harman pellet stove auger motor

[lougheed]

i'm having a problem with my auger motor. the light on the control panel says the power is going to the motor, but the motor isn't activating. i have: cleared all the pellets, manually turned the auger, tested the leads to the auger with resistance (there seems to be resistance).
tonite i got a universal power supply from work and plan to quickly touch the leads to see if the motor will turn, hopefully cutting my diagnosis in 1/2 by testing the motor.

my question is...with the auger light on could it still be a low air sensor, or other sensor that is keeping my motor from activating? if so which ones. none of my sensor lights are blinking (1-5 blinks for different problems)

any info would be great...

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

i'm having a problem with my auger motor. the light on the control panel says the power is going to the motor, but the motor isn't activating. i have: cleared all the pellets, manually turned the auger, tested the leads to the auger with resistance (there seems to be resistance).
tonite i got a universal power supply from work and plan to quickly touch the leads to see if the motor will turn, hopefully cutting my diagnosis in 1/2 by testing the motor.

my question is...with the auger light on could it still be a low air sensor, or other sensor that is keeping my motor from activating? if so which ones. none of my sensor lights are blinking (1-5 blinks for different problems)

any info would be great...

Make certain that you disconnect the auger motor from the stoves controller before connecting the gizmo to it.

 

[kinsmanstoves]

How old is the stove and what model is it? is the set screw connecting it to the shaft tight?

eric

 

[lougheed]

harman accentra insert. the screw it tight...but the motor doesn't even engage. even the littl fan on the back of the motor doesn't kick on

 

[kinsmanstoves]

harman accentra insert. the screw it tight...but the motor doesn't even engage. even the littl fan on the back of the motor doesn't kick on

How old is the unit? Is the hopper lid, and door sealed (air switch).

 

[lougheed]

about 5-6 years old...i was wondering about the air switch. the lid is down with no obstructions. is there any way to test the air switch? would the feeder light still come on if the air switch was deactivated? (is is before the control panel or after?)

 

[abrucerd]

had the same problem last year, and it turned out my motor was on deaths door. If i manually spun the fan, it would go for a little bit, but as soon as the feed stopped it was unable to start itself back up again to keep pellets flowing. Had to have it replaced, which I think was in the $200 range (labor included)

 

[lougheed]

after putting my meter on the leads to the motor i found out there was no power to the motor, there was power on the circut board. at my dads request...thanks dad...i removed the leads from the pressure switch and put a 1" piece of wire in the two leads of the pressure switch. my motor kicked on. so to test the pressure switch was a problem...i reattached the leads and detached the 4" hose that went to my burn pot. i blew into the hose and it did not seem to be obstructed (but after getting it working i now believe it was obstructed, i just didn't notice because it didn't take much blowing to dislodge something). i took a straw and some masking tape and taped it to the pressure switch...after blowing myself silly, i sucked and my motor kicked on...therefore it wasn't the switch. fiddle with this, faddle with that, i checked all my seals and gaskets to make sure i hade a good seal on my intake, exhause, main door and hopper door. put it back together and it worked good as new. i now believe there were some fines or something in that tube that is on the pressure switch.

thanks to everyone for all their help. even just having the confidence that i was on the right track helped.

thanks dad...again.

 

[smwilliamson]

hopper lid switch.

 

[Freddels]

My Harmon Accentra is about 10 yrs old. The dealer had to replace the auger motor within the first two months of install. I've had to replace the motor two more times since then. I just do it myself. The motor costs about $120 (at least it did a few years ago) from the only Harmon dealer near me (and the most expensive dealer around too. I no longer do business with them for other reasons). Anyway, there's definitely something about the Harmon auger motor or the way they've designed the stove that just burns up these motors.

 

[smwilliamson]

My Harmon Accentra is about 10 yrs old. The dealer had to replace the auger motor within the first two months of install. I've had to replace the motor two more times since then. I just do it myself. The motor costs about $120 (at least it did a few years ago) from the only Harmon dealer near me (and the most expensive dealer around too. I no longer do business with them for other reasons). Anyway, there's definitely something about the Harmon auger motor or the way they've designed the stove that just burns up these motors.

There is something else wrong with your stove. You either have "gummy stove" an auger scraping issue or a slide plate issue...perhaps even a full fines box. I can undetstand 1 auger replacement in the stoves lifetime...not 3.

 

[Freddels]

My Harmon Accentra is about 10 yrs old. The dealer had to replace the auger motor within the first two months of install. I've had to replace the motor two more times since then. I just do it myself. The motor costs about $120 (at least it did a few years ago) from the only Harmon dealer near me (and the most expensive dealer around too. I no longer do business with them for other reasons). Anyway, there's definitely something about the Harmon auger motor or the way they've designed the stove that just burns up these motors.

There is something else wrong with your stove. You either have "gummy stove" an auger scraping issue or a slide plate issue...perhaps even a full fines box. I can undetstand 1 auger replacement in the stoves lifetime...not 3.

They had to adjust the angle of the gears in the back b/c it was scraping. The first time, the tension on the chain was too tight and they adjusted that at the time of the first replacement. I believe there was a scraping on the second time and they did something else.

The last time I had them come out to service the stove (last fall), the guy took off the entire piping and brought it out to his truck to clean it out. Then he had the stove apart. When it was back together, he left. The room filled with smoke and I had to call them back. Anyway, another guy came and found that the first guy had removed some chip from the board and never put it back. He couldn't figure out why the smoke was coming in the room. They wanted to charge me for a second trip out but I wouldn't agree since it was their screw up. After he left, I found that the first guy had broken the 90 degree piece coming out the back of the stove and the smoke was coming from there. He had also taken the pipe apart and didn't reseal the connections when he put it back together. I had to buy a new one and replace it myself and seal it all up. I probably won't buy another Harmon stove b/c of lack of service in the area.

What's a fines box? Is that the little box under the firebox and igniter? If yes, then I clean that out every couple of weeks or more often if needed b/c the igniter doesn't work as well if it's not cleaned out.

 

[kinsmanstoves]

Is the liner/vent clear? You need to run a roda and brush through it not just guess.

eric

 

[Freddels]

Is the liner/vent clear? You need to run a roda and brush through it not just guess.

eric

I'm going to assume so since the guy took it all apart last fall to clean it all out. Unless he didn't know what he was doing then either.

I have in the past, gone up on the roof with a vacuum and stuck the hose down as far as I could. I'm going to try the leaf blower/vacuum trick this year.

 

[3650]

on the fs stove the fines box is in the back of the stove behind the right side panel (if facing front of stove). mine is a silver box with a nut in the center that holds it in place. the two sides are bent at 90° and they have to overlap the outside of the box when you put it back on. i had to wrestle with mine to get it on right, its important to get it right. if you dont know where it is, its probably full. the manual covers this.

 

[Freddels]

on the fs stove the fines box is in the back of the stove behind the right side panel (if facing front of stove). mine is a silver box with a nut in the center that holds it in place. the two sides are bent at 90° and they have to overlap the outside of the box when you put it back on. i had to wrestle with mine to get it on right, its important to get it right. if you dont know where it is, its probably full. the manual covers this.

Thanks. I'll take a look. It's also something they should have cleaned when I had it serviced last fall. But you never know.

 

[kinsmanstoves]

Is the liner/vent clear? You need to run a roda and brush through it not just guess.

eric

I'm going to assume so since the guy took it all apart last fall to clean it all out. Unless he didn't know what he was doing then either.

I have in the past, gone up on the roof with a vacuum and stuck the hose down as far as I could. I'm going to try the leaf blower/vacuum trick this year.

$5 that is your problem. It is clogged.

eric

 

[smwilliamson]

You have a great stove but from what I gather....your dealer is not really competent. Or at least the tech you had. Seek an independent option and have your stove looked at. Unfortunately, other dealers aren't going to be so willing to help out.

 

[Freddels]

From what I gather, Harmon sets up exclusive dealers. There's the one that's close to me (not good) and I hear there's another one in Palmer, MA, which is a bit of a distance.

Right now, I'm waiting on the bldg inspector to inspect my St. Croix install and then maybe I'll take a look at the back of the Harmon and see what's there.

 

[smwilliamson]

All due respect, you building inspector isnt qualified to troubleshoot.

 

[Freddels]

All due respect, you building inspector isnt qualified to troubleshoot.

He isn't coming to trouble shoot. I had to get a building permit for the install of my new SCF-050 and he's coming to inspect the install of that new one.

 

[kinsmanstoves]

You need to clean the liner by running a brush down it.

Eric