Unable to manually light PF100

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shorti21

New Member
Nov 4, 2008
12
Western MA
Furnace will not stay lit on automatic mode. Have been attempting to light it manually with starter fluid, but once the fluid burns off, the fire burns out...Any suggestions?
 
shorti21 said:
Furnace will not stay lit on automatic mode. Have been attempting to light it manually with starter fluid, but once the fluid burns off, the fire burns out...Any suggestions?

What does it do in automatic mode?
 
Sounds like you could possibly have bad air flow. Are you sure that the ignitor that you replaced was bad? I have seen perfectly good ignitors replaced with the more powerful ignitors that Harman is now offering, that will work for short amounts of time and then end up doing the same thing. If your furnace has not been cleaned recently, I would start there. A fair amount of flyash can accumulate behind the baffle plates in a short amount of time depending on pellets, which results in poor airflow and tougher ignition.

Also, since the ignitor was recently replaced make sure the trap door under the burnpot is seated properly.

Finally, if you are using gel to start the fire, stop. Grab your propane or mapp torch to get the fire started properly and you will see much better results.
 
Thanks for the input. We've had the furnace for 4 years. We ran it steadily for the first 3 years, then on the third it was actually cheaper to run oil. Last year the ignitor went out, and we just lit it manually with the lighter gel - it would start right up. We finally had the dealer/technician come and replace the ignitor and clean it. That was less than a month ago. Two nights ago, the furnace failed to light and status was blinking 5 times. We've tried everything to it to light automatically, then decided to light it manually. It absolutely refuses to. It seems to be getting air flow; the damper on the ash door moves. Could it be the pellets? It worked great for about 2 1/2 weeks after it was serviced. Our dealer/tech isn't much help.
 
Shorti 21
Also got the PF100, and dito using propane torch......you have to keep the torch on the pellets for awhile, for if you
remove it too soon, the flames decrease.....once you close the door with a good burn, the air will kick on and start with
a good burn. Also, you will get your share of pellets running into the burn pot. The burn will consume the pellets., and
your are back to normal.
I always use the manual run, but after I clean the unit, I start up on automatic. Sometimes it will start perfectly, the next
time I have to start it manually. If that is the only problem that I am going to have with the unit, so be it....
This is my 3rd year with the PF100.
Have propane; but do not use except in early spring and late fall....use very little, maybe 10% of fuel. Get calls from the
propane company, but tell them I am very conservative!!
 
on the back of the unit behind the cover there is a flapper the covers the air inlet. check and make sure it is not shuck shut. if you are facing the hopper it is on the right side.
 
Are you getting pellets fed into the burnpot? If you clear the pot out, then run it through a test mode or an automatic start cycle, will you end up with pellets in the pot?

If not you could have either bridged pellets or something stuck in the slide plate or auger system, that is either allowing not enough or no pellets into the pot. Dump all the pellets out of your hopper and see if the slide plate at the bottom moves freely.

I get a 5 blinker every once in a while because the pellets I have are real long and every once in a while they bridge across that slide plate and gum up production, so yes, it could be the pellets.

Start with emptying the hopper and see what you find. Then pull access cover off of the side of the feeder body and see if that is relatively clean (that is the metal plate with the wingnut holding it shut). Then pull the auger and see if that is clear (two 1/2" bolts hold auger in place and then pry it out).

Good luck
 
shorti21 said:
Furnace will not stay lit on automatic mode. Have been attempting to light it manually with starter fluid, but once the fluid burns off, the fire burns out...Any suggestions?

To MANUALLY start the PF100, the trick for me is to start the pellets burning with a propane torch and get a good bed of pellet coals established before the auger starts over-feeding pellets to the burn pot. Be sure to get the entire top of the pellet pile flaming. I close one of the fire-box door latches which keeps the door cracked and keeps the auger from driving. I let the torched pellets burn down until the flame slows down; throw a couple of handfuls of pellets on top then close the door tightly. The fire roars to life.

Sometimes if the pellets or the outside air are damp the pellets must burn slower and pellets start to overflow the burn pot. When this happens I turn the FEED ADJUSTER to "1" until the PF100 is heated up and burning steady. Keeps the pellets from overflowing during start-up. After about 15 minutes I turn the FEED ADJUSTER back to "4".
 
check and make sure air flapper ain't stuck. pull off the heat exchange cover plates and clean out all the crap behing them. pull off the exhaust blower and check the inside of the housing to verify cleanliness, make sure blower runs on "test". then check the exhaust to make sure it ain't plugged. check under the burnpot.
 
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