Harman Invincible distribution blower issue

[Tim_M]

This morning I discovered the distribution blower on my Invincible had stopped spinning, but the stove was otherwise burning normally. After removing the side panel I turned the fan slightly with my fingers and it immediately started spinning at what seemed to be full speed. When I checked in on an hour later it had slowed to barely turning , and this time would not speed up. I don’t hear anything unusual from it - humming or buzzing. Has anyone else experienced this and does it mean it needs to be replaced, or could it maybe just need to be lubricated? If I need a new motor, can it be separated from the assembly or does the whole thing have to be replaced?

 

[Washed-Up]

It’ll be time to replace soon, you can limp it along by using 3in1 synthetic oil, a few drops on the bearing seal should help. Make sure it’s not gummed up with hair etc

 

[Tim_M]

I took the motor out of the fan housing and put a few drops of oil on the shaft but it didn’t seem to help. The shaft will barely turn at all so I’m guess the bearings are shot. I might try to disassemble it just to have a look, but will probably order the whole assembly from Amazon. There seem to be a few options for around $200. I’m thinking something with a Fasco motor might be a better choice. Has anyone tried any of these Amazon fans?

 

[Washed-Up]

My neighbor ordered an Amazon fan that I installed, that was a few years ago and it’s still working well…..Fasco I believe

 

[Tim_M]

Update - I ordered the blower assembly from Amazon for Cdn $200 and it arrived 4 days later. Installed it last night and the old Invincible is back up and blowing stronger than ever. The install was a bit of a challenge due to the tight confines at the back of my stove - the mounting bolts didn’t want to align with the gasket and bolt holes - but with a bit of patience it wasn’t too bad.

 

[timjk6969]

This morning I discovered the distribution blower on my Invincible had stopped spinning, but the stove was otherwise burning normally. After removing the side panel I turned the fan slightly with my fingers and it immediately started spinning at what seemed to be full speed. When I checked in on an hour later it had slowed to barely turning , and this time would not speed up. I don’t hear anything unusual from it - humming or buzzing. Has anyone else experienced this and does it mean it needs to be replaced, or could it maybe just need to be lubricated? If I need a new motor, can it be separated frklacement motor without luc

Update - I ordered the blower assembly from Amazon for Cdn $200 and it arrived 4 days later. Installed it last night and the old Invincible is back up and blowing stronger than ever. The install was a bit of a challenge due to the tight confines at the back of my stove - the mounting bolts didn’t want to align with the gasket and bolt holes - but with a bit of patience it wasn’t too bad.

 

[timjk6969]

I tried to find just the motor for my Advance, not gonna happen. I ended up going with the fan motor combo from
amazon. Had to make a couple simple mods and straighten the squirrel cage and now it works great.

 

[sambo42xa]

My turn! 2007 ACCENTRA-2 here. Ran for 15 yrs up until 2022 when everything seemed to finally crap out on me. Combustion Blower and Fan/Paddle ($197.), Harman Circuit Board ($$$), while at it I also replaced the sensor inside exhaust flue, then the Distribution Blower (DB) quit ($346.). Now 4 years later the DB seems to be quitting on me. OEM are now close to $400. where as an aftermarket you can get as mentioned on here $200.+/-. Aftermarket has a 1 yr warranty and the OEM has 2.
I do the cleaning/service on my own stove because I know how. I clean mine about 1-2x a month during the Winter. Just recently the stove was getting very hot to the touch and this told me as I've already experienced this before that the DB was not working. So I removed stove from wall, turned it around so I have access to the back (yes it's a pain but if you need the room you do what you have to). Bottom metal protective screen was totally blocked with dust And dog hairs. Removed the slide panels and found the DB was loaded as well. Shop vac time!
Did a complete cleaning on backside, put back together, recalked the pipe and waited 24 hrs for curing. Fired up and once up to temp she got very hot again. Felt in front of stove exhaust and nothing; turned up blower and nothing coming out. Nope, I did not test the DB when I had the stove spun around...ugh. Just thought the issue was all the dust/hairs. So now I took it all apart again and removed DB and brought down to my workshop where I blew it out with air gun. Cages spun freely and then bench tested. Works. Put DB back in stove hooked up and now with stove plugged in and Stove/Room Temp knob in the "OFF" position I turned on the Feed Adjuster knob all the way to "TEST" and both Combustion fan blower and DB came on. This tells me the DB is at least working and not the issue.
I now positioned stove back in wall exhaust, waited for calking to dry. Turned stove on and nothing.....then I turned up the Room Temp H-L knob all the way up to H and blower came on. After an hour the top of the stove was NOT hot to the touch. Before it was. I can place bag of pellets on top of stove and open bag then pour in without any bags melting etc.
I think my issue's were, the back of stove was definitely blocked, and I think my settings were set for the blower to perhaps not to come on (?). I think I had it at 75* before and then I turned it down to 70* and this is when the blower stopped and stove top got Very hot. Never had this happen before and now I believe that between the setting/s and the intake being blocked caused the excessive heat.
Thought I'd share my experience with the Distribution Blower.
thnx

 

[sambo42xa]

Been awhile since my last post (above March 2026). Having similar issue once again. Blower not working/running on LOW speed. Everything ran fine then and now going to use it. Stove gets really hot on outside panels. I put Feeder knob to "test" mode and it Blower/Distrib./Auger all came on as should. After the first 60 second cycle Auger shuts off and blower goes into High mode. I place a tissue in front of grill while blower is on. After that 60 second cycle the blower is supposed to go into Low speed for 60 seconds which it is not. No tissue moving, no humming no nothing. After 60 second cycle it goes back to High mode as it should, then back to Low and nothing. Probe on outside and inside are clean...stove is clean as I've gone through it last month. I'm thinking not enough voltage going to motor to kick it on into Low?? Capacitor? I removed both side panels to look for cap (schematic is worn on inside panel and manual is around somewhere/we just did a move and forget where I placed it), and did not see it. It's not on motor but I'm wondering if I need to pull this darn thing away from the wall again to get a better look inside perhaps it's tucked further in or does anyone know where the capacitor actual is??
I'm stuck as oil service guy just checked my two 250 gl oil tanks and they both leak, so company will not deliver. Now pellet stove is not working...ugh. Of course it's that time of year.

 

[Whitenuckler]

Been awhile since my last post (above March 2026). Having similar issue once again. Blower not working/running on LOW speed. Everything ran fine then and now going to use it. Stove gets really hot on outside panels. I put Feeder knob to "test" mode and it Blower/Distrib./Auger all came on as should. After the first 60 second cycle Auger shuts off and blower goes into High mode. I place a tissue in front of grill while blower is on. After that 60 second cycle the blower is supposed to go into Low speed for 60 seconds which it is not. No tissue moving, no humming no nothing. After 60 second cycle it goes back to High mode as it should, then back to Low and nothing. Probe on outside and inside are clean...stove is clean as I've gone through it last month. I'm thinking not enough voltage going to motor to kick it on into Low?? Capacitor? I removed both side panels to look for cap (schematic is worn on inside panel and manual is around somewhere/we just did a move and forget where I placed it), and did not see it. It's not on motor but I'm wondering if I need to pull this darn thing away from the wall again to get a better look inside perhaps it's tucked further in or does anyone know where the capacitor actual is??
I'm stuck as oil service guy just checked my two 250 gl oil tanks and they both leak, so company will not deliver. Now pellet stove is not working...ugh. Of course it's that time of year.

Is this the distribution blower? What mode are you running in?

 

[sambo42xa]

Is this the distribution blower? What mode are you running in?

Yes, Distrib. Blower. After my post from yesterday I turned knob to "OFF" to reset and back on to "Room Temp" (which is what mode I've been using since day 1) and this time went a bit closer to the "H" side. Stove kicked on and I waited a few hours, touched the top of the stove which was warm/hot to the point I could leave my hand flat on top. Before you could not. This is exactly what happened earlier this year. Only thing I did different was turning the Stove Temp/Room Temp knob a bit closer to the "H". Checked top of stove this morning after running all night and it's fine.
I did find my manual I had misplaced and I do not see a capacitor on the schematic.
On another note: The ESP Control board had been replaced before to the "updated" version and Dip switches have been set accordingly by tech over phone call during that time; now that I'm thinking of this, the Dist. Blower motor I had replaced at the time was a bit different as far as wiring. I don't remember if there was a Low speed hookup on it or not at the time and could be that I only used terminal for High(?). Don't remember unless I pull stove out and physically look.
At the moment stove is running fine (not getting extremely hot on top).
Any comments or suggestions please run them by me. I'm not afraid to tackle stuff, just don't want to pull stove out again as my body cannot get on the ground and twist like a pretzel maneuvering. Yes, most of us are there....haha.

 

[Whitenuckler]

Yes, Distrib. Blower. After my post from yesterday I turned knob to "OFF" to reset and back on to "Room Temp" (which is what mode I've been using since day 1) and this time went a bit closer to the "H" side. Stove kicked on and I waited a few hours, touched the top of the stove which was warm/hot to the point I could leave my hand flat on top. Before you could not. This is exactly what happened earlier this year. Only thing I did different was turning the Stove Temp/Room Temp knob a bit closer to the "H". Checked top of stove this morning after running all night and it's fine.
I did find my manual I had misplaced and I do not see a capacitor on the schematic.
On another note: The ESP Control board had been replaced before to the "updated" version and Dip switches have been set accordingly by tech over phone call during that time; now that I'm thinking of this, the Dist. Blower motor I had replaced at the time was a bit different as far as wiring. I don't remember if there was a Low speed hookup on it or not at the time and could be that I only used terminal for High(?). Don't remember unless I pull stove out and physically look.
At the moment stove is running fine (not getting extremely hot on top).
Any comments or suggestions please run them by me. I'm not afraid to tackle stuff, just don't want to pull stove out again as my body cannot get on the ground and twist like a pretzel maneuvering. Yes, most of us are there....haha.

I have a P43 so the controls are the same I think. "Analog/Digital" with dials. The dist blower is just a normal 120V blower. You could bench test it if required. The control board can reduce the voltage to it and lower the speed (based on the dial position). Other than that, depending on what mode you are in, and the settings it may shut off. In Room Temp Mode the room temp will come into play. In stove mode the setting for heat is used. Also, to complicate things, the igniter switch position can change the operation as well although that would shut it off sometimes.

 

[silverfox103]

I have the P38+ also. I have had the same issues you are, multiple problems. It is a fairly common issue and solution with that model. The fix is to replace the circuit board. The job takes about 2 hours and fairly easy.

With the new board you will have three controls: 1. Feed Adjuster, 2. Temperature Dial and 3. Mode Selector. Not the same as a P43 as that model has automatic light igniter switch.

I replaced the circuit board about 5 years ago and it has operated flawlessly since then.

P38+ Circuit Board Upgade Kit, Part #1-00-7738111 - Pre Serial #008190059

Tom