I just converted the old P38 to a P43. It did not take as much time as I expected! What a difference! It is my basement stove. Holds temp perfect and seems to be using much less fuel!
Harman P38 to P43 conversion
- Thread starter rickwai
- Start date
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I dont have a cost of parts yet. I have not paid for them yet. I will post a picture of invoice that will list all part numbers needed. It took about 3 hrs. Requires a burn pot, flame guide, igniter, cradle, circuit board, circuit board plate, wiring harness, room sensing probe receptacle for room sensing probe. conversion was not very hard. Took about 3 hrs. (I have been a Harman service tech for 10 yrs). Nothing hard about it . Had to use snips to open the hole up for new circuit board and trim the 90 deg. lip off the new board plate and flush mount it.
Tonyray
Minister of Fire
my question is, if the p38 bunpot hasn't changed, how do u get more heat from same sized pot?
duh.. never mind... just read your parts list 2nd time..
hey.. since we have u here on the hook,
what is your take on pellets that contain lots of fines..
assuming you keep the fines compartment vacuumed regularly, P61A,
do they cause any harm to the auger? i know they will burn up but,,,,,
[sorry to toss in a free service question ]..
duh.. never mind... just read your parts list 2nd time..
hey.. since we have u here on the hook,
what is your take on pellets that contain lots of fines..
assuming you keep the fines compartment vacuumed regularly, P61A,
do they cause any harm to the auger? i know they will burn up but,,,,,
[sorry to toss in a free service question ]..
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Interesting.....I just picked up a PP38+ that supposedly has some issues, the previous owner seemed to think it needs a new board, however I gave it a good cleaning because it was filthy and have been running it in my garage with no issues that i can find? This is something to consider!
I just got tired of starting the 38. It is a1/2 hr process to get any heat and baby sitting thru the lighting process. The auto ignition is 10 minutes top.
bayfeet
Member
Hi rickwai. I'm wondering if you have the parts list together yet. I just acquired a P38+ and want to do the auto lite upgrade. Thanks
Or just soak a handful of pellets in kerosene, which contains no water. Strain them out, put in the burn pot and light with a match. The stove will start up easily.
I can get part numbers but here is a parts list.
-burn pot
-flame guide
-igniter
-igniter cradle
-circuit board
-wiring harness
-circuit board mounting plate
-room sensing probe
-plug receptacle for room sensor
I had to cut the ell bend off circuit board mounting plate and flush mount it. Plate is set up to be recess mounted but hopper does not have that set up on the p38. Hole for circuit board had to be enlarged a bit with tin snips.
Less fuel? Hard to fathom cause less fuel would mean less heat in that stove. My 2004 P38 is the same basic stove as the P43 AFAIK , so where would the less fuel useage come from? You can only get so much heat from a BTU .
I start my stove with a propane torch (40 seconds) and a $2 bottle lasts me 2 years.
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OK with the auto on/off option I could see where a savings would be possible. My congrats to you on the rework job you did.
Less fuel for the stove only using what it needs to maintain the temp instead of trying to do it with feed knob. I had a tstat hooked up to it but that dont work out very good. Sends it into turbo when calling for heat then back to knob setting when not calling for heat. Turbo is way to much feed with Summersets! Like a inferno and live pellets falling in ash pan.
Secondly I wanted it so my wife and daughter could just turn a knob to start the stove. Spoiled girls in this house I guess
I can also turn the stove off during the day and only run it at night. I always hated lighting this stove!
Thanks rickwai. I have one of the older P38+'s with the older style feeder assembly & old style board. It's getting a little erratic feeding & I think it's the pots on the board going bad. I was kinda thinking if I'm going to spend $320 on a board upgrade kit, I might as well go all in & do the auto ignite upgrade too. Wondering if there are any issues with this upgrade with old style feeder & where would I need to drill the hole in the feeder weldment for the igniter wires?
My p38 is a 2005 and had the hole in the feeder with an plastic plug in it. The new wiring harness has the igniter wires with the new plastic/rubber plug with the wires thru it already, made it a easy hook up. If you pull your rear shields off you would be able to see it directly below the auger.
The only drilling/modifying i had to do was use a cone shaped bit to make a hole on the back side of the stove for the room sensing probe receptacle then I had to open up the opening where circuit mounts and trim off the 90 deg bend on new circuit board plate. Then I zip screwed the plate on.
You can get a p43 parts break down and order parts from there.
Hey Rickwai - I have an old PP38+ (manual light, 2 knobs ((feed rate and blower)) and I would like to upgrade it to an autolight P43. My stove is a 1997 model. Is this the right breakdown of parts? These parts for a P43?
-Platinum Circuit Board
#1-00-05886
-Circuit Board Cover Plate
#1-10-08327
-Burn Pot
#1-10-00675
-Gasket
#1-00-07381
#3-44-237639 (not sure which one)
-Flame Guide
#3-00-03000
-Igniter & Igniter Cradle
-Plug Receptacle for Room Sensor
(Couldn’t find this part # if you could help me out....)
Just making sure i have everything right before placing the order. Also, a couple questions. If you are going to change the ESP probe does it matter which color you change it to? (Red or Black) - you just have to have your dip switch in the correct place on #5 correct? One last question - my stove currently does not have a hopper lid switch- if i upgrade it to the new Platinum Board- will i need to add a hopper switch as well? Or is that something that can be turned off with the dipswitch as well. Thanks so much for the help.
-Platinum Circuit Board
#1-00-05886
-Circuit Board Cover Plate
#1-10-08327
-Burn Pot
#1-10-00675
-Gasket
#1-00-07381
#3-44-237639 (not sure which one)
-Flame Guide
#3-00-03000
-Igniter & Igniter Cradle
-Plug Receptacle for Room Sensor
(Couldn’t find this part # if you could help me out....)
Just making sure i have everything right before placing the order. Also, a couple questions. If you are going to change the ESP probe does it matter which color you change it to? (Red or Black) - you just have to have your dip switch in the correct place on #5 correct? One last question - my stove currently does not have a hopper lid switch- if i upgrade it to the new Platinum Board- will i need to add a hopper switch as well? Or is that something that can be turned off with the dipswitch as well. Thanks so much for the help.
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Also pull up wiring diagram for a p43. I had to blow it up to see which white went where. Yes set dip switch to your esp. Board comes with sheet to tell if black is on or off. I dont remember. Hopper lid switch went in the neutral after vac switch that kill auger and igniter. I did not add a switch. I have the hopper extension on my stove.
Harman Thermostat Extension (3-20-00607)
$14.00
https://www.stove-parts-unlimited.com/harman-thermostat-extension-3-20-00607-p/3-20-00607.htm
This is the part number and link to the plug I could not find number for. Just happened to see it while online!!
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