Harman Accentra Insert - Will not shut down

[arpenn]

I have a Harman Accentra Insert that I purchased new. This is my 5th winter heating with the stove. At the beginning of this season the combustion motor failed, so I replaced it. Everything had been working fine until about a week ago. After the stove has been running if I turn the dial to the off position, the distribution blower slows down and the fire will get low but it never goes out. I know it continues to auger pellets to clear the auger before shut down but my stove is continuing to drop pellets from the hopper. I can't figure out what is wrong.

 

[DAKSY]

Is your ESP clean?

 

[arpenn]

I haven't cleaned it sense the beginning of the season. I will have to pull the stove out today and clean the ESP. Man I hate pulling this thing out, what a PITA.

 

[Defiant]

Pulling it out should be easy with rails to slide it on. Take the screws off on the right side of the unit and make sure the probe is not buried with ash.

 

[lecomte38]

Mine has been doing that for a couple of years. I replaced the esp - no difference. I just open the feed hopper to break the vacuum and stop the feed.

 

[arpenn]

Well pulling mine isn't that easy I don't have the factory roller rails to slide it out on. I just have a 2x4 stand I built and the stove doesn't slide very well on 2x4's. I did get the stove out and pulled the esp and it was covered in soot. I cleaned it up along with everything else back there and I am getting ready to slide it back in and fire it back up.

 

[Defiant]

Well pulling mine isn't that easy I don't have the factory roller rails to slide it out on. I just have a 2x4 stand I built and the stove doesn't slide very well on 2x4's. I did get the stove out and pulled the esp and it was covered in soot. I cleaned it up along with everything else back there and I am getting ready to slide it back in and fire it back up.

Let us know how you make out

 

[arpenn]

Well I got the stove going and gave it about 20 min to get fully up to temp and it working great. Then I turned it to off and it started shutting down but it is still feeding pellets. It is like it is in the low or idle burn mode. The blower fan is really low and there is just a small fire but it just keeps feeding it. It seems like it should be shutting down if it would just close the slide door completely and not feed any more pellets. I know the auger continues to turn to clear the pellets in the auger so it doesn't back burn. I don't know what else to do, I cleaned ever part of the stove you can clean. Is it the control board that tells it to close the feed door?

 

[Delta-T]

is the air coming out unit cooler on the left than the right? If so, your left exhaust passage may be clogged. This forces all the hot air through the right hand passage, preventing the unit from stripping off all the heat, tricking th e unit into running longer because the ESP is not getting to appropriate shut down temp.

 

[arpenn]

The exhaust passages are clean, I just cleaned them and everything else on the stove inside and out front and back including the ESP.

 

[jp0469]

How long are you waiting for it to completely shut down? It can take a while. I think mine takes about 45 minutes to an hour since it won't shut down until the ESP reaches a set temp (less than 90 deg F I think). Also, you mention that the auger continues to feed and you can hear pellets dropping. This is completely normal during shutdown since the auger and slide gate are mechanically linked by a cam/roller assembly. However, the feeding of pellets should eventually diminish and stop.

 

[Defiant]

How long are you waiting for it to completely shut down? It can take a while. I think mine takes about 45 minutes to an hour since it won't shut down until the ESP reaches a set temp (less than 90 deg F I think). Also, you mention that the auger continues to feed and you can hear pellets dropping. This is completely normal during shutdown since the auger and slide gate are mechanically linked by a cam/roller assembly. However, the feeding of pellets should eventually diminish and stop.

X2

 

[arpenn]

I will have to try it again later. It is pretty cold here today so I cranked the stove back up to warm the house. I will keep you posted the next time I try to turn it off.

 

[arpenn]

Well my Harman still won't shut down. I turned the knob to off 4.5 hours ago and it is still running. Like I posted everything has been cleaned. I don't know what else to do to it. Help requested!

 

[Mt Bob]

Next time you shut it down turn your knob back and forth a couple of times,see if makes difference.Also spray out the pots(things on circuit board behind knobs)with electrical contact cleaner.Unplug before!Harmons seem to have a problem with the pots.Also research if your stove has the micro switch on the auger.Best I can do.

 

[arpenn]

I will have to get some cleaner and try that on the pots. I opened my pellet door to see if the stove would shut down and it has been open for at least 45min. now and it is still burning and feeding pellets. It will run out of pellets shortly so I know it will shut down then.

 

[Harman Lover 007]

Trying to cover all the bases but is your switch in manual or auto?

 

[arpenn]

I have been running the stove in auto, but I had turned the switch to the off position.

 

[Harman Lover 007]

I have been running the stove in auto, but I had turned the switch to the off position.

There is no off position. Either manual or auto.

 

[arpenn]

Are you talking about the igniter switch? That switch is set to auto.

 

[Harman Lover 007]

Are you talking about the igniter switch? That switch is set to auto.

Yes I meant the igniter switch. I agree with some of the above, you may have a dirty pot switch. You may have to find the sweet spot in the "off" position. When you turn it to OFF does the status light go off?

 

[arpenn]

I checked the status light and yes it does go off when I turn the pot to the off position. It doesn't matter if I turn the stove to the off position or if I leave the pellet door open, neither one causes the stove to shut down. It just has to run out of pellets.

 

[Mt Bob]

That would scare me.So the vacuum safety switch circuit is not working,the off switch is not working.Reccomend you call one of the guys that fixes these boards,or buy the 3 pots and solder them in and retest.The pots are $10.I wonder why,in the accentra manuals,the sentence-the best way to shut down stove is let it run out of pellets-is underlined?