Harman P43 pushing ash and smoke into room/ignition issue?

[gfc]

Last night I woke to the smell of smoke. The stove was off so I went down and saw the ash pot filled with fresh pellets. I also noticed a little burnt ash outside the stove below the glass. There was also smoke in the stove. I cleared the pellets from the ash pot and started the ignition process again (forgetting to check what code was blinking). Ignition was slow and the pot was nearly filled with pellets again and there was an audible pop though this time the pellets ignited. I toggled the switch to disable and stove is running fine now as it always has.
This is the 5th winter I have used the Harman, and I have always run Woods and Sons pellets. I go through two tons a season so this stove has burned a total of 8.5 tons of pellets. During the day I use the disable setting so the stove does not cycle on and off (except during late fall/early spring where I run the auto (thermostat setting). At night while sleeping I do run the thermostat setting.
My research suggested that a failing ignition is the likely issue and I do have a replacement I could install, but I wanted to check here in this forum if there was some other possible issue and if other Harman P43 users have experienced this. Stove is direct vented, there is no air intake. Door seal is original but is tight. Ash box is about 1/4 full and I am right at the time where I would shut down the stove and do a thorough cleaning though it has been so cold this year that that "warm" cleaning days have been in short supply.

 

[johneh]

My stove is not a Harman, but when there is a smoky start-up
The stove is telling me time for a deep cleaning

 

[jackman]

It sounds like time for a deep clean. The pop sound sometimes occurs when the stove first lights which is normal. The slow ignition could be due to ash buildup below the burn pot. I would remove the cover for the igniter area and make sure that it's cleaned out.

 

[Whitenuckler]

Last night I woke to the smell of smoke. The stove was off so I went down and saw the ash pot filled with fresh pellets. I also noticed a little burnt ash outside the stove below the glass. There was also smoke in the stove. I cleared the pellets from the ash pot and started the ignition process again (forgetting to check what code was blinking). Ignition was slow and the pot was nearly filled with pellets again and there was an audible pop though this time the pellets ignited. I toggled the switch to disable and stove is running fine now as it always has.
This is the 5th winter I have used the Harman, and I have always run Woods and Sons pellets. I go through two tons a season so this stove has burned a total of 8.5 tons of pellets. During the day I use the disable setting so the stove does not cycle on and off (except during late fall/early spring where I run the auto (thermostat setting). At night while sleeping I do run the thermostat setting.
My research suggested that a failing ignition is the likely issue and I do have a replacement I could install, but I wanted to check here in this forum if there was some other possible issue and if other Harman P43 users have experienced this. Stove is direct vented, there is no air intake. Door seal is original but is tight. Ash box is about 1/4 full and I am right at the time where I would shut down the stove and do a thorough cleaning though it has been so cold this year that that "warm" cleaning days have been in short supply.

When it failed, was it in Room Mode? - Enable or Disable? - it sounds like if it was in Auto, it failed to light properly. That could be the igniter. If it was in disable, then the fire went out. Either way cleaning (except for a bad igniter) cleaning is the first step. Fines Box, Igniter Box, combustion blower fins, behind the combustion blower ect. Clean everything and verify the fresh air intake flapper ect. You may have to end up checking the vacuum switch function.

 

[Tonyray]

far as I know, the ignitor doesn't sort of work. it's go or no go.
I would go with good cleaning before replacing anything.
specially the ignitor compartment.. could be packed with dry coarse ash...
and of course make sure burn pot holes are clear...

 

[mr meener]

Last night I woke to the smell of smoke. The stove was off so I went down and saw the ash pot filled with fresh pellets. I also noticed a little burnt ash outside the stove below the glass. There was also smoke in the stove. I cleared the pellets from the ash pot and started the ignition process again (forgetting to check what code was blinking). Ignition was slow and the pot was nearly filled with pellets again and there was an audible pop though this time the pellets ignited. I toggled the switch to disable and stove is running fine now as it always has.
This is the 5th winter I have used the Harman, and I have always run Woods and Sons pellets. I go through two tons a season so this stove has burned a total of 8.5 tons of pellets. During the day I use the disable setting so the stove does not cycle on and off (except during late fall/early spring where I run the auto (thermostat setting). At night while sleeping I do run the thermostat setting.
My research suggested that a failing ignition is the likely issue and I do have a replacement I could install, but I wanted to check here in this forum if there was some other possible issue and if other Harman P43 users have experienced this. Stove is direct vented, there is no air intake. Door seal is original but is tight. Ash box is about 1/4 full and I am right at the time where I would shut down the stove and do a thorough cleaning though it has been so cold this year that that "warm" cleaning days have been in short supply.

it seems like you live in NH and only use 2 tons a winter? so I guess you use your primary heat. it is rare and ignitor would go after 8 tons. sounds like maybe a faulty vacuum switch

 

[Washed-Up]

As said above deep clean first…some do it from time to time…here is a thread regarding some of our experiences

B

Thread 'Harman P68 back fire?'

Jan 31, 2023

Hi all, once in awhile but not all the time I get what I will describe a backfire in the stove when it is restarting...It will POOF and blow ash and smoke out the seams in the door. Does anyone know what this is? My stove is clean, I clean it every few weeks.... wondering if it will burn my house down when I am not there?
Thanks for any help.

• bigD55
• Replies: 9
• Forum: The Pellet Mill - Pellet and Multifuel Stoves

 

[bogieb]

I would bet that the ignitor area is full of ash as others have suggested. My P43 needs to have that area cleaned once a week even though I don't do any other type of cleaning but once every 3-4 weeks (I also use middling pellets that create a lot of ash anyway).

The ash in the igniter area would insulate things and not allow for timely lighting of the pellets. The stove will give up after about 20 minutes if it doesn't sense heat, and the exhaust fan will shut off. The pellets probably started smoldering, but didn't create enough heat for the stove to determine it needed to restart the exhaust fan.

My guess is that the ash on the lip under the glass is from previous times you have scraped the pot or swiped off the "mustache", and you just didn't notice. It would be extremely hard for ash to actually make it outside the stove unless the glass was actually broken or somehow became disengaged from its setting.