I would not recomend an Harman to anybody.

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Amaralluis

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Dec 14, 2005
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Just a bit of a rant, but after owing an accentra for three years now and with all the problems I have had so far, and based on the numerous posts on this forum about all sorts of Harman problems, if someone asked if I would recommend purchasing an Harman I would say without hesitation with resounding "NO!".

When I decided to buy a pellet stove I went with Harman because all over the place it said they were top quality and the best brand period.
I paid top dollar for a stove that has seen 7 ignitors in over three years. I am afraid to use the automatic ignition mode which is one of the selling features of the stove because the ignitor might die prematurely.
I am reading about feeder problems, blower problems, auger problems, What kind of engineers researched these stoves?
Ignitors that dont last long, requires constant scrapping of the burn pot because of buildup. auger cracking, small ash pan that doesnt cover the whole stove making having ash all over the place, gumminess of the feed plate, etc etc etc.

Definitely Harman does not deserve to be classified as top of the line.
I am disappointed.
 
Sounds like you should have done a little more research, you do have to clean under the burn grate amybe twice a year if you are doing all that scraping. Your model does require to have the ash pan empty sooner than other models. P61 or P68 you can go a month or so without dumping the ash pan.
 
Is the ignitor the only issue you are having. I agree that 7 in 3 years is much, but what kind of upkeep have you been practicing? If you feel that you truly have a defective unit and the dealer has stopped working with you, it may be a good idea to take the issue further up the chain. I would begin by contacting Harman, go up their chain if you cannot get help; but, please keep in mind that a majority of stove problems are related to the units cleanliness.
 
My stove is working and compared to other people with Harmans, I am lucky.
I just had another ignitor installed. The new one is different from the other, so I am hoping it will last longer. But I am always afraid of using it.
This weekend I had the chain jump off the motor sprocket, so I am hoping that it was just a lube problem.

But I disagree that most of the problems are attributed to lake of cleaning. Ignitor replacement, auger cracking, feeder motors burning are not symptoms of bad cleaning.

And yes I do regular burnpot scrapping and a more detailed scrubbing when the ash pan is full.
In the spring I clean everything including the pipe.

From my experience with the Accentra and from what I read here, the stoves are simply badly designed. The ignitor and feeding system are not great and fail too much. Just have to look at the different modifications that Harman has made to the burnpot with the latest models. It tells you alot when they stopped putting burnpots with the five holes at the bottom of the burnpot which was supposed to fix buildup, they simply dont know what they are doing.

Its an overpriced piece of equipment riddled with problems... my advice? Buy something else.
 
We just bought our 2nd XXV, despite a couple of problems with the 1st stove. After looking around, our 2nd choice was a Mt. Vernon & we decided that we were better of sticking with the stove we know than taking on all of the problems with the Mt. Vernon. So while there have been issues, we felt that this was our best option. Since our auger tube replacement on the 1st stove & some subsequent adjustments by the dealer, that stove is running great now. I end up scraping the burn pot down once a week & do a more thorough cleaning every other week & that's when I empty the ash pan & vacuum out the stove. I don't think there's a stove on the market that doesn't have issues of one sort or another. These stoves are much more complicated than a wood stove & we knew that going into this. I do agree that not enough research/testing is done on these stoves before putting them out in the field (that's where the real testing occurs!).
 
We have been running our Accentra inset for 3 years with out a single problem. Burn around 5 tons every season in auto mode and still on the original igniter ( I have a spare on hand just in case). I can't say enough about the reliability of this stove. I guess it's the luck of the draw when it comes to pellet stoves.
 
We've had our Accentra for 5 years now, and the only problems I've had were self induced. The only part that has actually failed was the door gasket, and that's probably more of wear item. These stoves require a good deal of maintenance, stuff that isn't even mentioned in the manuals, but if maintained seem pretty robust.
 
I can understand your frustration and will not attempt to change your mind
but IMO.....no pelletstove is fool proof.

Just because someone is having an issue with their stove does not mean everyone will.
 
I can also understand your frustration....7 ignitors! Thats alot. A question though? How much have you had to pay our of pocket for repairs? has the dealer forsaken you as a "person who just shouldnt have a pellet stove"? I hope not. has the dealer, and Harman, attempted to fix all these issues?

From what I see, your issues are mostly with ignitors, which is an acknowledged problem with the units produced at the time of your own. As for gummy stoves, worn auger tubes, etc, they also happen, although not very commonly at all. You must understand that MANY folks read these forums, and some folks use them as a forum to vent. You see alot of complaints here, but not many "atta boys"!, and i contend that there are ALOT more "atta boys" than "this damn stove"....its just that you dont hear it. The stoves produced today are head and shoulders above units produced 15 years ago.

If you wouldnt reccommend Harman, which stove would you reccommend? I dont think you can reccommend one over another without giving another brand the same shot at "screwing up" as well.

Harman P61, on 8th season, burn it 24/7, original EVERYTHING. It doesnt owe me anything.
 
go buy an englander then tell me about having to clean it... or having to have the dealer come to your house (oh, wait, they don't have service guys that come to your house...)
 
2 Seasons and 10 tons through my HARMON P61A and not a single breakdown. Works like a charm, all day, every day, October to April.
 
summit said:
go buy an englander then tell me about having to clean it... or having to have the dealer come to your house (oh, wait, they don't have service guys that come to your house...)
Click to expand...

Yeah, as good as they are they also get dirty and have to be cleaned but no harder or time consuming to clean than most others.
 
summit said:
go buy an englander then tell me about having to clean it... or having to have the dealer come to your house (oh, wait, they don't have service guys that come to your house...)
Click to expand...

That's funny summit. Go buy a Harman and then move. Try to get the local dealer to come out and fix your stove. Or try to call Harman about a problem.
 
Any stove manufacture can make a lemon. It happens to the best of them. But after 7 igniters I would be looking into other items within the stove. At least check the voltage supply and how much is supplied to the igniter by the control panel. I would be a bit ticked too I guess.

Anyway to reduce the amount of restarts with the stove to extend igniter life?
 
BrotherBart said:
summit said:
go buy an englander then tell me about having to clean it... or having to have the dealer come to your house (oh, wait, they don't have service guys that come to your house...)
Click to expand...

That's funny summit. Go buy a Harman and then move. Try to get the local dealer to come out and fix your stove. Or try to call Harman about a problem.
Click to expand...


Hm.....not picking on any stove company, BUUUUT, try to get a local dealer to come out and fix your Englander........maybe the high school kid who sold you the unit (Im sure they are certified, right?), will come out and fix it for you........?
 
jtakeman said:
Any stove manufacture can make a lemon. It happens to the best of them. But after 7 igniters I would be looking into other items within the stove. At least check the voltage supply and how much is supplied to the igniter by the control panel. I would be a bit ticked too I guess.

Anyway to reduce the amount of restarts with the stove to extend igniter life?
Click to expand...

One way would be to clean the igniter frequently....7 ignitors IS ridiculous.......I am wondering about electrical supply in the area, or possible wiring idiosynchracies in the home.........or, maybe as luck would have it, the owner was extremely unlucky....cant really rule that out either.....im still wondering of the dealer took care of all those via the warrantee.....if so, at least they fixed it......so far....
 
<>Anyway to reduce the amount of restarts with the stove to extend igniter life?<>

Yep. Run it on "Stove Temp." The igniter will only be needed for the initial fire-up.
As long as the hopper has pellets, & the burn pot gets an "every-other-day-scrape" it'll keep burning.
I run my P43 on low Stove Temp almost exclusively.
Every 3 weeks, I shut er down & clean everything.

Harman DID experience a BIG batch of bad igniters a couple years back.
The OP may have single-handedly cleared em from inventory!
 
Seems the P-series direct drive are much more reliable. Never had even the smallest problem on mine except for burn pot fitments (needed 2 seconds of grinding to fix).
 
mascoma said:
2 Seasons and 10 tons through my HARMON P61A and not a single breakdown. Works like a charm, all day, every day, October to April.
Click to expand...

Same here!
Sorry to see an unhappy Harman owner.
Clean burnpot every 1-1.5 weeks. (carbon quite thick)
Clean ignitor area twice/month. (Still have original one)
Empty ash pan every 3-4 weeks.
Burning NEWP 24/7; Oct to April also.

**Run in room temp mode**
 
christopher75 said:
Souzafone said:
These stoves require a good deal of maintenance, stuff that isn't even mentioned in the manuals, but if maintained seem pretty robust.
Click to expand...

What maintainence is not covered in the manual?? Just want to make sure that I stay on top of things.
Click to expand...

Before responding I will say that with the help of this sight I downloaded an updated version of the manual for my Harman P61A. Had I not been on this sight regularly I would not have known that the manual was updated from when I bought mine to now.

One item that was not mentioned, even a little bit in my manual is the fine deflector plate, taking that off and vacumming it out.

I guess one of my main issues with the Harman Manual is how VAGUE it is.
 
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