Hi guys. New problem haven't seen before. Igniter wouldn't light, so tried to start with gel. Lit pellets and it just burned out, and kept smoking. Draft issue? Now the entire inside of stove is covered in black oily tar mess. Was working fine last year. Gave it a thorough cleaning as well as chimney pipes. Have new ESP sensor, and control board, if either or both could be the problem. Also, how to clean stove?
Harman P68 won't light
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I can't discuss your igniter issue (never used one). But I have some tips on manual lighting. When I used to use gel I would place 3 handfuls of pellets in a small coffee can, apply a good dose of gel, cover and shake well. I let the can sit for several minutes, put the pellets in the burn pot and light (make sure the exhaust fan is running). I would leave the door cracked until there was a real good flame then close the door. If the flame started to falter I would crack the door again. I stopped using gel and now use a small blow torch (that has never failed).
killie11
Member
Ctcarl
Feeling the Heat
Put gel on pellets, but didn't mix them up. Didn't crack the door, either. exhaust fan is running. Went out and took chimney pipe apart. No blockages, but covered in wet black oily tar, as is the whole inside of stove. Stove is 7 yrs. old or so. Any ideas on what to use to clean the mess up with?
Is there a warranty on your stove still or is this an older Harman?
EDIT, I'm sorry - just read it was seven years old. For starters don't worry about the oily residue, once you safely get it started, burn it hotter than you regularly do. This will burn off the residue. I had a similar issue and someone here encouraged me to try that, I did and it worked wonders.
Does the igniter work at all? Do the pellets catch and then burn out?
Someone will be here soon to assist, I'm just a learning newbie.
EDIT, I'm sorry - just read it was seven years old. For starters don't worry about the oily residue, once you safely get it started, burn it hotter than you regularly do. This will burn off the residue. I had a similar issue and someone here encouraged me to try that, I did and it worked wonders.
Does the igniter work at all? Do the pellets catch and then burn out?
Someone will be here soon to assist, I'm just a learning newbie.
Last edited:
Bioburner
Moderator
A good hot fire will assist in removing the black carbon soot.
Is the stoves exhaust fan working properly? If the stove is 7 years old it may need door gaskets to keep air coming in where it should and to maintain vacuum in fire chamber and keep the vac switch closed or the exhaust fan has failed or stuck from last season.
Is the stoves exhaust fan working properly? If the stove is 7 years old it may need door gaskets to keep air coming in where it should and to maintain vacuum in fire chamber and keep the vac switch closed or the exhaust fan has failed or stuck from last season.
Ctcarl
Feeling the Heat
When it's hard to clean black like that.you may want to do a full cleaning the flu and all.on my old stove those were signs that a chimney fire can happen.if you have a reliable company it may not be a bad to give them a call.7 years is not that old.
Sorry I haven't got back to everyone. Been trying to clean. First, took stove piping apart and its open, no blockages. Does have some black oily residue that got on the brush. Next pulled exhaust fan and tried to clean it. Under test cycle, all blowers were working. Am cleaning out pot, now. That black gooey residue is on everything.
Igniter was put in last year, but wouldn't light now. Pellets felt warm from igniter, but no light. Checked door gaskets with dollar test, and no leakage. Pulled cold air intake, and no blockage that I could tell. Was getting cool breeze through hose.
Bought ESP sensor, black wire, last year, but didn't need it. Could this be the problem? Even in manual mode? Also bought a new board, but didn't need it.
No. Cleaned out old ones and put in fresh this fall. Old pellets were terrible. Fill ins, cause I ran short. Was wondering if there was enough left in auger to be an issue, but when it didn't ignite, the pot filled up, so those pellets would have been purged for the next attempt.
How do you know if the auger works other than in test mode? You keep saying the fire goes out. Does the fire stay going long enough for the auger to feed by itself?
Will all that black oily goo burn off, like Jman87 said? There are puddles of it under the ash pan. Will it affect the heat exchanger?
Prob from the crappy pellets last year. Try starting the stove manually in stove temp manual. Keep adding pellets to get the fire going. Could be bad ESP. Do you know how to take the ESP out?
Bioburner
Moderator
Warm water and detergent does a fair job and so does a orange based cleaner. I had a major cleaning of a stove that ran in the cold and accumulated a large amount of creosote and carbon.
When I tried to start it in auto ignite mode, auger filled up to ignition point, waited, then continued to fill, even though no light.
Take the ESP out, gently clean it with a damp cloth and reinstall. Then try lighting it manually in stove temp mode with switch in manual position.
Not sure about replacing ESP. Think I found where it went in, has one screw to hold. Black wire, I need to change jumper settings?
If the one that's in there is black wires and you are installing same black wires no need to change dip switch
How much do you soak the pellets with gel, and do you crack the door, like another helper suggested?
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