A good tool for the Harman pusher arm and questions when doing the auto ignition upgrade?

[Don2222]

Hello

The auto ignition upgrade kits for the Harman P61 vary depending upon serial #. This one that I got for units below 6400 may have changed also. I did an upgrade with I believe the same kit and I had to notch the ash pan to slide it back in. The burn pot on both lower sides seemed to hang down more. The kit I am using today has what may be a better more sleek design. The old ash pan slid right in.
Has anyone else seen problems with sliding the ash pan back in?

The really old serial # kits come with a new pusher arm for the slide plate.
Why is that needed?

What is also confusing here is?
The last kit I had came with the yellow igniter wire that pushed into the original circuit board connecter.

This kit comes with a whole new connector and wiring harness. A nice idea to put in all new connections but it does take more time. Is this also a new recent change to this old ignition upgrade update?

The instuctons still say just to add the yellow wire into the old connecter? ? ?

Has anyone seen this kit lately? Is there a service bulletin about the change?

So now I have to pull a wire diagram and cut off all the wire ties and rewire the stove!

Finally I did buy a 7/16 ratchet box and open end wrench from Sears with a flexible ratchet end.
This is the best tool to remove the pusher arm since taking off the nut is so much easier than trying to remove the bolt! The instructions step 1 just say change the arm. Could t be a little more detailed?

So now, the latest Bug-A-Boo is the new wiring harness has 4 white wires with 2 female and 2 male connectors on the ends. The old wiring harness has 4 white wires with 3 male and 1 female connectors on the ends! Always a problem! See pics. Cannot plug 2 female connectors together!

 

[Defiant]

Cannot plug 2 female connectors together!

Why not?

 

[Don2222]

Why not?

LOL

Hey defiant

How long does it take for your stove to startup? Just wondering how many minutes with the igniter?

 

[Don2222]

Hello

Well except for those minor problems where I had to run down to home depot for a package of male quick disconnects the upgrade went very well!
Considering it was dead as a door nail when I purchased it, I am very happy with the results.

I did have to turn dip switches 5 & 6 off since I did not have the old RED analog ESP probe. I also out the feed sensor stem in backwards for the reed knob. So just pulled it out and turned it 180 and plugged it back in. This way the pointer on the knob is pointing to the right feed rate.

The wiring has to be tied down and secured in all the right places with the wire ties provided. There are alot of moving parts and the wires must go in the exact same path as the old ones. The blue and yellow ignitor wires must be bunched up on a separate wire tie so when the igniter is replaced that one wire tie can be cut and the slack be pulled thru the inlet air tube so the connectors to the igniter can be disconnected in front of the burn pot.

If you have a P61 then I highly recommend this upgrade. Well worth it and you can really same some doe if you do it yourself!

When I turned it on, the auto lite started the fire in less than 4 minutes!

See pics
Click to Enlarge

 

[Defiant]

How long does it take for your stove to startup? Just wondering how many minutes with the igniter?

I have not actually timed, my guess would be around 5 minutes, she is shut down for the season now, if I remember I will time next season.

 

[Don2222]

I have not actually timed, my guess would be around 5 minutes, she is shut down for the season now, if I remember I will time next season.

ok, thanks.

I was testing the P-61a in the garage yesterday. It came on full blast when I started the stove and warmed the garage up real quick! It was sucking down the pellets at first but then after the garage warmed up the feeding slowed right down to keep the garage comfortable. Then I opened the garage door and let alot of cold air in. Then the fire went back up to keep the garage warm. I shut the garage door and then the fire went back down and when it got warm outside the stove shut down automatically! After a while the garage got cooler than the set room temp on the stove of 73 Deg and the stove came back on for a bit just to bring the room back to temp!

Also since they designed a 1" air space in between the hopper and the stove, the stove top and sides get real HOT! Nice to radiate heat too!