Harman p61 is a pain to start

Make sure your ESP is clean...what are you using to light it? The gel shoud do th trick.

Any chance you could post a video?

I have an older version like yours, the esp has to see 100 degrees f before the stove will start feeding pellets. Here's my startup procedure, get a small plastic container and put a large handful of pellets in it, put 3 or 4 squirts of hand sanitizer on the pellets and then stir it quick and then dump on burn pot. Light them and let it burn for 30-45 seconds and then close the door and turn the stove on. Put the stove into test mode and let it feed pellets for a minute. After that it should be up to 100f and you'll here the convection blower start running.

I used to use gel to light my P38 and half the time the fire would die out before it would get going.
I don't know if this will help but this is how I now light my P38 - I use a hand blow torch.
1. Fill the pot with 3 handfulls of pellets.
2. I turn the dial to 'Turbo' (yeah this is a vintage P38) to get the fans going.
3. I nuke the pellets with a sweeping motion of the torch until I get a good continous flame going (1-2 minutes).
4. I then take the Harman tool and mix the pellets (yup, the flame will likely go out).
5. Another minute or less of the torch and the flame will be going strong.
6. I crack the door to the point where most of the combustion air is coming through the burn pot (about an inch from closure).
- After 1 - 2 minutes the fire is really going strong.
7. I shut the door and the resulting flame is 'torch-like' (about 2" high).
8. A couple of auger cycles later the distribution fan kicks on and the flame is soon maximized (still in turbo).
9. I usually let it run like this for about 5-10 minutes then I adjust the setting down.
Sounds complicated - it's not. It has never failed.

Hand sanitizer works great also