Harman Accentra Insert issues

[willis68nova]

Hello All,

I have recently purchased and installed a used/older Harman Accentra Insert. At first everything seemed to work properly. Once I began to burn for extended periods I noticed the stove did not shutdown like it should when it reached temp (running on room temp). When I noticed this I attempted to turn the stove to off and realized it wouldn't shut down at all. Ran it out of pellets then it turned off.

I have been browsing forums for suggestions and reviewing the wiring diagram to see what I might be missing. I have read it could be the potentiometers on the board but when I do turn it to off the status light goes off and no blinking errors are seen. I did clean the pots and I didn't see a change in behavior. Next I landed on the ESP and the room temp probe. I know throwing parts at a problem isn't the correct thing to do but for how inexpensive these are and them most likely being original I bought new ones. This did not change the behavior either. The only two outstanding things I have left that I need to diag is the pressure switch and the main board. One thing I noticed today, I opened the hopper while it was running and it did not shut down, it kept feeding pellets. That concerns me that the pressure switch might not be working or the board isn't functioning properly.

So my final thoughts.... I am starting to lean towards it needing a board. But my question is, how can I be sure? And what is actually wrong with the board? Even though I cleaned the pots could it still be them? Anyone have a line on new pots? Is the hopper lid open and the stove not shutting down an indication that the board has issues?

The other thing I read today was doing a deep clean on the stove. I had the whole thing apart when I first got it but I did not truly brush and vacuum out all the exhaust ports and paths.

Any suggestions or thoughts are greatly appreciated! Writing this on my phone so please disregard any spelling issues.
Thanks!

 

[jackman]

Welcome to the forums. I don't have the exact same model but on mine opening the hopper door does not shut off the pellet feed or the stove. Your thinking about the pots is correct and I would still suspect them first. I actually had my stove start on it's own with the knob in the off position. That's when I replaced them. I'm an electrical engineer so I'm handy with a soldering iron. I purchased the replacements on eBay.

 

[willis68nova]

Welcome to the forums. I don't have the exact same model but on mine opening the hopper door does not shut off the pellet feed or the stove. Your thinking about the pots is correct and I would still suspect them first. I actually had my stove start on it's own with the knob in the off position. That's when I replaced them. I'm an electrical engineer so I'm handy with a soldering iron. I purchased the replacements on eBay.

Thanks for the reply! I will have to look a little harder on eBay for them. I have no issues soldering new ones in I just need to find them. I'll let you know what I come up with.

 

[Nitro-Fish]

Did you replace the ESP with one that had the same color leads as the original? Also, if you replaced it with an aftermarket one, it is not unusual to get a bad one even though it is new. You can also try unplugging the stove for several minutes (while it’s not burning of course) and plug it back in which should reset the stove.

 

[willis68nova]

Did you replace the ESP with one that had the same color leads as the original? Also, if you replaced it with an aftermarket one, it is not unusual to get a bad one even though it is new. You can also try unplugging the stove for several minutes (while it’s not burning of course) and plug it back in which should reset the stove.

Yes, it was the black wire one (and the old one had the black wires too). I have had it unplugged a couple times for cleaning and checking and it still acts the same afterwards. Is there a true way to test the ESP? I'm assuming it's just resistance and it changes when heated vs cooled but is there certain values I should be checking for?

 

[z1robbie]

Hello All,

I have recently purchased and installed a used/older Harman Accentra Insert. At first everything seemed to work properly. Once I began to burn for extended periods I noticed the stove did not shutdown like it should when it reached temp (running on room temp). When I noticed this I attempted to turn the stove to off and realized it wouldn't shut down at all. Ran it out of pellets then it turned off.

I have been browsing forums for suggestions and reviewing the wiring diagram to see what I might be missing. I have read it could be the potentiometers on the board but when I do turn it to off the status light goes off and no blinking errors are seen. I did clean the pots and I didn't see a change in behavior. Next I landed on the ESP and the room temp probe. I know throwing parts at a problem isn't the correct thing to do but for how inexpensive these are and them most likely being original I bought new ones. This did not change the behavior either. The only two outstanding things I have left that I need to diag is the pressure switch and the main board. One thing I noticed today, I opened the hopper while it was running and it did not shut down, it kept feeding pellets. That concerns me that the pressure switch might not be working or the board isn't functioning properly.

So my final thoughts.... I am starting to lean towards it needing a board. But my question is, how can I be sure? And what is actually wrong with the board? Even though I cleaned the pots could it still be them? Anyone have a line on new pots? Is the hopper lid open and the stove not shutting down an indication that the board has issues?

The other thing I read today was doing a deep clean on the stove. I had the whole thing apart when I first got it but I did not truly brush and vacuum out all the exhaust ports and paths.

Any suggestions or thoughts are greatly appreciated! Writing this on my phone so please disregard any spelling issues.
Thanks!

The early Accentras did not have hopper switches, this can lead to a hopper fire if the lid is left open or the hopper lid seal is bad.
I bought and rehabbed a hopper fire IRON Accentra.

Nice stove,
love the 'Maintenance mode" that burns a fire with the room fam off, so you just get radiated heat.

I believe there is a fix where a hose is attached to the vacuum switch and other end to the hopper with a filter to keep out dust. When the lid is opened the room and hopper pressure equalize and the auger stops.

Bottom line
on ANY horizontal auger stove keep ALL the seals(ANY in the hopper and auger areas and fine box.) in good condition and keep the hopper lid shut tight.

 

[camdids]

The Pots are the obvious problem. I got three off eBay several years ago and used one. Last week I had the stove start in the morning after being shut down all night. Luckily I was there at the time. Two days later while cleaning it started up again. Suspicion is another Pot is the issue.