Harman Advance ignitor

[homeskillet]

Can anyone tell me how difficult it is to change an ignitor in a Harman Advance. Mine is bad and I am wondering if I should do it or leave to the pros. And can anyone give me the approximate cost of the part(s) by themselves. Thanks

 

[smwilliamson]

Very simple repair. Loosen the two wing nuts under the burn pot and remove the plat, remove the two 3/8" set screws and remove the igniter assembly. The carriage and fins are removed by bending the little posts straight from the back plate and then the igniter slips out. Disconnect the leads from behind the stove and pull through. I think the igniter from Harman is about $60.00.

Same Part in Grainger catalog, p.4065, 3/8" (double check the length) 350w 120v, part# 4NJW7 $26.35

The igniter should be a TEMCO cartridge heater, look for the mnfg model number, if you PM me the # I'll give you the exact part.

HDC20558 should be the mnfg #

 

[homeskillet]

The Harman ignitor has a number fins on it. Is there a way to remove the fins. I thought the cartridge would slip right out of the fins but it doesnt. Is there a trick or do you install the new cartridge minus the fins. Thanks everyone

 

[Boom]

The Harman ignitor has a number fins on it. Is there a way to remove the fins.

I have the Harman Advance and will need to order the ignitor also. The fins are tightly press fitted onto the heater cartridge, I got a few fins off with pliers but don't recommend this. When a cartridge heater goes it may expand a bit making removal tougher.

Try making a jig of U shaped steel which can slip behind each fin (I may use two metal files in a vice). With the jig in a vise tap out the cartridge with a hammer. Liquid Wrench or WD-40 as a lubricant may help. As an accomplished procrastinator, I expect to get this done after ordering the part in a few months. :roll: October at the latest or when I can find pellets.

Jay
Out of pellets and none found this side of 600 miles.
Almost reached 60° outside today, 67° in here.

 

[Delta-T]

I'm not sure why you'd want to remove the fins, it is not necessary for replacement of the igniter. The plate that retains the element inside the bracket needs to be removed. There are 2 "tabs" (little pieces of metal) that are twisted as they pass through slots in the plate. Untwist the tabs and remove the plate. WHole ingniter pops out, put in new one, replace plate, retwist tabs....good to go.

 

[Boom]

I'm not sure why you'd want to remove the fins, it is not necessary for replacement of the igniter...

It is my understanding the "cartridge heater" sold in the Grainger catalog for only $26.35 is the Harman Advance "ignitor" without the fins. The Harman "ignitor" costs $73 + tax at my dealer (an hour drive each way) which comes to a few cents under $80. Those fins cost over $51. It is not too hard to remove those fins and put them on a new "cartridge heater" to make your own "ignitor."

Homeskillet was asking if you could use the cartridge heater without the fins. I suspect it would work better with the fins.

Jay

 

[summit]

fins help focus the air by hot element, thus producing ignition.

 

[Delta-T]

OH, I see, aftermarket part. Yes, fins probably help.

 

[smwilliamson]

OH, I see, aftermarket part. Yes, fins probably help.

Not after market. Same exact part made by TEMPCO. The carriage comes off by twisting the two prongs on the reverse side of the flat plate. The fin carriage holds the igniter in place. You need the carriage to keep the igniter in position. I assume that the fins channel air back towards the burn pot as the igniter is fore of the actual ignition area. I have made this work without fins.

 

[anjenaire]

Not seeing an easy way to remove the fins. Would have thought the element would slip out. Am I missing something?

 

[wil lanfear]

Not seeing an easy way to remove the fins. Would have thought the element would slip out. Am I missing something?

I would contact temco, check to see if the fins can be purchased from them, I can't imagine that they are that expensive. Toll free number, doesn't cost anything to ask. Please post back the costs.

http://www.tempco.com/

 

[smwilliamson]

Not seeing an easy way to remove the fins. Would have thought the element would slip out. Am I missing something?

Put it in and fire it up. My harman works fine without fins. You can add a few washers over the element too.

 

[krooser]

Here's the ignitor from my St Croix...can't seem to find a match in the Grainger catalog nor the Temco website... any ideas?

 

[smwilliamson]

Can you get me a clearer shot of the rear fitting? I'm working on a Hastings next week. Ill take a look.

 

[Barrelburner]

smwilliamson, my igniter is exactly like the one in anjenaire's picture above.

The original igniter is a 3" igniter. The Grainger part that you listed is 3 1/2 inches. You can see the difference in length in the picture that anjenaire posted. (I picked up the igniter from Grainger as well).

Grainger lists 2 igniters that are 3/8" diameter, 3" length on that page of their catalog that you mentioned, a 250 watt model and a 500 watt model. The part you recommended is 350 watts.

The 3 1/2" igniter is a little different than the OEM igniter, but is it enough to worry about?

My other concern is that without the fins pressed onto the igniter, there is nothing to retain the igniter in the 'holder'.

 

[Barrelburner]

Never mind....

The Grainger igniter was worse than worthless...it cost me money and didn't ignite anything. I let it do it's thing for a while, and it only warmed up the burn pot a bit. I could place my hand on the burn pot, and it was just warm.

So I called the two Harmon dealers in the area. One wanted $79.99 for a Harmon igniter, the other wanted $99.99.

My new $79.99 igniter works like a champ.

 

[70stang]

My Harman advance igniter stopped working last week after only being used one full season. I was not crazy about spending $100+ on a new igniter. So from the information above, I decided to purchase the $27 Grainger part. I took out the old igniter, verified the with an ohm meter it was bad and then proceeded to take the fins off. I sprayed the old igniter with PB Blaster and then took needle nose pliers and flexed the fins and they slide right off. I then slid the fins on the new part and gave them a little squeeze so they would stay in place. Tested the new igniter with ohm meter which measured 41ohms, therefore at 120volts it will use 2.92amps and produce about 350watts. The Grainger part is about ½” longer so I need to adjust the spacing on the bracket so that it fit in the stove properly. Installed mounting screws, reconnected wires, tie wrapped the wires in the back of stove and tested. WORKS GREAT fired right-up, no issues. Total job took about an hour including a quick clean of the burn pot and under the pot where the igniter mounts. Thank you for the information about the $27 Grainger part.

From all the information I have read on the web this stove needs a 300 to 350 watt heater to ignite the pellets. Any heating element you can find that will provide that much heat, fit in the space and standup to the environment will work. This part is simply an electric heater.

 

[timjk69]

I had to pay $99.00 for my Advance ignitor. I was able to work the fins off the old one just to see if I could. I'll go to Grainger next time I need one.