great investment as far as ever being able to recoup the costs - it will never happen.

Starting to feel like my Ignitor is going to go at anytime after 2 years of operation. Has anyone found a place online to get replacement harman ignitors? Maybe I should by one to have on hand in case (or when) mine goes!! Love my harman but the ignitor seems to be a big weak point on these things!! I wonder why a ignitor on a gas fired hot water tank or furnace last so long?

Does it ignite in Auto mode?
I expect a product that cost $4000 to come with an igniter that last. The stove comes with an Auto mode that should work as specified. I have searched a few posts, and there are a lot of people having problems with the igniter. After all, it's not much more than a resistor. Other than the poor quality igniter, I am pretty happy with the stove.

amick780 said:

Starting to feel like my Ignitor is going to go at anytime after 2 years of operation. Has anyone found a place online to get replacement harman ignitors? Maybe I should by one to have on hand in case (or when) mine goes!! Love my harman but the ignitor seems to be a big weak point on these things!! I wonder why a ignitor on a gas fired hot water tank or furnace last so long?

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The igniters on Harman stoves are rubbish... An igniter on a gas hot water heater only has to ignite gas which lights easier than wood pellets. You can buy an igniter to the tune of $120 from a Harman dealer, but they only come with 3 month warranty, and that's about as long as it will last. Actually, it might last you one season, but still it will get expensive to replace it every year like a lot of people have to.

It also seems that you can buy these kits on eBay for $10 (see link above or try searching on eBay), but I have not tried it. The price sounds about right since these are very simple parts and shouldn't cost anything near $120 that Harman charge for them. It's basically the ballast on the igniters that goes bad from what I hear. I'd like to hear if anyone has tried these kits before I buy one.

eikeland said:

I see these kits on eBay, but would like to know if anyone has tried them.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Advance-Ballast...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2553d4f652

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That absolutely will not work on a pellet stove. It's a ignitor for a Metal Halide light fixture. It basically sparks the lamp and causes the tube inside the lamp to start glowing and exciting all the gasses.

I believe you... I wasn't careful enough looking at the post It did look like it was a part that would fit inside the igniter, I just assumed it was for a Harman Advance...
Thanks for pointing this out...

Not to rub salt into a wound here, but the '04 Avalon Astoria that I sold recently still had the original ignitor in it. I even bought a spare, but never needed it...it's for sale here on the sale/wanted forum.

Well I certainly jinxed myself, Ignitor on my XXV went last night, called the dealer this morning he told me to bring the old one down and he would give me a new one. Hate the fact that the ignitor went but happy with the dealer service.

amick780 said:

..... called the dealer this morning he told me to bring the old one down and he would give me a new one. Hate the fact that the ignitor went but happy with the dealer service.

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Yep, sounds like a good dealer. I'm guessing the stove is out of warranty for the ignitor? Any chance that Harman knows there's an issue w/ the ignitors, and is replacing them if customer complains on short life?

I remembered someone posting this site last season. I have never bought from them or know anyone that has, but if it's cheap enough it might be worth a shot.

http://www.vulcanelectric.com/busin.../heaters/heaters_models4.php?ID=Heaters_4#1/4

macman said:

amick780 said:

..... called the dealer this morning he told me to bring the old one down and he would give me a new one. Hate the fact that the ignitor went but happy with the dealer service.

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Yep, sounds like a good dealer. I'm guessing the stove is out of warranty for the ignitor? Any chance that Harman knows there's an issue w/ the ignitors, and is replacing them if customer complains on short life?

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The ignitors are warranted in the original stove for 2 years, I beleive, and replacement ignitors for 60 days. Yes, ignitor pricing has jumped considerably in the last few months, and thats the pricing to the dealers...most dealers charge about $90-$95 for one. There have been a couple igniter iterations, but the newest ones seem to have a striped wire....I think this is a 310 watt igniter, and there seems to be alot of optimism at Harman that this is "the one". Odd, in that the first harman with autoignition, the Advance, had a 285 watt ignitor, and those things tended to last.....years.....Ive seen several Advances we sold with original ignitors....oh, and help your dealer out, bring your stove serial number with you when you pick up the igniter....they will need it to get reimbursed.

Picked up new Ignitor today, was told it was a new design, the old one had stripped wires, the new one has beefed up insulation for the first few inches. Was told that the old insulation was the most common point of failure. I guess time will tell. Home to install it tonight.

This is why I like our pellet stove. No ignitor needed. I can handle squirting some gel in the pot once a month after I shut it down to empty the ash pan. Maybe you can contact your dealer and tell them it only lasted 2 months and they can sell you one at cost