Anybody get a new P68 or P61 recently?

[newf lover]

I posted this under a different thread, but did not receive any comments, so I am making this a new thread, hope that's OK.
I have heard of some Harman products coming in, I would be curious to know if anyone has received a P68 or P61 recently. (not a 2006 leftover) I would be cautiously optimistic if someone somewhere actually got that model in. Maybe I missed it on this forum, but I don’t think I’ve seen a post where a new P68 or P61 has been delivered. I have a friend who did not order his pellets in time, and I am considering parting with one of my three tons. If no one has rec'd a 2008 P68 or P61, I would feel comfortable helping him out. Before anyone says it, I realize I can probably get another model, but I took a long time researching different models and decided this is the one I wanted to sink my money into. Also, my husband and I have no mechanical skills whatsoever, so we couldn't go out and buy one where you better know what you're doing because there's no support. Thanks.

 

[Gumbo]

I just got a call from my stove shop on my ordered P-68. Purchase date was first week of June, original delivery date of November 08. Delayed to August of 09. Due to cancellations by other customer bumped up to April of 09. I bought a new Harman Accentra still bolted to the pallet in a private sale to use for the winter since my P-68 wasn't going to be in. Dealer called me yesterday.........stove is in. *slaps forehead* I don't know if it's an 08 stove since I haven't seen it yet. Accentra is already installed so I'm in no press to get the P-68 in the house but I'll manage before it snows. So....folks waiting for the Harmans to come in may get lucky.....or may not. I'll repost if it's indeed a newly manufactured 2008 P-68.

 

[newf lover]

Thanks for the reply, and congrats on your 2 new stoves!! I'm working on my own little conspiracy theory that Harman is in no hurry to roll out the more in demand models like the P68, and are using the extremely high demand for stoves as an opportunity to get rid of every last speck of inventory. Of course, I must admit I don't know squat about the manufacturing process and I may be expecting too much. If that's the case, I take it all back and apologize for my ignorance.

 

[Fixedblade]

My P-68 ordered in July arrived 3 weeks ago and is now burning in my living room. It was marked with an August 2008 manufacture date. I think your conspiracy theory is your imagination. From my observations, Harman is distributing their products to their dealers like GM and Ford USED to deliver cars to their dealers. Dealers that sold cars and had strong customer satisfaction ratings often received the more desirable cars first. Dealers that historically sell lots of inventory and of the mix that the makers liked, are now getting larger and faster allocations of products. My Harman dealer told me that they had allocations of Harmans mostly because they have been a solid and consistent dealer for them for several years. That's my theory anyway....
FB in Vt.

 

[Gumbo]

At this point in the game I don't know what the difference would be between new 'old' stoves, and new 'new' stoves. I think I'd rather have a new 'old' stove that wasn't cranked out in a production increase. Sometimes quality control gets away from you when overdemand is driving production. I don't know if a new owner would change things either however I believe the standards will remain consistent.

 

[newf lover]

Well, so much for my conspiracy theory. I was only half serious. My dealer had explained the whole distribution thing, but I hadn't seen posts saying too many people got their P68s or P61s in, hence my theory. Gumbo, I agree and I would take an "old" P68 in a heartbeat. I just made the distinction because I was wondering if there were any new P68s being pumped out. I guess I will send a ton of pellets to my pelletless friend with electric heat, as my dealer is definitely not in the league of Fixedblade's dealer. On the positive side, my Newfie is really happy the living room is still cold.

 

[Bushbuck]

My new P61 came in and was installed about 3 weeks ago. I have had some igniter problems but they are going to change that out when they install another stove, a Breckwell in another part of the house.

 

[Gumbo]

P-68 came in early. Stamped date reads Sept. 08. Brand spankin' new. No discernable design changes which is just fine with me.

 

[newf lover]

That's great. I am hoping that I'll get mine early, but I'm certainly not counting on it. The volume of sales here in CT in the past I'm sure was nowhere near sales in VT, Maine and NH. Since Harman is distributing stoves apparently based on prior sales, I can't imagine I would be getting mine before the bulk of the winter is over. That's OK, it's my choice to wait instead of looking at other models. I'm happy whenever I hear someone get their P68; that means I'm one stove closer. Also happy to hear they didn't make any obviousl design changes. Happy burning!

 

[lessoil]

Our P61 was installed about 4 weeks ago.
Love it!!
It was ordered in June. Had we ordered 2-3 weeks later
we probably would not have it yet.

Where is the date stamp located?
Should it be on the plate on the backside of the hopper?

 

[Gumbo]

Date stamp is back side of hopper on the P68, month and year are single punched to indicate manufacture date. Bottom right hand side of hopper label facing the rear of the stove.

 

[no1psycho]

Just had my P68 delivered Friday. Originally ordered in June. Store that I ordered from got a surprise delivery of 8 P68's with 3 of those being "red dot" stoves. Called me a little over a week ago to see if I still wanted it. It is now sitting in my living room and I started on the hearth pad yesterday afternoon. Can't wait to fire it up for the first time

 

[harp68]

I went to my local dealer and purchased a P68 on Thursday Oct. 16, 2008, they loaded it onto my truck and I brought it home with me the same day. It is date stamped June 08.

 

[newf lover]

I guess I should move to Maryland, holy crap! I am very jealous, especially since my furnace is running as we speak...

 

[PA Harman P 61A]

I ordered mine in June and got it in Aug and I started it yesterday and it is running perfectly. Mama likes getting up to a warm house in the morning, and as they say if MAMA aint happy nobody aint happy.

 

[poorfactoryservice]

I have a P68 2005 be very careful of their warranty. You are stuck complaining ONLY TO THE DEALER WHO INSTALLED IT. If they loose their franchise the next nearest dealer is the only authorized warranty dealer that can touch it. Then when you contact them, it's pass the buck time! If it is a corner install it should only have 3 90 degree elbows in the exhaust including the clean out "T" WHICH BELONGS OUTSIDE, and then have 3' of vertical rise. If you don't have vertical rise and you loose your power, your house will fill full of exhaust smoke very quickly. If I new then, I would only use EXCELL pipe. Then you can have your clean out "T" inside. They have a model that you can easily remove a panel and clean the pipe in both directions, no silicon needed at all!

 

[FiredUp]

Hey newf lover -
Did your stove arrive yet? We ordered ours back in May. Original arrival scheduled for June 30th - actual arrival date October 26th - EXACT date they resheduled to! Had it installed a week ago, and it's working just fine. I'm sure we'll appreciate it even more when this "heat wave" of 60 degree weather ends!

 

[sydney1963]

I ordered and got my Englander delivered within a week back in the early summer of "08. Works wonderfully. Not the prettiest of stoves but sure cranks out the heat.

 

[newf lover]

Hi fired up-
No, I didn't get my stove yet. My dealer had told me because of their past volume of orders from Harman, they did not expect the stoves to begin rolling in until January. At least they've been honest with me (I think) from the beginning and have not been promising every month it would be here. In fact, the actual date they told me was March 2009. This was communicated to me via a letter in July 2009. I did check with them about 6 weeks ago, and there has been no change.
People that ordered Harmans from stores that did a high volume of business with Harman in the past will see their pellet stoves much quicker.
I still obsessively read this site, however, it's sort of a sickness. In reading many posts, it appears to me a large factor on whether or not I will be happy with my pellet stove will depend on the service I get from my dealer. That's why I picked them, and that's why I'm still patiently waiting. Hopefully, I won't regret it!