Harman P38 woes

[wayoutthere007]

I think my P38 took a turn for the worse. It started as a burned fuse in the combustion blower, followed up by a bad ESP probe, then found that the control board was acting up.
So...I...
- replaced fuse on Gleason-Avery motor with a 3amp automotive fuse - seems to work ok
- replaced ESP probe (black wire style)
- replaced fuse on control board (old style)

The stove went through startup ok. Feed and combustion worked fine, then found the distribution blower wasn't working. It would come on briefly when set to Turbo, but then the whole stove shut down. It would also come on during the startup routine but wouldn't start when the stove came up to temp.

Moved the connection to the distribution blower off the control board and onto a rheostat plugged into AC power. Stove worked ok. Feed and combustion blower worked for a while, then I found that the combustion blower would cycle on and off at about 45 second intervals.

It looks like I need a new control board. Anyone have one for sale? The prices seem all over the map, ranging from $100 on eBay (when available) to $305 for retail online dealers.

Anyone have any tips on what might be the issue?

I did send an email to Gleason-Avery and they'll sell me a new combustion motor for $75 plus shipping. Great company to deal with and located in NY.

 

[Delta-T]

were you running the unit on a generator or get an odd power spike? Not very common to have all those things happen at the same time. If you can find one, the original board might run you $100-$130, but they are no longer being made. There is an upgrade kit to put on the newer style P61 board, with fancy lights and feed adjuster knob. Closer to $190 for that set up. The combustion blower should not cycle like that. It should be the first thing on and the last thing off if the unit is running normal like.

 

[gfreek]

Ebay has a new board up for bidding. Also there is a site on Ebay that repairs the boards..How old is the stove?? Others should have ideas..
(broken link removed to http://www.ebay.com/itm/Harman-Pellet-Stove-Control-Board-Potentiometer-Replacement-Service-/190733182305?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c68956561)

 

[Bioburner]

I would bet on power issue. The storm was messing with power on the whole coast. I would have the other motors checked by a motor shop if the stove is down anyway to get ahead of any other gremlins.

 

[wayoutthere007]

It's the board for sure. I wired the combustion blower directly to AC power and it ran fine all last night. Now I have a total of (3) plugs to run my stove. The control board does turn on the auger periodically, does not react to changes to the feed rate though. I turned it up to 4 and it didn't burn any hotter than setting 2. So, I'll be shopping for a board.

I didn't have it hooked up to a generator, but it certainly could have been a power surge or sag. I'll be picking up a UPS to put in front of it after this episode.

If anyone finds a replacement board, please let me know!

 

[wayoutthere007]

Ebay has a new board up for bidding. Also there is a site on Ebay that repairs the boards..How old is the stove?? Others should have ideas..
(broken link removed to http://www.ebay.com/itm/Harman-Pellet-Stove-Control-Board-Potentiometer-Replacement-Service-/190733182305?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c68956561)

Thanks for the link! I'll wait until Monday (if possible) for warmer weather and then ship this off to them.

 

[gfreek]

OK Let us know how you make out getting the board repaired

 

[wayoutthere007]

The invoice from the eBay guy repairing Harman control boards

Brunner's Bits & Pieces

www.pelletblowers.com
Invoice number
Invoice date 12/5/2012
Payment terms Due on receipt
Due date 12/5/2012
Bill To
DescriptionQuantityUnit priceAmount
Harman Control Board Repair - Evaluated damaged control board, damaged beyond repair (CPU bad) 1 $25.00 $25.00
Subtotal $25.00
Shipping/handling $5.00
Total $30.00 USD

 

[wayoutthere007]

I ordered a new (old style) board from our local Harman dealer for $122.00. Should be here next week.

 

[wil lanfear]

This may interest you.

(broken link removed to http://www.ebay.com/itm/Harman-P38-Pellet-Stove-Circuit-Board-Upgrade-Kit-BRAND-NEW-IN-BOX-/251190929510?pt=US_Replacement_Parts&hash=item3a7c256866)

 

[Bioburner]

$15 probably not worth the hassle plus can can get some advise and some support from local dealer if they are reasonably versed in the stoves workings. The price of getting board checked seems very reasonable. Now hunt down a UPS or good surge suppressor to try and prevent this again.

 

[kinsmanstoves]

were you running the unit on a generator or get an odd power spike? Not very common to have all those things happen at the same time. If you can find one, the original board might run you $100-$130, but they are no longer being made. There is an upgrade kit to put on the newer style P61 board, with fancy lights and feed adjuster knob. Closer to $190 for that set up. The combustion blower should not cycle like that. It should be the first thing on and the last thing off if the unit is running normal like.

Harman is not condoning the use of a generator. There are way to many cheap ones out there that spike. Harman recommends at least a USB and only a couple models with the proper dip switch setting. The other option is the SEC inverter. ***UPS***

Eric

 

[gfreek]

I ordered a new (old style) board from our local Harman dealer for $122.00. Should be here next week.

Thought the old style was NLA, no longer available. Still available till stock depleted??

 

[Delta-T]

Thought the old style was NLA, no longer available. Still available till stock depleted??

a likely scenario. I ordered a bunch when we got notice that they were disco-ing the old CB, we just worked through the remainder a few weeks ago. Have done a couple retrofits...is not so bad. I do like the flashy red lights on the new boards...fancy.

 

[wayoutthere007]

It was a retrofit kit. Whole kit for $120ish.
I have the stove running but now need to read how to regulate the auger. it seems to run frequently.