Harmon P38 pellet efficiency?

[jackie]

Hi,
I'm new to the forum and new to pellet stove use, this is a great site because I'm not getting much help from local dealers.

I have a Harmon P38 and it seems to be using too many pellets. One 40lb bag in about 12 hrs on number 3. Is this the norm? Does anyone have experience with this stove and how do you get better efficiency?

My mom has a P61 and she gets twice as many hours per 40lb bag.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,
jackie

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

That sounds about right to me. In my basement, I never had to go above setting # 3, even on the coldest days as it put out quite a bit of heat.

 

[roadking88]

i have a p43 and also get twice that...not even a bag a day
i have it set to 70 degrees....
what do you mean set to 3 the feed rate????

 

[jackie]

Thank you CK.

 

[jackie]

i have a p43 and also get twice that...not even a bag a day
i have it set to 70 degrees....
what do you mean set to 3 the feed rate????

The P38 only has stove temp heat, two knobs, (feed rate and blower), so yes the feed rate at number 3.
thanks.

 

[gfreek]

Sounds about right, I get about 16-18 hrs on 1 1/2 to 2 setting. P38 has feed rate knob and blower knob

what do you mean set to 3 the feed rate????

 

[mjbrown]

Sounds about right, I get about 16-18 hrs on 1 1/2 to 2 setting. P38 has feed rate knob and blower knob

what do you mean set to 3 the feed rate????

sounds good to me as well. i run my 38 same as gfreek,1 1/2-2 and use a robert shaw t-stat set at 70*. this year, i built a hopper extention,as i am working farther from home for longer hrs. now i know the stove will go until i get home.

 

[gfreek]

i built a hopper extention,

mjbrown65, you built a hopper extension for your stove. You ever post a pic of it or how you built it?? Interested as the dealer wants alot of $ for it..

 

[tony58]

Sounds about right, I get about 16-18 hrs on 1 1/2 to 2 setting. P38 has feed rate knob and blower knob

what do you mean set to 3 the feed rate????

On 1 1/2 or below my P38 will go out.On a hair above 1 1/2 to 2 I get around 24 hrs.On around 2 1/2 I get around 16-18 hrs and its blowing some nice heat.Never ran it over 3...
Tony

 

[jackie]

Thank you all so very much for your replys! I guess each stove and what region you are in makes a difference.

 

[MCPO]

These p-38 stoves might all run differently from each other for many reasons but the 50K pots that control the feed rate are about as cheap/flimsy a device as anything gets in the field of electronics. We all could get different feed rates from the same settings.
My new pots (installed yesterday) supposedly OEM parts operate quite different than the original one. At least the feed rate one does because I now have to turn it to about #2 to run on the same #1 feed rate as I used to run it on . Now I have to get used to these new settings .

 

[silverfox103]

Gio did you buy those pots on ebay? I have a P38 and I was thinking about picking up a set to keep on hand. As for the P38, it is a great stove.

Tom C.

 

[MCPO]

Gio did you buy those pots on ebay? I have a P38 and I was thinking about picking up a set to keep on hand. As for the P38, it is a great stove.

Tom C.

Yes, on Ebay. They were $16. for both of them. Soldering the new ones in was simple enough.
The hard part was removing the old ones without ruining the whole circuit board.
You need a solder sucker for sure otherwise you can`t get the old pots out without a great deal of difficulty. The 2 small tabs are bent over and soldered in and the other 2 are larger and snap in. The solder runs in and ends up on both sides of the board.
You also need to swap out the shafts since the old knobs fit on half round ends and not on the newer full rounded ends. Of course that might depend on which stove and how old it is that you have.

Added later: Thinking about this more , the rounded shafts allow a knob to be positioned anywhere in relation to the feed rate numbers on the stove but the 1/2 round shafts fit only in one position .