My Harman Advance - purchased in 2001 - has been almost flawless - except for a seized distribution blower in year 6 of the 5 year warranty. W. W. Grainger is nearby - easy fix.
But: I recently noticed things happening that were not normal, and they occurred roughly in this order:
Lazy flame with smoky tips.
Feed motor making "growling" noises.
Feed motor light on control board blinking 2 or 3 times at end of feed cycle.
Distribution blower making "thumping" noise - like bad bearing - at some speeds.
Slow smoky ignition often with the loud "poof".
And the finale was the distribution blower stopped running in room temp mode, but ran OK in stove temp only in manual - would not run in auto.
Time to trade it in? NO - time to do what I have done for 50 years with electro-mechanical systems - step back, analyze the evidence, and fix it.
The blower is OK because it will run - all the other symptoms have been discussed "ad nauseum" in these forums, and had no common thread.
The control board sends commands to the blower - it is sending some but not all and not proper. The control board controls the distribution blower, the combustion blower, the feed motor, and the igniter. That suggests the control board as the starting point.
It was the control board and the cost of the part to repair it was $1.22 - even the local Radio Shack has them at their inflated price of $1.59.
ALL of the symptoms disappeared with the board repair !! The old Harman is as good as new.
I am not suggesting that you try this at home - I am lucky to have the experience and equipment to handle the job.
I only want to make the point that you get familiar with what is normal on your unit. Before you spend money willy-nilly on expensive parts - tell your service tech everything that you have observed, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you.
And before you replace those expensive parts - ask if the tech can try a substitute board. In my case the board was sending really bad info to everything under it's control.
NO - I don't repair these, and don't want to start a new business - but the board is simple and straight forward - any competent tech that can trouble shoot to the component level can easily handle them.
But: I recently noticed things happening that were not normal, and they occurred roughly in this order:
Lazy flame with smoky tips.
Feed motor making "growling" noises.
Feed motor light on control board blinking 2 or 3 times at end of feed cycle.
Distribution blower making "thumping" noise - like bad bearing - at some speeds.
Slow smoky ignition often with the loud "poof".
And the finale was the distribution blower stopped running in room temp mode, but ran OK in stove temp only in manual - would not run in auto.
Time to trade it in? NO - time to do what I have done for 50 years with electro-mechanical systems - step back, analyze the evidence, and fix it.
The blower is OK because it will run - all the other symptoms have been discussed "ad nauseum" in these forums, and had no common thread.
The control board sends commands to the blower - it is sending some but not all and not proper. The control board controls the distribution blower, the combustion blower, the feed motor, and the igniter. That suggests the control board as the starting point.
It was the control board and the cost of the part to repair it was $1.22 - even the local Radio Shack has them at their inflated price of $1.59.
ALL of the symptoms disappeared with the board repair !! The old Harman is as good as new.
I am not suggesting that you try this at home - I am lucky to have the experience and equipment to handle the job.
I only want to make the point that you get familiar with what is normal on your unit. Before you spend money willy-nilly on expensive parts - tell your service tech everything that you have observed, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you.
And before you replace those expensive parts - ask if the tech can try a substitute board. In my case the board was sending really bad info to everything under it's control.
NO - I don't repair these, and don't want to start a new business - but the board is simple and straight forward - any competent tech that can trouble shoot to the component level can easily handle them.
!
