Not sure what to do now.(Update)

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BigCheese

New Member
Jan 1, 2010
16
Western CT
I have a free standing Accentra and I keep getting 6 blink status code. The stove is clean and I removed the ESP probe and cleaned that as well. I had another 6 blink this morning after running for more than 24 hours. It seems to happen if the feed rate gets set higher than 3. I am running the fan on high with stove temp setting 6 and feed at 3. Could the probe be bad? Its the only thing left. The thing that boggles me is that it will run for a day with no problems and then throw a code.
 
I did read both of those threads before I posted, Thats why I dont know what to do now, I didnt get a clear cut answer out of them. I did a test on the stove today. It ran fine all morning on a feed setting of 3. I turned the feed to 4 and about an 1 or 2 later I got the 6 blinks. The stove is clean there is no bridging pellets are feeding fine. I think its a bad ESP, just looking for input.
 
BigCheese said:
I did read both of those threads before I posted, Thats why I dont know what to do now, I didnt get a clear cut answer out of them. I did a test on the stove today. It ran fine all morning on a feed setting of 3. I turned the feed to 4 and about an 1 or 2 later I got the 6 blinks. The stove is clean there is no bridging pellets are feeding fine. I think its a bad ESP, just looking for input.

You didn't get a clear cut answer because that stupid 6 blink code can be caused by a long, long list of things.

Starting with the old reliable dirty stove issue (including crud in your vacuum tube).

You have to eliminate every thing on the list including defective probes and vacuum switch.
 
well, the stove is clean, the air intake is clear, the vent is clear, the vaccum switch is new, the hose is clear, the blower fan is clean, all the gaskets are good, the ESP probe is clean and shiny but the original. I guess i'll go get the new probe tomorrow.
 
Thanks smokey, after looking at everything I really think its the probe. I didnt get out to get the new one today but the stove has been running fine all day on a feed rate of 3. I bumped it up to 4 for a couple of hours and never got the error like I have been. Thanks.
 
I bought the new ESP today and went to put it in and the diameter is larger than the one that came out. My stove is about 5 years old, the probe looks the same just a little larger. I know Harman changed a few things over the years, is the size of the probe one of them or did they just give me the wrong one? Can I open the hole to accomodate the new probe?
 
I was getting a 6 blink code on my Advance and went through all the steps that was presented to me. I went out and changed the ESP probe, when I picking up my probe the dealer said did you clean out your Tee, I did the leaf blower procedure a week ago, so I though it was clean, so I came home and removed the cap on the bottom of the Tee, and to my surprise a good amount of ash came out, sealed it back up and it has been running, give it a shot you never know!!!!!
 
I dont have a tee on mine. Its vented up the chimney. I disconnect the pipe from the back of the stove and run a brush up with a vaccum hose attached. the stove is running now with the old ESP, we'll see how long it lasts.
 
BigCheese said:
I bought the new ESP today and went to put it in and the diameter is larger than the one that came out. My stove is about 5 years old, the probe looks the same just a little larger. I know Harman changed a few things over the years, is the size of the probe one of them or did they just give me the wrong one? Can I open the hole to accomodate the new probe?

Just looked at the part numbers, turns out they gave me the wrong probe. According to the owners manual I needed part 3-20-00844 they gave me 3-20-00744 which is for a PC45.
 
Im not sure what I did different but after cleaning the stove again last night and not replacing the ESP because it was wrong, the stove has been blasting heat. The best heat all year, maybe even last year. 59 degrees in the house when I was done cleaning the stove, 72 by morning, had to back it down. No codes yet, maybe there was a piece of crud I missed or something. Good thing is I get my $60 back.

I must say after looking around this site I have learned a lot about my stove. Thank you.
 
BigCheese said:
Im not sure what I did different but after cleaning the stove again last night and not replacing the ESP because it was wrong, the stove has been blasting heat. The best heat all year, maybe even last year. 59 degrees in the house when I was done cleaning the stove, 72 by morning, had to back it down. No codes yet, maybe there was a piece of crud I missed or something. Good thing is I get my $60 back.

I must say after looking around this site I have learned a lot about my stove. Thank you.

Hello. This is the thread I started: https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/49226/P0/ for the same reasons you started this one. I am still in the process of figuring mine out, but I think I am finally on the right track. I also got a new probe, P/N 1-00-0074, which fit properly into my stove, however this is a probe you splice into the old probe wiring. It comes with splice clamps and is a genuine Harman part. The original manual for my stove (Accentra 2) states the P/N is 1-20-00744. I figured the middle number being different is due to the fact that the replacement probe has splice contacts rather than a plug for the control board. In any case, the replacement probe made no difference whatsoever. And since I installed it I can't return it and am out $50. If you look at post #33 in the above mentioned thread I posted pictures of my slide plate, auger and bottom of hopper. It is clear that I have a gummy stove. Do you have smoke in the hopper when pellets are relatively low? about 2/3 down or so? Almost empty hopper. Open the lid and if there is smoke in the hopper it is bad and you probably have a gummy stove. As I understand it the smoke in the hopper means combustion gases with sticky stuff are going up the auger and are gumming up the works. After a while the slide plate get cruddy (see pics of mine) and stops feeding pellets consistently. Sometimes it will feed and sometimes not. When it has problem feeding pellets you get a 6 blink shut down. It may depend on humidity of the intake air, etc. One thing for sure is it's inconsistent and the stove will run for days fine and then will shut down several times a day. I am going to perform a thorough cleaning of the feeder using hot water, which is supposed to remove all the gummy crap in the feeder which was accumulated due to smoke going back there. Then I am going to perform one of the fairly simple mods to the feeder. I am not going to elaborate yet before I try it and see how it works. All I can tell you is let the stove run out of pellets, then pull the slide plate out and see if it has gummy deposits. If it does, you may be in the same boat as me. I also pulled the auger and found it to be gummy all the way back to the end opposite of the fire end. That's no good. The bottom of my hopper has a brownish ring on it left by all the smoke. Another sign of gummy stove. I also discovered that if I run outside air via a Harman thimble device I get smoke in hopper (which leads to trouble down the road), if I disconnect the outside air and use room air for combustion then I get no smoke. I could just leave it be and use inside ai, I suppose, but I think outside air is better and a more sound idea (using cold outside air to burn and exhaust rather than the air the stove is working to heat up).

Good luck and let us know what happens I will post my results after the cleaning and the mod are done.
 
Everything is nice and clean, no smoke in the hopper or gummy stove. The stove is burning strong and hot with no codes. It is keeping 1800 sq. feet at 68 degrees set on stove temp 4 and feed 3 and the fan on almost high about 80%. I hope it lasts. One things for sure, I am going to be more diligent when cleaning the stove.
 
BigCheese said:
Everything is nice and clean, no smoke in the hopper or gummy stove. The stove is burning strong and hot with no codes. It is keeping 1800 sq. feet at 68 degrees set on stove temp 4 and feed 3 and the fan on almost high about 80%. I hope it lasts. One things for sure, I am going to be more diligent when cleaning the stove.

Sounds great! When cleaning make sure all the air holes in the burn pot are open. Sometimes you get a carbon build-up that will block some of the lower holes and this will cause shut-downs. Also keep an eye on that smoke in the hopper. It's a killer and can develop after a period of time in use.

Just out of curiosity, why are you not using "Room Temp" mode? I find that Room Temp mode produces much more even temperature in the room. Also, the feed rate of 4 is what's recommended as a "default" setting and is said to be too low for maximum heat output. As I understand it, the feed rate setting is not really a rate setting, but rather a limit of time the auger motor is allowed to run at any one time. So, in theory, even setting the feed rate to maximum should not produce a wasteful use of fuel. I may be wrong on this, of course, but that's my understanding. Also, on low heat mode the feed rate setting is ignored anyway.
 
When I first got the stove I used room temp for 2 years then it started acting funny. The temp wasnt right or the stove would go off. I switched it to stove temp and had great results and have left it that way ever since.
 
BigCheese said:
When I first got the stove I used room temp for 2 years then it started acting funny. The temp wasnt right or the stove would go off. I switched it to stove temp and had great results and have left it that way ever since.

Maybe the room temp probe is bad.
 
BigCheese, glad to see you got the stove back running right.

But your problem brings me back to what many of us say over and over and over to people that have problems....CLEAN THE STOVE!!!! Smokey said it in his 2nd post.....possible dirty stove.

And usually, we get the same response you gave in 3 posts "The stove is clean". Well, as you found out, the vent pipe is part of the stove system and that wasn't clean.

As Krooser's signature says, 80% of stove problems are due to a dirty stove. One things for certain, your stove and pipe will be cleaned correctly from now on. :)
 
BigCheese said:
BigCheese said:
I bought the new ESP today and went to put it in and the diameter is larger than the one that came out. My stove is about 5 years old, the probe looks the same just a little larger. I know Harman changed a few things over the years, is the size of the probe one of them or did they just give me the wrong one? Can I open the hole to accomodate the new probe?

Just looked at the part numbers, turns out they gave me the wrong probe. According to the owners manual I needed part 3-20-00844 they gave me 3-20-00744 which is for a PC45.

You can use that probe, just tap out the hole to 5/32". If the probe has red wires you'll have to change dip switch #5 on your cb to the other position. Other than that its just beefier than the original.
 
vferdman . the room temp probe could be bad but I dont care. The stove temp is working great.

Macman , you got that right, I have learned so much about that stove in the last few days. NO MORE DIRTY STOVE.

Delta-T , Thanks for letting me know I can drill it out. As of right now it seems that a dirty vent pipe was the problem.
 
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