Chirping sound coming from back of Harman P38

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.

rhschumaker

Member
Mar 18, 2008
37
Western MA
We have a Harman p38 that we bought in 2007. Stopped blowing hot air yesterday, cleaned the esp probe today and was running fine. However, once the stove started running for a couple of hours I noticed a weird chirping sound coming from the back of the stove. Turned the stove off, cleaned it, removed the panel and blew out any dust, etc. Started the stove back up and within a couple of hours the chirping sound is back. Any ideas? Could it be a bad distribution motor? I thought I read that Harman has a five year warranty on their stoves. Would this be something that is covered? Only heat in our downstairs and about to get hit by a noreaster so any info would be greatly appreciated!
 
Did you forget to feed the squirrel in the cage???

I know, I know, really bad joke.

Does the chirping sound like a metal on metal "scraping"? That would suggest you energetically knocked something out of alignment. Retrace your process and make sure that each panel and slide are back the way they should be.

If it sounds more like grinding, you may have a dry bearing or bushing. If they are sealed you are limited, but if they are not, I have had good success with graphite lubes (they can handle the heat) and a product called drawer ease. It is an aresole dry teflon lubricant. It has a solvent carrier that will allow it to "creep" into sealed bearings and bushings.

Last for me would be a wire in the wrong place. I searched for a chirp in an air filter in my shop for hours, only to find I had cleaned the cabinet and moved the wiring harness and clipped it backwards. It allowed a single wire to contact the blower cage. The stretched wire was just like a violin string.
 
5 year body and frame 3 year electrical. turn your blower speed up and down if the pitch changes it's you room fan. Empty your fines compartment if you haven't yet shows how in owners manual.
 
So I retraced my steps, thought that maybe I inserted the probe wrong and started it back up without the panel on to see if I could hear where the noise was coming from. I don't know what it's called so I apologize ahead of time but the can sized thing (that is right behind the panel that you take off on the side of the stove) is where I heard the squeal coming from. The squeal is intermittent and right now I'm not hearing it. Is that the motor? When the squeal gets bad, it causes the stove to stop for a second. It's almost like it gets stuck and then continues on. Ideas?
 
reference your manual and its collection of pictures to find the name of the thing you're lookin at...but I think its the distribution blower (black motor, black metal housing). CHirping could mean the bearing is going, could mean you have something stuck in there. UNbolt it and clean the fan blades, spin it by hand to make sure it spins freely, sometimes fan shifts a bit and rubs against the housing making a lil squeaky noise.
 
dont assume the worst...clean it first....hey, that rhymes! if the bearing is shot, yup new blower, local harman dealer would be your safest bet...~$135 ish depending on the dealer and whatnot.
 
if it is the bushing on the motor the graphite mentioned earlier works well
mine was doing it last year, I used the graphite and it was fine till this year
lubed it again and so far so good
 
We took it all apart and you can see where the fan was rubbing against the housing. Lubed everything up, cleaned it up, put it back together and still making the same noise. What could be causing the fan to do it? Do we need a new fan?
 
First off - thank you everyone for your help. It is definitely the bearing in the motor. Took it out, turned on the stove and greased it and my husband positive the bearing and not the fan. I appreciate all the assistance and feedback and forums such as this with people that are honestly out to help someone else in need are a tribute to the moderators and hearth.com. If anyone in the future comes across this problem, please reach out and we will take you through step by step what we did. We have to buy a new dist. motor but the money we saved in not having a technician come out is huge. Thank you again!
 
First off - thank you everyone for your help. It is definitely the bearing in the motor. Took it out, turned on the stove and greased it and my husband positive the bearing and not the fan. I appreciate all the assistance and feedback and forums such as this with people that are honestly out to help someone else in need are a tribute to the moderators and hearth.com. If anyone in the future comes across this problem, please reach out and we will take you through step by step what we did. We have to buy a new dist. motor but the money we saved in not having a technician come out is huge. Thank you again!
Do we still get step by step photos?

This is a great site !!!
 
nearly any dealer should have them in stock, shouldnt be too tough to find.....glad to hear you took the bull by the horns and did it yourself....pretty easy....2 bolts to take it off, disconnect the wires, then do the reverse......15 minutes
 
I have a spare to have on hand in case mine dies on a weekend. (P-38 stove is 7 yrs old now) Cost was $46 for the motor at a local motor repair shop. Nothing special about most pellet stove motors, as they are mostly off the shelf , multi use designs.
 
Actually, my husband is going to take it to a repair guy that will replace the bushing or the bearing and we'll keep it as a backup. Makes good sense.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.