Harman P35i Problems

[ViperSBT]

This unit is less than a year old, and the company I bought it from can't get to me until next Thursday... But, it is COLD now! Hopefully someone here can give me an idea of what might be going on...

I noticed that for the last couple of days, the stove wasn't burning as much. The status light would be blinking which I used to take as an indication that it was time to fill the hopper again. However, now it blinks when the hopper is full.

I can get it to run for brief spurts.... At the moment I have it turned up to 90 degrees and full fan. It ran for about an hour, current room temp is 64 degrees. The status light is flashing, and the combustion blower is running. There is nothing going on in the burnpot...

If I turn the room temp dial to off wait a moment and then turn it back on. It kicks in and starts to work again. I can hear the pellets trickling down the auger....

What gives?

 

[Ssyko]

When was the last time you cleaned it from intake to exhaust?

Your manual see page 40 http://downloads.hearthnhome.com/installManuals/P35i.pdf

 

[jackman]

I'll echo Ssyko and say it sounds like you should start with a deep clean. How many pellets have you burned since the last cleaning?

 

[ViperSBT]

I may have burned a ton so far in it. I've cleaned everything I can clean without pulling it out.... I can slide it out and clean the areas behind it.

 

[Ssyko]

I would, clean the combustion motor and lube, clean the chamber that it mounts to. The vent pipe from stove to rain cap. Blow out the convection fan the veins clog up with dust, lint, animal hair. Lube it too. A drop of oil on each end of the auger armature wouldn’t hurt.

 

[ViperSBT]

OK, a bit of heavy lifting and two cut knuckles later....

I slid it out and performed the suggested maintenance in the rear.... ESP prob was significantly buried and the pellet feed was jammed full of sawdust.

On first trial run, hopefully that did it.

 

[ViperSBT]

Well, after burning well through the night, it is acting up again. I'm getting 6 flashes on the status light, but can't find anything that would be causing that.

 

[MSmith66]

I would start by cleaning under the burn grate where the igniter is by using your finger to get all fines out, make sure the holes in the burn grate are open, remove all chunks of carbon from grate. Then remove ash pan and clean exhaust path to combustion blower, remove plate covering impeller on combustion blower. Pull unit out, clean ESP probe, I'm not sure how it is vented, clean all piping/liner to the termination ca, I have 40ft of rods and a 4" brush on my van for "High" chimneys Also check the cap for ash build up. Depending on the cap used, you may have a blocked cap. Hope that helps and let us know.

 

[thatguy69]

The only thing that stops the auger from turning is the vacuum switch, as long as your esp is reading correctly and the stove is trying to drive up to setpoint. So if you open the door on the stove your auger stops feeding. Check to make sure the line going to the switch didn't get plugged with ash accidentally. If that doesn't work try jumpering out your vac switch temporarily to see if that cures your issue. If jumpering it works then order a new switch.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[rickwai]

Another thing that will cause random issues w/ Harmans is long pellets. If the pellets you are using has 1.5-2" long pellets mixed in they will pixey stick in the bottom of the hopper and block the slide plate. I have also replaced a couple of vac switches on newer Harmans this year. We used to never has vac switch failures...
Also watch it when you think it is acting up. When Feed light comes on, do you see or hear auger run? That will tell if you have a hopper blockage or vac switch/cleaning issue. Only burning 1 ton, flue should not be that plugged.

 

[jp99]

We used to never has vac switch failures...

Harman had a bunch of vacuum switch failures in 2006-2008. Common warranty repair.

 

[ViperSBT]

OK, as many of your surmised the problem was in the exhaust. While I thought I had cleaned it from the bottom to the top, I missed a huge wasp nest that had been built inside the cap! Why it didn't give me problems sooner, I have no idea. But sure enough, after removing it I have had no further problems.