Harman P68 Igniter question

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Frugalfreak

New Member
Apr 6, 2011
34
Southcentral PA
P68 owners - how long should it take to see sparks and then full ignition on the P68? I am using Energex 'premium' hardwood pellets (burn great) and the auger shoots quite a bit of pellets down into the burn area before I see anything happening ... sometimes 15 minutes before I see a spark - then another 3-5 before ignition. I had one time where the stove completely shut off and gave me the dreaded 'flashing red light' - I restarted it and it fired up the 2nd time. I've heard the igniters are known to be an issue with Harman - is this normal what I'm experiencing or should I get the igniter replaced? - the stoves only a week old.
 
Have you cleaned the igniter area recently? I have a P61 and it usually takes around 5-8 min to be fully burning. The one time I had an issue on startup I had forgotten to clean the igniter out, shut the stove down and vacuumed it out and was good to go.
 
Thanks for the reply ... I normally clean down to the auger opening (as manual says) with the provided tool and so the stove always starts with 'fresh' pellets rather than the 'chared' remains of the previous pellets and new mixed. I haven't used a vacuum yet - I have shut the stove down and brushed the inside into the ash bin and of course cleaned the burn pot down to the auger. Is it easy to clean the igniter? or will a vacuum/shopvac simply be enough down by the auger?
 
If the burn pot and igniter are similar on the 68 & the p61 it should be a snap. You will have ro shut down the stove and pull out the ash pan. Underneath the burnpot there should be a cover plate with 2 wing it's holding it in ace. Loosen the nuts and remove the plate. I usually reach in with my finger and pull out some of the ash and then put the shop vac up next to
the opening. Once you get the accumulated ash out you should be good to go.

Just be careful around the igniter wires, I try not to get to rough while cleaning in there. There may be something in your manual about cleaning the igniter, wouldn't surprise memifmthere wasn't though.

If you clean it and are still having issues, you may need a new igniter. How old is the unit?
 
Ok thanks for the info - I will try that. The stove is only a week old. It's only failed to light one time and tripped the flashing red light. Would it matter if I'm running in Room or Stove temp mode? I have been starting the stove - Stove temp #5/feed #3/full speed-high on blower, running the home furnace for a few minutes to get up to 70 degrees if necessary (leave house blower run for a but longer) then the P68 takes over (once lit) and maintains the temp. (furnace off) - I use Stove mode now and normally back it down to #3 or as low as #1 (depending on temp outside) and have actually run the feed knob as low as #1 at times and I watch to make sure it's burning off the pellets before advancing to the front of the burn pot - seems to be a good way to tell if the feed setting is correct.
 
Ok that changes things if it's only a week old. Did you buy it new? If it's new and you have only been burning a week then chances are that your igniter isn't dirty enough to cause the issue your tLking about.
 
It was a reduced floor model that was never used/burned - like new. That's why I bought it for the price reduction (that and my TLC-2000 quickly sold for $1200) - otherwise I would have waited till fall.
 
I would try cleaning the igniter, if that doesnt work then maybe call the dealer. Doesnt seem like that should be an issue though if it wasn't burned much.
 
Thanks those were pretty much my thoughts as well. I wanted to run it for a bit even though it's getting warmer so that I can get any issues taken care early within the warranty period.
 
One more question though - when mine lights (around 15 minutes after turning dial on/up) there is about a hand full of pellets in the burn pot - is that about right? - in other words is the stove smart enough to realize it's not lit and backs off on the pellets or will it keep depositing pellets reguardless of ignition? - I know at some point it shuts down and gives up (flashing red light)
 
From what I remember the stove has a certain amount of pellets it feeds into the burn pot at ignition. If it doesn't light in am retain amount of time, it feeds a bitmmore and try's again. After, I think, 30 min of trying tomlitht without success then you get the blinks. I am not 100% sure on this Or the timeframes, there are amfewnguys on the board that may chime in with more accurate info on that though
 
the ignition process is preprogrammed....feeds pellets (certain # of auger rotations), powers up ignitor, starts countdown clock of about 12 minutes...if the stove registers the minimum running temp (around 90ish degrees) then the stove goes to run mode, if, after the 12 minutes, the stove has not lit, it feeds more pellets and repeats the process, if it goes through the ignition process 3 times with not rise in temp...blinking status light. *all times and temps are rough so dont break out your stopwatch.
 
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I knew somebody more knowledgable than I would chime in. I had a rough idea though ! :)
 
Delta-T said:
the ignition process is preprogrammed....feeds pellets (certain # of auger rotations), powers up ignitor, starts countdown clock of about 12 minutes...if the stove registers the minimum running temp (around 90ish degrees) then the stove goes to run mode, if, after the 12 minutes, the stove has not lit, it feeds more pellets and repeats the process, if it goes through the ignition process 3 times with not rise in temp...blinking status light. *all times and temps are rough so dont break out your stopwatch.

Thanks for the info ... on a side note that mirrowed glass door while nice does make it even harder to see what's going on during ignition - I watch for sparks then within a short time it usuals kicks over.
 
If it was an older floor model than you probably have the older style ignitor. Harman came out with a new revised ignitor that is 305 watts and has 15 fins instead of 13 fins. The new ignitor is also a little more heavy duty and will last longer as long as it is kept clean. They has issues with the older style ignitors failing fairly quickly. If you are not pulling the ignitor out to clean it you may be missing ash that is stuck between the fins. The vacuum is not going to get that.
 
I just had my P61a installed yesterday so I'm only one day into this so obviously I don't have much experience but my first ignition yesterday went like this...approximately 5 minutes of pushing pellets into the burn pot with the combustion blower kicking on right away. It was about another 2 or 3 minutes before I saw the igniter light and then about another minute or two for flame. Again, mine is brand new so I don't know if this process will get slower with time but hope it helps.
 
Thanks for all the comments ... the stove started the fastest it ever has today - 5 minutes from turn on to full ignite! - that's more like it. Rookie mistake - I wasn't cleaning the burn pot down far enough and the igniter was clogged - works great now!
 
Thanks for all the comments ... the stove started the fastest it ever has today - 5 minutes from turn on to full ignite! - that's more like it. Rookie mistake - I wasn't cleaning the burn pot down far enough and the igniter was clogged - works great now!
I have a Harman p 68 the pellets are dropping into the box, but the fire is not lighting. I removed the ash around the igniter but still nothing. None of the red lights are flashing. I have only used the stove around 20 times. Thx for your help
 
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