Harman Accentra 52i – problems in paradise

[HP52NOVA]

So we went ahead and purchased a Harman Accentra 52i pellet insert. I was debating between the Enviro and the Harman and eventually went with the Harman because of its reputation and got a really good deal on it. The stove was installed in May 2104, and we started using it this season around mid-September. I got 4 tons of Hamer pellets (via our local Southern States – statesman pellets), 1 ton of Turman pellets and a few misc ones to try.

The issues started around October when we started seeing a lot of partially burned pellets in the Ash tray, glass was turning black within 24-48 hours and it kept getting worse. So I called my dealer to find they went out if business. Great, now I am stock with a problematic stove with no warranty on the install!

So I called Harman direct and they gave me an alternate dealer: Miller Ace Hardware out of Stephens City, VA. Very nice guys - told the service manager I have a problem and need to stove and install reviewed. They came in to perform cleaning, no clue on how install of how to troubleshot a Harman stove, so we ended up cleaning the stove in November, it was very clean indeed.

I thought things were a bit better for like a week, but not really, as then they came back in force. I got a 3 blink status message two weeks ago, did a manual reset. Then again earlier this week, again anther manual reset. This morning we woke up to cold house, stove was down with now a 6 blink error (with plenty of pellets)

Called Harman again, they were not really helpful. Very sympathetic on the phone (oh, we are so sorry), but no help so far. I am under the first year warranty.

So I now called another dealer: Mace Energy Supply out of Smithsburg, MD. They will be here next week and will have to double charge me because they are over 50 miles away…great.

On my end: I tried reducing the burn rate, different pellets, etc. That made things a bit better but the issues were still there and we had reduced output. I follow the instructions on cleaning, scraping the burn pot twice a day now, cleaning the fire box (ash removal is now daily and massive); I even clean the little chamber under the burn pot (the igniter area) and vacuum it out. The rest is supposedly yearly cleaning stuff, unless I am missing something. Between the error status codes, mounds of ash and overall headache (not to talk about $$$), I am wondering if we made the right decision here.

Any suggestions from the community will be welcome. Thanks in advance.

 

[gfreek]

Defective ESP (Exhaust Sensing Probe) ?? 3 blinks

 

[bags]

How many pellets have you burned in the 52 total starting at bag 1?

 

[Edward Hughes]

So we went ahead and purchased a Harman Accentra 52i pellet insert. I was debating between the Enviro and the Harman and eventually went with the Harman because of its reputation and got a really good deal on it. The stove was installed in May 2104, and we started using it this season around mid-September. I got 4 tons of Hamer pellets (via our local Southern States – statesman pellets), 1 ton of Turman pellets and a few misc ones to try.

The issues started around October when we started seeing a lot of partially burned pellets in the Ash tray, glass was turning black within 24-48 hours and it kept getting worse. So I called my dealer to find they went out if business. Great, now I am stock with a problematic stove with no warranty on the install!

So I called Harman direct and they gave me an alternate dealer: Miller Ace Hardware out of Stephens City, VA. Very nice guys - told the service manager I have a problem and need to stove and install reviewed. They came in to perform cleaning, no clue on how install of how to troubleshot a Harman stove, so we ended up cleaning the stove in November, it was very clean indeed.

I thought things were a bit better for like a week, but not really, as then they came back in force. I got a 3 blink status message two weeks ago, did a manual reset. Then again earlier this week, again anther manual reset. This morning we woke up to cold house, stove was down with now a 6 blink error (with plenty of pellets)

Called Harman again, they were not really helpful. Very sympathetic on the phone (oh, we are so sorry), but no help so far. I am under the first year warranty.

So I now called another dealer: Mace Energy Supply out of Smithsburg, MD. They will be here next week and will have to double charge me because they are over 50 miles away…great.

On my end: I tried reducing the burn rate, different pellets, etc. That made things a bit better but the issues were still there and we had reduced output. I follow the instructions on cleaning, scraping the burn pot twice a day now, cleaning the fire box (ash removal is now daily and massive); I even clean the little chamber under the burn pot (the igniter area) and vacuum it out. The rest is supposedly yearly cleaning stuff, unless I am missing something. Between the error status codes, mounds of ash and overall headache (not to talk about $$$), I am wondering if we made the right decision here.

Any suggestions from the community will be welcome. Thanks in advance.

Hate to see this happen. There are plenty of Harman owners here and should be here After dinner.
This kind of service makes a lot of us think, I'll just keep what WE have.
I hope these owners burn the phone to coporate HQ, An put a stop to this BS.
GOOD LUCK

 

[Randy Fischer]

So we went ahead and purchased a Harman Accentra 52i pellet insert. I was debating between the Enviro and the Harman and eventually went with the Harman because of its reputation and got a really good deal on it. The stove was installed in May 2104, and we started using it this season around mid-September. I got 4 tons of Hamer pellets (via our local Southern States – statesman pellets), 1 ton of Turman pellets and a few misc ones to try.

The issues started around October when we started seeing a lot of partially burned pellets in the Ash tray, glass was turning black within 24-48 hours and it kept getting worse. So I called my dealer to find they went out if business. Great, now I am stock with a problematic stove with no warranty on the install!

So I called Harman direct and they gave me an alternate dealer: Miller Ace Hardware out of Stephens City, VA. Very nice guys - told the service manager I have a problem and need to stove and install reviewed. They came in to perform cleaning, no clue on how install of how to troubleshot a Harman stove, so we ended up cleaning the stove in November, it was very clean indeed.

I thought things were a bit better for like a week, but not really, as then they came back in force. I got a 3 blink status message two weeks ago, did a manual reset. Then again earlier this week, again anther manual reset. This morning we woke up to cold house, stove was down with now a 6 blink error (with plenty of pellets)

Called Harman again, they were not really helpful. Very sympathetic on the phone (oh, we are so sorry), but no help so far. I am under the first year warranty.

So I now called another dealer: Mace Energy Supply out of Smithsburg, MD. They will be here next week and will have to double charge me because they are over 50 miles away…great.

On my end: I tried reducing the burn rate, different pellets, etc. That made things a bit better but the issues were still there and we had reduced output. I follow the instructions on cleaning, scraping the burn pot twice a day now, cleaning the fire box (ash removal is now daily and massive); I even clean the little chamber under the burn pot (the igniter area) and vacuum it out. The rest is supposedly yearly cleaning stuff, unless I am missing something. Between the error status codes, mounds of ash and overall headache (not to talk about $$$), I am wondering if we made the right decision here.

Any suggestions from the community will be welcome. Thanks in advance.

Sorry to hear you having issues. We are down the road from you in Purcellville. New 52i as well. We got ours from Miller. I was under the impression that Millers uses ALJ Services for their service and installs. Is that who came out? He is a factory trained tech and very good (as far as I know thus far). We went to those folks up in Smithsburg when we were looking, they REALLY did not want to come down this far and made it pretty plain we were going to pay out the butt if they did. Assume Rusty's was your dealer? Heard Harman yanked their business from them. Let me know if you want the contact info for ALJ Services. He is coming to the house on the 31st to replace our door (which by the way the dealer, Millers Hardware, replaced for free when a piece of the enamel fell off). We are burning Turmans as well, hope you did not pay Rusty's price for them!

 

[HP52NOVA]

How many pellets have you burned in the 52 total starting at bag 1?

We burned about 80-90 bags so far.

 

[HP52NOVA]

Defective ESP (Exhaust Sensing Probe) ?? 3 blinks

Well, now I get 6 blinks and the stove will maybe run on low for an hour and shutdown.

 

[HP52NOVA]

Sorry to hear you having issues. We are down the road from you in Purcellville. New 52i as well. We got ours from Miller. I was under the impression that Millers uses ALJ Services for their service and installs. Is that who came out? He is a factory trained tech and very good (as far as I know thus far). We went to those folks up in Smithsburg when we were looking, they REALLY did not want to come down this far and made it pretty plain we were going to pay out the butt if they did. Assume Rusty's was your dealer? Heard Harman yanked their business from them. Let me know if you want the contact info for ALJ Services. He is coming to the house on the 31st to replace our door (which by the way the dealer, Millers Hardware, replaced for free when a piece of the enamel fell off). We are burning Turmans as well, hope you did not pay Rusty's price for them!

Our dealer was UniqeHeat from Stephens City VA, it was run by a guy named John Butcher. He was a gold dealer with harman, sold us the stove and did the install. He is a good guy, hard working but apperantly not a very good business manager as the company went bankrupt during the summer. They just fell of the face of the earth ,phones disconected, etc. We spoke to Harman and they sent us to Miller's. Millers did not use to sell Harman and only started this summer when John went out of business as HHT gave it to them. They only sold quad until then. I never worked with Rusty, his price for the enviro stove was very $$$. Miller's sent a guy named Tom, he seems to work for them and know how to work on quads but was new to Harman. I do know ALJ, they also gave us a quate when we were looking. They must have a contract with Millers's of some sort as I don't see ALJ listed as a registered dealer on their own so was hesitant about calling them. I hope your are happy with your stove. Ours is now down completely and the old furnace is cranking back up

 

[bags]

3 blinks = ESP probe is bad or bad connection. Have you done a manual reset? Unplug the stove for a bit and plug it back in? Your owners manual has a trouble shooting section. Have you read the manual? It's very helpful and beneficial if you do.

I also question the "cleaning" the guys did that knew nothing about service and installing to begin with. I am a contractor but knew nothing about pellet stoves and installed mine. I am no pellet pro by any means but have figured some stuff out. Obviously more than these cleaners have. Has the probe even been cleaned? Did you do that when you cleaned? They say it's a put it off service to a degree cleaning on the probe for awhile but it does not hurt to make sure it's clean. After almost 2 tons ran thru it there can be a bunch of dirty stuff. I was shocked at what I saw in certain areas after a short time or one ton. What exactly have you done cleaning your stove? Scraping the pot, cleaning the glass, and emptying the ash pan is not a clean so to speak.

Locate and clean the probe 1st. Do a regular recommended clean at that time for starters. Do the manual reset to see if it resets the ESP probe. Let us know. Read your manual if you haven't also.

 

[Big papa]

Call harman and see if they will send you a new ESP and we will talk you through replacing it and harman ultimately is responsible for the warranty they set the warranty parameters and had it written into the manual not the dealer that closed.

 

[BrotherBart]

Probably cost $50 bucks to file in small claims court and get HHT's attention.

It's their warranty. Not the dealer's.

 

[bags]

6 blinks is incomplete combustion which you have had from what you are saying. Find your manual and trouble shoot it yourself so you get an understanding. There are suggestions in a trouble shooting section somewhere in there. To me it sounds like proper cleanings have not happened or something with your probe. Again, no expert here but you have to start somewhere to eliminate what it is not. To rectify the 6 blinks you need to turn your dial to OFF then back to your room or stove setting.

Hopefully and more experienced Harman guru can chime in. For your stove being so new and what it is this is not very common from what I've seen.

 

[Randy Fischer]

Our dealer was UniqeHeat from Stephens City VA, it was run by a guy named John Butcher. He was a gold dealer with harman, sold us the stove and did the install. He is a good guy, hard working but apperantly not a very good business manager as the company went bankrupt during the summer. They just fell of the face of the earth ,phones disconected, etc. We spoke to Harman and they sent us to Miller's. Millers did not use to sell Harman and only started this summer when John went out of business as HHT gave it to them. They only sold quad until then. I never worked with Rusty, his price for the enviro stove was very $$$. Miller's sent a guy named Tom, he seems to work for them and know how to work on quads but was new to Harman. I do know ALJ, they also gave us a quate when we were looking. They must have a contract with Millers's of some sort as I don't see ALJ listed as a registered dealer on their own so was hesitant about calling them. I hope your are happy with your stove. Ours is now down completely and the old furnace is cranking back up

I wondered why UniqeHeat never would anwser the phone. As far as I know, I think Alan Jackson who owns ALJ services only does service, not sales and he does have a deal with Millers to do thier service, very highly rated by Angies list. You can reach them at 540-349-3306. As I mentioned, factory trained by Harman. I have only burned Turmans so far, without something to compare it to, dont know if it's ashy or not. I can get 4-5 days before glass needs to be cleaned. Good luck!

 

[HP52NOVA]

I think I will take the advise here and just strip it down tomorrow for a full clean +. I watched some vids and it probably worth doing before I call for service. As a minimum I will know if this is just a clogged part somewhere causing this, or do I really have a faulty stove... Will update once my experiment concludes.

 

[Randy Fischer]

I think I will take the advise here and just strip it down tomorrow for a full clean +. I watched some vids and it probably worth doing before I call for service. As a minimum I will know if this is just a clogged part somewhere causing this, or do I really have a faulty stove... Will update once my experiment concludes.

Take some pics of the ESP area if you can, I'm wondering what kind of job that will be. I was planning to put that off till next spring. Do you have a rail kit? Making one is on my to do list, although just had foot surgery this morning, so laid up for several weeks. Good Luck.

 

[chken]

Unless I missed it, did the OP clean the vent? He's burned almost 2 tons.

 

[Big papa]

Unless I missed it, did the OP clean the vent? He's burned almost 2 tons.

I believe he had service come in and clean but was not specific on wether the vent was cleaned or not

 

[HP52NOVA]

Still down here. I did clean the $%#% out of the stove on Friday, fired it back up and it worked fine for about 2 hours. But then I noticed it would not throttle down. it kept going on high and heating up while it was on room temp and around 74F to well above that. When I decreased the temp the distribution blower shut down and we started smelling a burnt smell (from I the hopper, I think...) no error lights this time, but something is very wrong here, so I shut it down as a precaution.

I give up. Called Mace Energy Supply and they will be here tomorrow to troubleshoot (for a lot of $$). The warranty covers parts and labor on site only if the issue is with the stove itself. travel fees, cleaning fees, and install issues are not covered (as they did not install it). Lesson - pick your dealer very carefully!

The vent was cleaned (inside and out) on 11/4/14 by the last service visit. I guess it could be a clogged vent, as we did burn 2 bags a day since 11/4, but will that explain the 3 and 6 error codes we have been seeing, or the overall performance issues, or the burnt smell?

 

[fmsm]

can you describe your venting? is it 3 or 4" ? Does it go to the top of the chimney or another configuration? Length? Outside air? are there any sharp turns from the cage?

 

[HP52NOVA]

can you describe your venting? is it 3 or 4" ? Does it go to the top of the chimney or another configuration? Length? Outside air? are there any sharp turns from the cage?

I have a zero clearance setup with side venting. The stove is in a Harman zero clearance metal box. The venting is via 4" Selkirk pellet vent going up about 4 feet and then to the side (elbow) for another 5-6 feet ending in a round cap outside - sticking out about a 1.5 feet. I do have an OAK kit installed, it is installed right next to the vent outside.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I have a zero clearance setup with side venting. The stove is in a Harman zero clearance metal box. The venting is via 4" Selkirk pellet vent going up about 4 feet and then to the side (elbow) for another 5-6 feet ending in a round cap outside - sticking out about a 1.5 feet. I do have an OAK kit installed, it is installed right next to the vent outside.

Ouch, please check that horizontal run and the area where the vent goes to the stove. The 6 blink is poor combustion and indicates things are ashed up or there is a leak in a gasket somewhere or there is something like a blocked termination cap. Make sure that that stove has a proper draft and the the horizontal is not truly horizontal or worse going slightly downhill.

 

[chken]

The vent was cleaned (inside and out) on 11/4/14 by the last service visit. I guess it could be a clogged vent, as we did burn 2 bags a day since 11/4, but will that explain the 3 and 6 error codes we have been seeing, or the overall performance issues, or the burnt smell?

I follow the instructions on cleaning, scraping the burn pot twice a day now, cleaning the fire box (ash removal is now daily and massive); I even clean the little chamber under the burn pot (the igniter area) and vacuum it out. The rest is supposedly yearly cleaning stuff, unless I am missing something. Between the error status codes, mounds of ash and overall headache (not to talk about $$$), I am wondering if we made the right decision here.

So, when you posted the thread, it's been 6 weeks since your last vent cleaning and you burn 2 bags a day, that's roughly 80 bags. In general, most stove mfr recommend cleaning the vent once a ton, until you get a sense of how often you need to do it, then you can adjust to suit your stove and the pellets you use.

I'm not an expert on your stove, but the first thing to rule out is a dirty stove and vent. Most people who get a stove clean it, religiously, but often ignore the part about cleaning the vent. Cleaning a vent can be tricky, especially inserts, etc. And you did say the people who came out, Miller, didn't really know Harman stoves.

 

[Peterfield]

There is an article that has been quoted here before regarding an independent pellet stove repair technician that has made about 5000 service calls for almost every brand of stove and he kept meticulous records. If I remember the data correctly, no matter what stove brand, over 60% - 70% of the trouble calls were solved simply by doing a thorough cleaning rather than having to replace any parts.

 

[HP52NOVA]

Well, the techs are on site. So far, they replaced the following: burn pot and fan assembly had to go due to a redesign, brand new parts. New circuit board and ESP are also being replaced! Stove is clean and the vent is clear. they suspect my OAK is confusing the stove, apparently its not something you need on an insert unless you are 4 feet from a window. work is still in progress.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Well, the techs are on site. So far, they replaced the following: burn pot and fan assembly had to go due to a redesign, brand new parts. New circuit board and ESP are also being replaced! Stove is clean and the vent is clear. they suspect my OAK is confusing the stove, apparently its not something you need on an insert unless you are 4 feet from a window. work is still in progress.

You are getting a bunch of crapola on the OAK.