Harman p43 igniter fails to light.

[shtrdave]

Have had this issue in the past and it just corrected itself some how. Now it happened 2 days ago and again tonight.

I turned the stove on, the lights on the board light up including the igniter. It feed pellets and then after short time I get up to look to find the pot close to over flowing, and the igniter light is now off, probably went through it's cycle time.

As I did 2 days ago, I shot some hand sanitizer on the pellets and lit them with the propane torch, opened the hopper lid so it wouldn't run the auger until the fire was burning well. then it took off and ran through until the thermostat told it to shut down. Now 2 days ago it worked great until tonight, thermostat tells it to start it fires and burns until the thermostat tells it to shut down.

It is shutting down currently and I will be off to bed soon, I guess I will see if works over night.

2 days ago I did pull the plate off the bottom of the pot and clean what little ash was in there out.

From messing with pellet grills igniters either work or they don't, not sure if stove igniters are like that though.

I will probably soon be running it in manual and just allowing the thermostat to ramp up and down the small continuous flame.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[Washed-Up]

Sounds like it’s failing, mine worked on and off last winter until it didn’t fire at all…when you pull it out to remove it, you’ll most likely see the fins are warped etc….

 

[shtrdave]

Sounds like it’s failing, mine worked on and off last winter until it didn’t fire at all…when you pull it out to remove it, you’ll most likely see the fins are warped etc….

I will order one to have on hand, it has worked as it should since I posted the question.

I did notice when I lit them after a while I went to stir in the lit pellets on top in to the unlit ones and there seemed to be a hollow area under them, which is probably why they didn't light,they were not in contact with the pot in that area possibly.

Thank you for your advice and knowledge.

 

[scajjr2]

Have to ask the dumb question- you do thoroughly clean out under the burnpot? A layer of ash on the igniter can insulate the heat from getting the burnpot hot enough to ignite pellets. I always use a little canned air when I clean mine just to make sure the igniter is free of ash. The couple times I forgot the first symptom was real long time to start burning or failure to burn at all. Still on the original igniter.

sam

 

[Tonyray]

I also use canned air right after I vacuum the compartment...

 

[Trefix]

Hello.
We had a few and random lazy lighting just before igniter died.
I maintain stove always clean (Accentra FS), 10 years of 'room temp' use (1.7 to 2 tons per year), no real surprise.
This part is easy to replace (diy) and not especially expensive.

 

[bogieb]

Remove and reinstall the plate under the burn pot. If the airflow is disrupted from the plate being off a little, the pellets may not light.

 

[shtrdave]

I do clean under the pot, it is part of my usual monthly cleaning. I take the plate off and then turn to test so the blowers run to help push some of the ash out, then I will stick my fingers up in there and pull out all I can off the ledge then stick the vacuum nozzle in there.

Sine I posted this it has lit every time with out issue, it seems to light fairly quickly.

As for the ash build up on the igniter between it and the pot, I usually scrape my pot every 2-3 days and I will always tap the pot with the tool to help dislodge anything.

I have a new one on the way with some bearings to rebuild my old combustion blower. I didn't buy the cradle just the igniter.

I guess it never hurts to have a few spare parts, my closest dealer is 25 miles maybe. Not bad but if it breaks at night or weekend, pretty much out of luck.