Need Help with Harman XXV problem

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swalz

Feeling the Heat
Jan 2, 2008
280
Newark, DE
I need some help figuring out what the problem with my XXV is, I am thinking it is an issue with the control board blower control that also turns the stove off or on. The problem I am having is after I shut down the stove or it runs out of pellets and I have to turn it off then back on to relight the stove. When I turn the knob off then on the stove will start to feed then stop then start to feed again, if it is still hot the fan will also come on then off then on again, it will do this until I turn the knob back and forth until it finally stays on.

Any Harman techs out there that can chime in and let me know if this is a control board issue and if it is how hard is it to replace. My stove in still under warranty being just over 2 years with the 3/6 year warranty but the place that is a Harman dealer does not have any techs so I will have to do it myself. Just had the feeder weldment replace and after Harman reimbursed me I ended up paying close to $400 because of them not having any service techs. The place I did buy from no longer sells Harman and will not service them so I am stuck doing my own repairs.
 
Could it be the ignitor. My did something similiar when my ignitor went bad. It would feed the first batch of pellets and try to light. After a while, more pellets would be fed into the burner as I think this is what the stove is programed to do. I would sometimes turn it off and then back on and the eventually light. However, after awhile, the ignitor stopped altogether. Havenm't had a issue after I replaced it.
 
Not the ignitor it is like it is being turned off then one every few seconds, once I get it working it runs fine. Seems like it has a bad contact and by moving the knob back and forth i eventually get a good contact. Going to call the store Monday and they will most likely call Harman then get back to me after a few days.
 
maybe right, Swalz....could be a bad potentiometer....does it start if you move it a smidge? in other words.....touch the knob and something happens?
 
Lousyweather said:
maybe right, Swalz....could be a bad potentiometer....does it start if you move it a smidge? in other words.....touch the knob and something happens?

Yes it will start if I move it a little. Going to call the dealer to see if they will send a new board.
 
Sounds like the board to me also. Pay attention to the instruction sheet that comes with the board that gives you the dip switch settings.
 
good point on the dipswitches, rickwa! When you get call for the board, make sure you ask for a dipswitch setting sheet as well.....AND you might need new knobs and shafts, depending on hold old the board was....they moved the potentiometers from the front to the back a while ago, necessitating longer knob shafts.....but, in all likelihood,you have the longer shafts....just warning ya there!
 
We had a similar problem when shutting down the stove, sometimes it just didn't want to seem to light. It would overload pellets, but not ignite the fire. We found it was most likely a temperature issue, because if we turned the temperature setting up higher than desired, the fire would light, then after a few minutes we could back it down to the desired temp & it would run fine. So possible that the sensor just doesn't think it's cool enough to build a fire yet.
 
Well as always same BS from Harman see below. I guess they think I am stupid and should pay to have this done. Why do they show you how to do it in the manual if they don't want you to clean it yourself!

I heard from ____ on this issue already. Several concerns:

- nowhere in the e-mail below does Mr Walz say he is unplugging the stove when performing these different operations. If the stove remains plugged in that alone could damage the control board.
- Switching from room tem to stove temp – the unit needs to be turned off, then given a minute to reset, before going to stove temp. The stove will not operate properly if you switch from stove to room temp without switching to off first and giving the stove a rest.
- If he is removing the ESP this particular component can be damaged quite easily. We really don’t recommend a homeowner perform the kind of cleaning (removal of blowers, etc.) that he is performing. We would recommend a qualified Harman-trained dealer perform that type of maintenance. His issue is probably stemming from the first two bullet points vs. the 3rd (tearing the stove apart and cleaning.) If he is going this far hopefully he has not changed any dip switch settings on the control board.
- If he needs to talk to the factory he can call the Consumer Line 800-664-3119.

Let me know if you need anything else

Rosi Beachy
Dealer Territory Manager
Hearth & Home Technologies
 
I'm gonna go ahead and agree with lousyweather, dirty pot. Easier than replacing board is to get some contact cleaner from Radioshack. I use it on my guitars and stuff. Unplug stove, squirt into pots, turn back and forth a few times, ta-da! Maybe this work for you, I cross my fingers.
 
I will put my money on a going bad ESP. Never know I have been wrong once in a while, just ask my wide.

Eric
 
kinsman stoves said:
I will put my money on a going bad ESP. Never know I have been wrong once in a while, just ask my wide.

Eric

Would this cause the distribustion fan to do the same thing as the feeder, on for few seconds then off then back on for a fer seconds over and over again?
 
Seen a very similar problem on a Accentra insert. The ESP tells the computer what to do and when to run what. This is determined by temperatures. If the probe was damaged from cleaning or just worn out it will give bad directions/signals to the computer.

Eric
 
what Eric says is true, the magic temp for the fan to turn on is 165. if probe is dirty it could be seeing a temp that hovers around that and tells the fan to turn on, then off when it gets to 164, and then on again at 165.
 
If it was the probe which I clean every 2 weeks why does the stove run fine until I move the knob. Just came home and tried turning the knob just a little, guess what it turn off the fan and the lights dimmed on the board. Moved it a little more and the fan started again. Now I have to jump though hoops with Harman's BS telling me I need to get a Harman tech to look at it. Now the problem is there are no Harman dealers in my area that have Harman techs so how does one get a Harman tech to look at it? Bad business from Harman and why do they let these places sell if they don't have techs and they want a tech to look at it?
 
again, sounds like a dirty pot.
 
Seems to be working better now I will keep an eye on it, Harman and the dealer are no help. Dealer will not return my calls and I tried to talk to Harman before and all they would tell me is talk to the dealer. May have been dust in there but it was giving me problems and I turned the stove off and just turned it back and forth several times, going to see it I can clean it when I do a full cleaning this weekend.
 
figured it had to be the pot, because with all the $hit, Swalz has gone through, a dirty ESP would be unlikely......broken, maybe, but not dirty. And when they are broken, its usually not erratic, and there is usually a blink status error.
 
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