Harman Accentra Insert- No Power

[bookpile]

I let stove run out of pellets today so I could clean the fines out of the hopper.

I came home, vacuumed out the hopper, scraped the burn pot, and emptied the ash pan.

I filled it back up, went to turn it on and nothing, not even the power light is lit. The stove was plugged into a surge protector, which says it is still good.

The stove is out of warranty. Any ideas where to begin? Any fuses or circuit breakers?

Already tried it without the surge protector, and tried unplugging it for a few minutes and plugging it back in.

 

[jtakeman]

There has to be a fuse on the board somewhere. hang in there a bit until the harman smart guys come by. Hope things go OK for ya!

 

[bookpile]

Slid the stove out, there was an easy to get at fuse on the side of the motherboard. 6A 250V, no doubt about it, that thing is blown.

Big question is, what caused it to blow? Will I have problems if I put a new one in? I'm thinking about running out to Lowes tonight yet to see if it works, otherwise I'd have to turn on the oil heat for the first time.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Fuses are protection for various things and are meant to be replaceable, the problem comes when you try to find out what caused it to go poof. I always unplug my stove when I have to work on it with any of the covers open. There's plenty of places you can short out if you aren't careful.

I'd replace the fuse and plug the beast back in after checking any wiring in any of the areas you were poking around in while cleaning. Then see if it lights up and operates.

 

[bookpile]

Went to Lowes and Walmart, they only had 5 amp fuses, no 6 amp. Guess I'll have to sleep on it until tomorrow.

I didn't even open anything to do cleaning besides the hopper lid and the door. I'll report back tomorrow.

 

[bookpile]

Found some six amp fuses at Radio Shack.

Put one in and it blew in about two seconds. I pulled the stove out and one of the leads to the room temperature sensor was disconnected and laying on the frame of the stove. I wired it back up and ran for about 1.5 hours. Stove is completely dead again.

Any ideas what it could be? I looked over everything when I had it pulled out and I didn't see anything obvious.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

You likely have another loose connection, a frayed or pinched wire, or something has bridged some contacts.

You should pull the plug and check all of the wiring over, this includes that which you found to be loose before.

You also should look for anything that may have fallen into or around the control system electronics.

 

[Lousyweather]

that insert pulls out on tracks and sometimes the wires get in the way, opening the possibility for pinching or fraying......check the wires going to the board from the stove itself.....

 

[THE ROOSTER]

Please keep us updated on what you find to be the problem... Again, sorry to hear about your trouble, do you run your stove in room temp or stove temp??? If the sensor had a wire off or cut and you run it room temp try switching to stove temp and see if it runs...

 

[bookpile]

I will be working on it today, last night it was too hot to work on.

Does anyone know if this should be fast acting or slow burning fuses? I couldn't tell from the old one but I bought fast acting to be on the safe side.


I wasn't sure if the temp sensor wire became disconnected from vibration, or if it fell off while I was pulling the stove out. It seemed liked a promising fix for that hour or so.

One thing I can say is that I'm confident my cleaning of the stove didn't have anything to do with it. The control board was already dead when I went to turn it on, also the blinding green flash of the fuse blowing is pretty hard to miss.

 

[Lousyweather]

fast acting to save other components

 

[bookpile]

I think I got it figured out.

The temp sensor had been pinched between the rails and the stove and was pretty cut up. I removed it completely and ran the stove in stove temp mode all day without any problems.

Does anyone know a cheap source of a new sensor? I could probably repair this one but I'd prefer to replace it.

Thanks for the help.

 

[imacman]

I think I got it figured out.

The temp sensor had been pinched between the rails and the stove and was pretty cut up. I removed it completely and ran the stove in stove temp mode all day without any problems.

Does anyone know a cheap source of a new sensor? I could probably repair this one but I'd prefer to replace it.

Thanks for the help.

Glad you figured it out. Unfortunately, I think the sensors are Harman "dealer only" items.

 

[Lousyweather]

I think I got it figured out.

The temp sensor had been pinched between the rails and the stove and was pretty cut up. I removed it completely and ran the stove in stove temp mode all day without any problems.

Does anyone know a cheap source of a new sensor? I could probably repair this one but I'd prefer to replace it.

Thanks for the help.

you can buy a new room sensing probe, or, splice the bad wire out- you can use thermostat wire....but, in making the splice be sure to solder the connection to ensure good connectivity, and heatshrink the splice......room sensing probes wont break the bank, even new......

 

[bookpile]

I'll probably just wind up repairing it. I just didn't want to take the time this week.

Whenever I call my local dealer his first question is whether or not he installed it. When I say no, he suddenly doesn't have the part in stock and can't order it.

Thanks for the help.

 

[imacman]

......Whenever I call my local dealer his first question is whether or not he installed it. When I say no, he suddenly doesn't have the part in stock and can't order it........

Just say yes, and then get memory loss for any other questions. ;-)

 

[Lousyweather]

I'll probably just wind up repairing it. I just didn't want to take the time this week.

Whenever I call my local dealer his first question is whether or not he installed it. When I say no, he suddenly doesn't have the part in stock and can't order it.

Thanks for the help.

stupid dealer.......parts are an item to make money on......we sell parts to everyone/anyone...even installers.....why not?