Had P61A installed one week ago, already problems!!!

[Jason E]

Well, the stove was working fine until this evening...now I appear to have 2 potentially separate issues.

First, with the feed set at 3 1/2, room temp set at "6" (about 80-85, which heats the room to an actual 78), I cut the temp back to 5.5...and the flame went out completely. I then checked it multiple times, as the room temp dropped to 72, and the second time the ignition light came on, it actually lit and gave me back a nice fire.

The fire lasted less than a half hour, heated the room 2 degrees to 74, and now is in the process of completely going out yet again. I am completely puzzled. Its worked great for the first full week I've had it...until tonight. Can I assume there's a problem with the ignitor (read in another post that there is a bulletin on these) AND the temp sensor? I'd light it manually and go into stove temp mode, but I don't have any fluid with which to light the pellets manually...now all I have are embers. I imagine this may go on and on again throughout the night.

Guess I'll have to call the dealer in the morning...who will charge me $25 to come out even though there is a warranty, because they claimed they need to be paid for travel time. So far, I am very unimpressed. I bought a Harman because they seemed to be the best designed, with the best reputation. This is downright disheartening when you consider that with delivery and install, this stove just cost me about $4,000...

 

[mascoma]

did you move the sensor?
mine acts differently depending how close to the floor and or wall I place the temp probe. It also will act differently when I use a fan to circulate air. Not a defect you just have to adjust your room temp if you change anything else.

 

[Scoop]

There's a learning curve with any of these stoves. I don't have your model but I am sure there are lots of owners on here who can help you out. Good luck.

 

[lessoil]

We have the same stove. 1st year.
We had a weird issue with the room temp overshooting by 10 degrees.
This happened a couple of times until I moved the room temp sensor.
It is now at the opposite corner of the room (12 X 12) on top of the "Oil" thermostat and keeps the temp within 1degree. (Room Temp Mode) I soldered all connections.

I would check the connection on the back of the stove where the sensor(Thermistor) plugs in.
If you have a meter check the sensor assy for a bad crimp on the end connectors.
Here is how I did a quick test of the sensor:
1) To fool the stove into thinking it is cold put the sensor out a window or use ice in a sandwich bag.
The fire should ramp up.
2) To fool the stove into thinking the room is too warm, hold the sensor in front of the hot air exhaust.

Hope this helps
We did have the distribution blower replaced but that was all.
Very happy with the stove!

**We didn't get charged anything for the blower replacement. The dealer charging $25 doesn't sound right to me.**

 

[Jason E]

Well, I stayed up until a little after midnight last night to see what this thing was going to do. The ONLY thing that I could see that I did wrong was that after I put pellets in it last night, the lid was shut, but not latched. lessoil will understand what I'm talking about for sure...what I normally do when I put the hopper lid up is I push the tab on the latch back down so that it doesn't come in contact with my pipe (I have a ceiling vent pipe) while I'm filling it with pellets...I've scratched the black finish on the pipe a couple times by letting the plastic latch hit the hot pipe.

I read in the owners manual somewhere that there is a draft sensor or something inside the hopper...could it have been sensing the lid was open, thereby not allowing it to keep a flame going? After I closed the lid and plugged it back in, I got a smoky flame started after about 10 minutes (smoky because while the flame was out and it was still plugged in, it kept feeding unburned pellets into the burn pot), and has been fine ever since. Before I unplugged it, the status light was blinking at me, but I was too dumb to count the blinks before unplugging it.

It ran fine all night, and I turned it down to 5.5 room temp from 6 for the duration of the day...I have a very small flame in the burn pot right now, but at least it does not appear to be going out. I have to leave for a few hours...we'll see if I still have a flame when I get back!

I checked everything people recommended on here, and so far all the other items seem fine. Can leaving a hopper lid closed but unlatched really cause the stove to go out? If so, I guess I'm the idiot...not the Harman I will say, other than last night, I've been very happy with the stove so far. My wife gave me a bunch of crap because I bought such a "big" (BTU wise) one...she felt the P38 was more than sufficient. I liked the automatic ignition, plus the extra horsepower of the P61...which we're now using! We have a 2000 SF L ranch, with the stove at one end of the L in a sunroom with vaulted ceilings. This sucker has to work hard (room temp settings of 6 to 6.5) at night to keep the house warm...it ends up being nearly 84 or so at 6.5 in the room at night, with a cozy 70 degrees at the other end of the house while we're sleeping. I'm burning a little over 1.5 bags a day, and we're not freezing anymore, and the oil barely clicks on at all.

I like that part

 

[Steveo]

It will not work for long unlatched.

 

[tinkabranc]

Sounds like you found your problem.
Hopper lid must be latched for the stove to run properly.

 

[Jason E]

Well then I'm glad I got the info from here rather than call the dealer like an idiot! Something tells me this site will become extremely valuable over time. Thanks to everyone who helped out!

 

[Steveo]

Our stove once did the same thing and I could not figure out what was going on until I lifted the lid and found a piece of pellet shut in around the gasket of the lid.

 

[lessoil]

Well then I'm glad I got the info from here rather than call the dealer like an idiot! Something tells me this site will become extremely valuable over time. Thanks to everyone who helped out!

You are not an idiot!!
I did the same thing a couple of months ago.
The effects were not as severe as what you saw, but it did affect the burning.
Enjoy the stove!!

Note: Cleaning the burn pot.
After removing the cover by the ignitor, I have found that there is always a fair amound of ash in there.
Towards the back where it slopes downward. Could be my high ash pellets too!!
I use a Shop Vac to clean it. Do avoid hitting the ignitor.

 

[toastyinri]

Well, the stove was working fine until this evening...now I appear to have 2 potentially separate issues.

First, with the feed set at 3 1/2, room temp set at "6" (about 80-85, which heats the room to an actual 78), I cut the temp back to 5.5...and the flame went out completely. I then checked it multiple times, as the room temp dropped to 72, and the second time the ignition light came on, it actually lit and gave me back a nice fire.

The fire lasted less than a half hour, heated the room 2 degrees to 74, and now is in the process of completely going out yet again. I am completely puzzled. Its worked great for the first full week I've had it...until tonight. Can I assume there's a problem with the ignitor (read in another post that there is a bulletin on these) AND the temp sensor? I'd light it manually and go into stove temp mode, but I don't have any fluid with which to light the pellets manually...now all I have are embers. I imagine this may go on and on again throughout the night.

Guess I'll have to call the dealer in the morning...who will charge me $25 to come out even though there is a warranty, because they claimed they need to be paid for travel time. So far, I am very unimpressed. I bought a Harman because they seemed to be the best designed, with the best reputation. This is downright disheartening when you consider that with delivery and install, this stove just cost me about $4,000...

You fooled the stove into thinking it had reached it's set temp by lowing it to 5.5 and it started going into maintaince mode or shut off. I think there is a 2 deg. leeway with the temp. I run a Harman Advance set at #4 feed at 3 to maintain 73 deg. Make very small changes with the temp knob. When I want it a few degrees cooler I lower my feed rate to 2. When I hit the temp I want, I lower the temp knob to below 4, then raise it slowly and slightly until the stove distribution blower light comes on, then raise my feed back to 3.....keeps the fire buring and pellets pushing without a shutdown...stoves vary, so will yours. you'll get the hang of when you fiddle with it more

 

[bwoy]

Well, I stayed up until a little after midnight last night to see what this thing was going to do. The ONLY thing that I could see that I did wrong was that after I put pellets in it last night, the lid was shut, but not latched. lessoil will understand what I'm talking about for sure...what I normally do when I put the hopper lid up is I push the tab on the latch back down so that it doesn't come in contact with my pipe (I have a ceiling vent pipe) while I'm filling it with pellets...I've scratched the black finish on the pipe a couple times by letting the plastic latch hit the hot pipe.

I read in the owners manual somewhere that there is a draft sensor or something inside the hopper...could it have been sensing the lid was open, thereby not allowing it to keep a flame going? After I closed the lid and plugged it back in, I got a smoky flame started after about 10 minutes (smoky because while the flame was out and it was still plugged in, it kept feeding unburned pellets into the burn pot), and has been fine ever since. Before I unplugged it, the status light was blinking at me, but I was too dumb to count the blinks before unplugging it.

It ran fine all night, and I turned it down to 5.5 room temp from 6 for the duration of the day...I have a very small flame in the burn pot right now, but at least it does not appear to be going out. I have to leave for a few hours...we'll see if I still have a flame when I get back!

I checked everything people recommended on here, and so far all the other items seem fine. Can leaving a hopper lid closed but unlatched really cause the stove to go out? If so, I guess I'm the idiot...not the Harman I will say, other than last night, I've been very happy with the stove so far. My wife gave me a bunch of crap because I bought such a "big" (BTU wise) one...she felt the P38 was more than sufficient. I liked the automatic ignition, plus the extra horsepower of the P61...which we're now using! We have a 2000 SF L ranch, with the stove at one end of the L in a sunroom with vaulted ceilings. This sucker has to work hard (room temp settings of 6 to 6.5) at night to keep the house warm...it ends up being nearly 84 or so at 6.5 in the room at night, with a cozy 70 degrees at the other end of the house while we're sleeping. I'm burning a little over 1.5 bags a day, and we're not freezing anymore, and the oil barely clicks on at all.

I like that part

you solved the problem, the draft muffler is in the hopper. IF any of the doors are open or not sealed completely, the stove will not light or feed. This switch controls the ground wire for those components.

 

[mccabedoug]

I did the same thing. I poured a couple buckets of pellets into the hopper and left the hopper door open while I went downstairs to get more pellets. I got distracted and came back up about 10 min later and the flame was out. Had to resort to the last thing that any male wishes to do: read the user's manual!