Harman p61a - not starting. Any suggestions before I call the stove guy?

[newbieinCT]

We are relatively new harman owners (installed ~13 months ago). New to pellet stoves, as well. We love our stove, runs pretty much 24/7 except when we shut it down for a big cleaning. We do a big cleaning every ton (sometimes we forget but always do it before we are 1/4 way through next ton). Scrape it 1-2 times a day.

Overall, we absolutely love this little beast...especially this winter here in CT! The issue is when we do shut it down - it's happened a few times now this winter - it won't start. It puts out a bunch of pellets but they won't light. We will turn it off, clear out the burn pot of all the unused pellets, that still doesn't always work. Sometimes it starts other times we have to go through that a few times. We've always gotten it started but this is kind of annoying when you just want it to turn on, you know?

Could we be doing anything wrong? The engine is running, I hear more pellets going on. Temp is set to 65. Feed rate is 3. We use Stove temp (a little less than halfway between low/high) and auto start.

It's the way we have always started with a few variations but in general, we always run auto / stove temp, not room temp b/c of the layout of our house and we hear it burns out the igniter faster. Not sure if it's true but it works for us.

I'm about to turn off and re-empty the burn pot. I was just wondering gif there were any suggestions from others with Harman owners or it is something simple that I just don't understand like: your igniter is shot. Don't be a dummy, call the stove guy.

Thanks in advance. It's a cold snowy morning here and I'd like a little bit o' pellet heat!
Jen

 

[Golfeur]

Qand you clean the stove should be cleaned small holes in the grate and also clean the compartment under the grate because this is the igniter that is and if it is full of ash it is possible that the stove not light. Loosen the 2 bolts butterfly remove the lid and sucked ashes.

 

[Bioburner]

Have you been cleaning the igniter chamber with the thumb screw cover? Sounds like you have not been doing that and the poor igniter is fighting an ash build up and not getting the air flow through it needed to light your pellets.

 

[newbieinCT]

Thanks @Golfeur this could be the issue. I hope that is all it is. We are ready for the 1 ton cleaning - I think we are 5 bags into the next ton. I'll try and clean it out now - I was hoping to till this weekend for the big clean but I guess I'll do it now

 

[newbieinCT]

Have you been cleaning the igniter chamber with the thumb screw cover? Sounds like you have not been doing that and the poor igniter is fighting an ash build up and not getting the air flow through it needed to light your pellets.

My husband usually does the big cleaning - I'm the day to day scraper. How often does the igniter chamber need to be cleaned? I know he does it, but I'm not sure how often. I'm usually at work when he cleans but he'll tell me about it and I've seen him remove it and do it before.

Thanks - it sounds like i really need to unscrew my burn pot/igniter chamber and give a thorough cleaning before I freak out and call the stove guy

 

[Bioburner]

There is a Harman cleaning video on youtube for the p series and the needed info on the igniter is about 3 minutes in.

 

[newbieinCT]

Thanks so much, @Bioburner
I'm headed over there to watch - I haven't watched it since the first time we cleaned and after that, the husband has taken on the chore I'll post an update on how it goes after the cleaning

 

[daument]

My 52i does this too. I clean out the igniter area every week when I clean the stove and de-ash it. I also clean out the holes in the burn pot. I get a burn pot reading of 150F with a heat gun. It just isn't hot enough to light off the pellets. I just light it manually with a small (bernz-O-matic) torch.

 

[Golfeur]

Thank you for keeping us informed

 

[newbieinCT]

My 52i does this too. I clean out the igniter area every week when I clean the stove and de-ash it. I also clean out the holes in the burn pot. I get a burn pot reading of 150F with a heat gun. It just isn't hot enough to light off the pellets. I just light it manually with a small (bernz-O-matic) torche.

So weekly clean for the burn put - got it. I'll see how often the husband is doing it...seems like it's weekly but who knows. This whole cold winter is a bit of a blur to me at this point!

 

[railfanron]

As others have said clean the holes in the burnpot and underneath the igniter. Also make sure the latch for the pellet storage door is tight and working. There's a little plastic nut that can come loose and cause the lighting problem.
Ron

 

[newbieinCT]

As others have said clean the holes in the burnpot and underneath the igniter. Also make sure the latch for the pellet storage door is tight and working. There's a little plastic nut that can come loose and cause the lighting problem.
Ron

It's getting late and I have to shovel the driveway (yay. more snow) and get to work. I'm already late b/c of the stove but I'll blame the road conditions. I started the cleaning but I'm going to it until the husband gets home. I'll let him work on it and I'll also leave this thread up and make sure he reads through it. Thanks everyone in advance. I'll send that update later tonight after I get home. It sounds like you are all correct - it needs a good cleaning. My brain automatically went to crisis mode. We've had a string of things (like ice dams, ice dam leaks, broken older kozi, frozen gate) that keep hitting us and aren't easy fixes...so of course, I assumed that this was broken and not just dirty. Pretty sure I have PTSD from this winter

Thanks again for all the advice. I'll update later

 

[bogieb]

I'm about to turn off and re-empty the burn pot. I was just wondering gif there were any suggestions from others with Harman owners or it is something simple that I just don't understand like: your igniter is shot. Don't be a dummy, call the stove guy.

Jen

Your igniter shouldn't be shot this early in the game. I got my P61 last January, and mostly run it in Auto/room temp (except for in really cold weather), so I use my igniter a whole lot more than you do - and mine is fine. If it turns out to be shot, I would think it would be covered under the warranty (haven't looked at the manual, though).

Most likely it is ashes under the burn pot, as everyone else has said. However, if your hubby does clean it on a regular basis, it is possible that he dislodged it from the ideal resting place, so it may not be close enough to light off the pellets. Don't worry about this unless the clean out doesn't work though.

 

[Peterfield]

In a pinch, you could always put some starting gel on a handful of pellets in the burn pot to get the fire going.

 

[alternativeheat]

When whomever watches that video note that part of a daily scraping of the burn pot is to tap on the burn pot with something like the Harman scraper tool ( not everyone uses the provided scraper but some other tool). The purpose is to knock ash off the igniter. If that process is skipped even cleaning the doesn't really get the ash off the igniter. Ash builds up and insulates the igniter and you either get a delayed start or no start. FWIW

 

[newbieinCT]

Well, everyone here was right. It needed a really good cleaning! Ended up staying in today and staying off the snowy roads, so I was able to clean the stove after all.
I cleaned it and then didn't trust that I did it all right so I re-watched the video b/c I hadn't taken it apart in a while. Looks like everything is ok! Stove started up and it's already getting toasty in here!

Thanks for advice. it was a pretty obvious answer but, like I said before, I'm in crisis mode at the moment and think everything is breaking

By the way, I followed the advice and knocked the burn pot, made sure the door was tights, screws were tightened, etc. All went well.
If it didn't work, I was going to try the advice about the igniter getting moved around - but it didn't come to that. Thankfully.

Just worried that I did such a great job cleaning the stove, it's going become my responsibility
Thanks again, everyone! You guys are great

 

[alternativeheat]

Well, everyone here was right. It needed a really good cleaning! Ended up staying in today and staying off the snowy roads, so I was able to clean the stove after all.
I cleaned it and then didn't trust that I did it all right so I re-watched the video b/c I hadn't taken it apart in a while. Looks like everything is ok! Stove started up and it's already getting toasty in here!

Thanks for advice. it was a pretty obvious answer but, like I said before, I'm in crisis mode at the moment and think everything is breaking

By the way, I followed the advice and knocked the burn pot, made sure the door was tights, screws were tightened, etc. All went well.
If it didn't work, I was going to try the advice about the igniter getting moved around - but it didn't come to that. Thankfully.

Just worried that I did such a great job cleaning the stove, it's going become my responsibility
Thanks again, everyone! You guys are great

Absolutely got to love a woman who steps up to the plate and dives in head first !! Good job and good news !

 

[newbieinCT]

Absolutely got to love a woman who steps up to the plate and dives in head first !! Good job and good news !

Ha! Thanks! Believe me, I was in there head first. I have ash in my hair and face. I'm sure it'll be easier once I do it a few more times, but this time was pretty messy.
Anything to get some harman heat going

 

[bogieb]

Ha! Thanks! Believe me, I was in there head first. I have ash in my hair and face. I'm sure it'll be easier once I do it a few more times, but this time was pretty messy.
Anything to get some harman heat going

Gets easier and faster as you get used to it. Congrats on taking the initiative and going for it. I know the first time I cleaned my stove I watched the video a couple of times then the 3rd time thru just kept pausing it while I went to go do the next step (the stove is downstairs and the PC upstairs, so I got my exercise). Glad you got it going and will be nice and warm!

 

[Tonyray]

you have to understand that everytime you pull ash from the burnpot down to the ashpan, you are pulling the ash OVER the burnpot holes and unfortunately
lot of the ash ends up in the Igniter compartment..
just make sure u open it up and clean few times a month or so..
can of compressed air is also good to blow into the Igniter AFTER you pulled or vacuum the loose ash out..
[don't do it before you will get a mouthfull of ash...]

 

[bogieb]

you have to understand that everytime you pull ash from the burnpot down to the ashpan, you are pulling the ash OVER the burnpot holes and unfortunately
lot of the ash ends up in the Igniter compartment..
just make sure u open it up and clean few times a month or so..
can of compressed air is also good to blow into the Igniter AFTER you pulled or vacuum the loose ash out..
[don't do it before you will get a mouthfull of ash...]

Good tips - and don't forget to have the stove in the OFF position, and the dial turned to TEST. This little trick will help pull airborn ash out thru the exhaust. Don't know who originally mentioned that trick - but it definitely helps!

 

[Tonyray]

Good tips - and don't forget to have the stove in the OFF position, and the dial turned to TEST. This little trick will help pull airborn ash out thru the exhaust. Don't know who originally mentioned that trick - but it definitely helps!

correct..
my fan is always on thruout the cleaning..
Even though I do this, I now wear a mask because after I was done,
I would blow my nose and lot of Black particles...............
sorry to be graphic but didn't know any other way to splain it..