American Harvest Not Feeding Enough

This needs to be over in the pellet forum. Hopefully the mods will move it over

I would first try and see if the auger is turning as it should then see if the flights may have a obstruction. Have had two cases that I know of this season of toys in the auger-hopper that limit the pellets from feeding a full charge. I deal with this type of issue with multifuel stoves try to eat corn and find cobs and stalks and an occasional mouse stuck in the flights.

Control board controls the motors so you may have to get a new control board or see if you can find someone that may be able to repair.I know there is for Whits and Harmans.

I got one of them stoves, mine had the 3 button board, got the new 4 button board now...

First question, Have you ever replaced the auger motor on it? I had a very similar issue with mine once, turns out the auger drive motor was failing.. Mine was a tad different tho, mine wouldnt go past say.....heat range 5 as far as temps and pellet feeding. Turned out that my motor and gear box was seizing up.. mainly the motor, not so much the gear box. Id maybe spend 80 bucks on one to have a spare anyhow. (should be a 4rpm box, ebay them they're on there via pellethead)

ALSO...something to check first i suppose before ya dump 80 bucks on a part you MAY NOT need, see if its a vacuum switch issue, if vacuum port is plugged or door gasket, or cleanouts arent in place, it'll not see enough vacuum and wont let it feed more pellets. ONE way to test is to jumper out the swtich, but first make darn sure your door gasket, and cleanouts are properly installed. If they are, then bypass it and see if that'll help your problem. If it does, you need a new switch. To test the door seal properly, use a piece of paper.. Printer paper to be exact. With stove cold, close paper in the door, between seal and the stove, then turn it on and see if ya can pull the paper out.. If ya can, your door seal is TOAST!

If NONE of that helps ya let us know, or even PM me, i got some good info via US stoves them selves for diagnostic stuff. There's also a way to bump up your auger feed ratio but thats the least of your problems right now. haha. if it DID run properly before, its gotta run properly again before ya tweek it.

jc101285 said:

I have an American Harvest 6039. Has ran like a champ for 6-7 years consuming about 7 tons of pallets per heating season. This year it is firing up but the auger is not feeding enough and shortly after it lights up it goes out and shuts down. I have cleaned the blower motors and the outdoor vent pipe (which is extremely short...3 2 feet to the wall and 2 feet outside the house, always has been). Everything seems to run normal it is just not feeding enough, not turning for long enough.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Signed,

Cold in Indy

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What control board do you have? 3 button or 4? You say it is turning when you start but not feeding enough. Are you trying to start the stove on HR2? If you have the 4 button control board you need to check your feed rate settings. While they should not have changed without you doing so, they can. If during the off season (or anytime else) any static gets to the control board the settings can get out of sync. It's unusual but does happen. Another thing is have you ever changed any of the factory default setting? I'll add a jpg for the 4 button control panel for some trouble shooting. If you need more info just reply here I'll keep an eye out. If the auger is turning I don't think it's the control board or motor, it might be a setting that's off.



Also here's the error code for the 4 button.

jc101285 said:

Bad circuit board

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I have to ask, how do you know for sure? They are pricey, but if you like the heat they are worth it. So please let us know what makes you think it is the board. If you haven't tried changing any settings the board might be ok, you just need to reset to factory defaults and go from there. If the board settings got changed it is possible to get them back and the board would work again.

Yah im with pete, usually ya get a dead board issue, however when my 3 butotn board crapped out, i had an issue with it not turning on the combusiont blower unless the board itself was warm.. the last few times i shut it down, i had to use a hair dryer to warm up the board, then the combusiton blower would kick on and stay on while the unit was hot.. Kinda strange. haha.

id try resetting the board and see if that helps at all before ya junk the board.

jc101285 said:

I called the USSC customer support line and walked through a diagnostic 2 times. It was kicking back at 0 degrees Fahrenheit and the rep said that and the other readings it was providing made no sense and that it was a board issue.

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I've always had great service from USSC, but sometimes I've found that I knew more than the first rep I talked to. You still haven't said if you have a 3 or 4 button board.

IF you have a 4 button board, have you tried to push the HR down button and Aux down button at the same time and see what the feed rate is at HR1?
Then push the HR up button and Aux up button at the same time and see what the HR9 setting is?

Those feed rates will determine everything from HR1 to HR9 and in between. That board is a proportional control board and will adjust everything off of the lowest and highest settings. If those settings are off it throws the whole board out of wack, including the exhaust settings and agitator settings.

FirepotPete said:

I've always had great service from USSC, but sometimes I've found that I knew more than the first rep I talked to. You still haven't said if you have a 3 or 4 button board.

IF you have a 4 button board, have you tried to push the HR down button and Aux down button at the same time and see what the feed rate is at HR1?
Then push the HR up button and Aux up button at the same time and see what the HR9 setting is?

Those feed rates will determine everything from HR1 to HR9 and in between. That board is a proportional control board and will adjust everything off of the lowest and highest settings. If those settings are off it throws the whole board out of wack, including the exhaust settings and agitator settings.

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yah when in auto mode, your right. I prefer semi-manual mode. haha.
i also agree with "knowledgable" info from them, seems to be hit and miss sometimes. just gotta get the right person. "flip" taught me a great deal about them and another member sent me tons of info.

the 3 button board was tricky do monkey with, and it had bugs sometimes. Glad i got the 4 button board on the 6039 now.

mustangwagz said:

yah when in auto mode, your right. I prefer semi-manual mode. haha.
i also agree with "knowledgable" info from them, seems to be hit and miss sometimes. just gotta get the right person. "flip" taught me a great deal about them and another member sent me tons of info.

the 3 button board was tricky do monkey with, and it had bugs sometimes. Glad i got the 4 button board on the 6039 now.

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Yup I see that sidecarflip is around. I learned a lot from him on the old IBC forum. That place had a lot of info and many people that had burned corn for many years. I see some of them here so that's a good thing. Also when IBC went down flip had his own forum for a while. Was designed very well, just for some reason it never caught on. I think it had a lot to do with the price of corn and pellets at the time and people went away from it. That's why I just love a bio burner. Price of corn goes to high I have the option of pellets, pellets go to high, I have the option of other bio fuel.

yah flip is using other fossil fuels so we prolly wont see him here this year. Glad to see another knowledgable individual like yourself here.

No need for bad or poor jokes when one is already cold. I seen several of those old stoves last fall for what you just paid for the board I was going to sell a Countryside for not much more in great shape with hopper extension.

jc101285 said:

Ok....let the jokes commence I got the new circuit board ($480) and it is still not working. I have a 4 button board and did the HR down and Aux and it says 2.00. Then I did HR up and Aux and it says 5.00. I can return the board - 15% restock fee but more than anything my house is cold and getting colder and I need this thing to run. I am happy to pay anyone that can help me here or on the phone. Just desperate to get the thing running right. 317-605-7558

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Have you tried the Factory Test that I posted in post #8 above? Your HR #'s look good. If you run the test it might pick up what is wrong. You don't say, does it startup at all? Run for a little or shut down right away?

jc101285 said:

This is becoming strange. The tests all look normal and is the same test that American Harvest Service sent me through. It does start, heat up, room fan kicks on, and it runs. But regardless of the Heat rating I set it at it will run at level 1 status or lower. Very low to almost no flame then after 30-45 minutes it will burn out. Auger runs for 2 seconds on 2 seconds off regardless of HR setting. Just not feeding enough. Air pressure is fine, draft fan light is not blinking, but does when I open the door (as it should). All tests show normal settings. Pellets are the same brand and 1005 hardwood I have used for 5 years. Flu is clear and everything is cleaned out. 7 years running like a champ and then this. Ugh.

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I'm guessing that the jumper across the thermostat posts is either missing, loose or cracked. Please check the DF setting also, your HR settings are fine to start with but if the DF is off then that will mess things up. Even with the jumper missing or bad it should run on the lowest HR setting so that tells me that maybe along with the jumper missing that the DF is messed up. I'll be up a while watching for answers.

jc101285 said:

Not sure specifically what the jumper is but if it is the black thing in between the posts for therm on the circuit board it is there (keep in mind I just installed a new board). I also did a paperclip in between the wires on the air pressure switch to test that as Harvest support said to. That did not help.

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It could be black or white or tan. From what I remember without taking mine apart right now it is near the bottom of the board. And the board has either "thermo" or "stat" or something like that printed on it to show where to hookup the external thermostat.
Get those DF numbers. To get them do the same you did for the HR setting except use the DF up and down buttons.

jc101285 said:

230 on the low and 270 on the high

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OK, you are saying that the fire is burning low and going out. I'm presuming that it isn't getting enough air on the low setting. Try bumping it up to 240 on DF 1 and see what it does. You need to get it burning good on that low setting even if it seems it's stuck there. Then you can jump the thermo posts to make sure the jumper is good.

Oh and after you bump it up you MUST push the on button for the change to take place.