Harman p 61a2 fix and follow up

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little bear

New Member
Hearth Supporter
Nov 22, 2008
14
upstate NY
We posted about our busted stove in an earlier thread asking about the possibility of expired pellets. Looks like we have the stove fixed now and I just wanted to share the process . Here's the story :

Our 4th season on this stove that we purchased new. Middle of the night, smokey house, dead stove . 3 blink error (esp probe) . That had happened a few times over the years requiring a simple reboot. Reboot didn't cut it this time. Did a thorough cleaning inside and out . Lots of fines in the fine catcher and the exhaust pipe was pretty dirty even though I cleaned it at the end of last season and hadn't used a half ton of pellets since (premium grade Dry Creek brand) . Took out the esp probe and cleaned it off, it looked brand new so I put it back. The error message blinks went away but the stove wouldn't go. In test mode the distribution blower was the only thing operating even though the feed motor and combustion blower lights were lit. Explained all of the above to my dealer tech over the phone and he had me take off the auger motor and see if I could hand turn the auger- I could . He also had me blow out the vacuum switch, which took me a while to figure out because my stove is installed in a corner and doing anything back there is tight. Finally cut up a bendy straw to fit over the top of the switch intake . Put everything back together and still no go . The tech suggested that the combustion motor was broken and met me with a new one tonight . I installed it and presto ! Warm house.

Next time I work on this thing I am going to de-tatch the exhaust collar and turn it around ! Sharp sheet metal . Sharp zip tie ends . No room for my claustraphobic non mechanical self back there ! The wire connectors are not that easy to separate either.

Anyway I learned a bunch about our stove and I will be cleaning it better from now on. I thought I was doing a pretty good job cleaning and I don't know for sure if the dirt level caused the blown motor but I feel like keeping the thing clean is where it's at . I also re-learned the hard way that I should be wearing gloves and a mask when working on this dusty sharp hunk o metal.

The only thing chapping me now is that the stove has a new annoying high frequency coming from it that I am hoping is the new motor pre- break in period . Any ideas there ?
Don't know about the warranty coverage yet .



Kenny
 
I am assuming that because you said the distribution blower was the only thing working, that you actually replaced the exhaust/combustion blower?
In any case, there is no "break in" period for these motors, and they should run quiet from the get-go.
 
PH,

You are correct. It was the combustion motor that I replaced . Post edited. The noise from the new combustion motor is subtle and not like anything is obviously wrong . Just different than it was . I wonder if moving the internal fan a touch back or forward on the shaft would stop it ?
 
Without hearing the noise myself, it's hard to say. However, it is worth a try. You might also take that paddle fan blade completely out and lay it on a flat surface, they get bent easily when they are removed and replaced during the blower swap out. A bent paddle can make a noise.
 
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