Harman XXV start up problem

[pjmac]

I tried to start my one year old Harman XXV stove on Saturady to take the dampness out of my house and the combustion blower and the ignitor would not come on. I put it into test mode and all of the lights came on but the only thing that would run was the blower to move the heat. The auger would not feed either. I had unplugged the unit incase of power surges during the storm season even though I have it plugged into a surge protector. Does anyone have any ideas on what I should check.



Thanks
Pat

 

[chevyhd]

A stupid question but I'll ask. Are the door closed tight on your stove? If they are not neither the auger or the combuston blower will work because there is no "pressure" in the stove. My P-61 will do the same thing if the ash pan or upper door are left open.

 

[pjmac]

I checked several times and the doors are both closed and seem to be sealed tight.

 

[chevyhd]

The only other thing I know of is that my stove will not feed or run the combustion blower until the stove reaches a certain temp. Other than that I'm not sure. Hopefully someone else will chime in with some help.

 

[HarryBack]

Since all the control board lights are on, there seems that power is getting to the motors and ignitor...by the way, in test mode, the ignitor light shouldnt come on.

Here is the one glaring thing I see. Honest answer now.......did you clean your unit just after shutting it down in the spring? Another reason it may not be coming in is due to ash blockage. Take the cover off the comb blower and give it a spin to see if it turns freely. Does it? Remove the cover by the ignitor, see if theres much ash in there, and clean it out. Many a time, weve seen the comb blower froze down by hard ash, and the ignitor covered in ash as well. Most folks wont admit they didnt clean, but its pretty telling when you open the ignitor access door and see alot of ash....clean it out, and the stove lights.

Another thing......is your pipe clogged by anything? Ive pulled 6 dead birds out of one, and that will cause you not to feed either. Bees nest? Dead Birds? Alot of ash? All can clog a pipe.

The comb blower is also 110, so you can hook it up directly to an outlet using a pigtail. Does it turn then?

My guess is its a frozen comb blower due to rust, ash, or what have you. I might add that your stove is certainly covered under warrantee, parts and labor. So, if you are sure it isnt a maintenance issue, call the dealer.....should be free, unless of course, the unit hasnt been cleaned. Harman doesnt have a page yet on how to clean the XXV, but heres the link to cleaning the Accentra FS....similar to the XXV, and it shows the ignitor access and comb blower cleaning quite well.

(broken link removed to http://harmanstoves.com/maintenance/accentracleaninginstructions.pdf)

Let us know how you make out! Good luck!

 

[GVA]

I agree it sounds the the combustion blower isn't turning due to binding. Or the discharge pipe is blocked The only things the low pressure switch shuts off is the auger motor and the ignitor, but the combustion blower should be running, based on the wiring diagrams. One thing about the wiring diagrams though it looks like they are switching the neutral on the ignitor and the gear motor not a good choice, if you lose the neutral, then voltage can still be applied and possibly burn out the ignitor and gear motor. :grrr: Maybe harman can look into this.

Any way is your combustion motor turning what have you found?

 

[moog5]

The 4th paragraph in the Owners Manual on page 20 under "Low Draft Voltage Adjustment" states "If the unit is not adjusted properly, it does not cause a safety concern. If the units is adjusted too high only efficiency is lost. If the unit is adjusted too low, the draft pressure switch will not allow the feed motor or the igniter to operate". Your stove sounds like it is acting like the Low Draft Voltage Adjustment is set too low.

It might be a simple fix. I would suggest checking the connections to the pressure switch. To see what I am talking about, go to page 23 of the owners manual, in fig 36, it shows the switch (it has a clear plastic tube running to it), make sure the tube is connected at both ends, and the wires are connected. During cleaning of your exhaust blower, you might have bumped the tube and disconnected it. You might also need to have your installer adjust (or readjust) the Low Draft Voltage Adjustment. In my case, when they first installed it, they didn't set it (during a later warranty repair, I made sure they set it).

On my old Whitfield, I once had a problem similar to this. The pressure switch (as I recall) was downstream of the exhaust blower. When I cleaned the exhaust blower, I forgot to clean/check the point where this tube connected to the exhaust. I finally pinpointed the problem to the port where the tube was attached. It was completely plugged, the unit wouldn't run because the pressure sensor was not sensing the the actual pressure.

 

[pjmac]

Problem solved ! I have a top vent kit and there is a clean out door on the side that I was not sure what it was for. I removed the door and stuck my vac hose down there and I pulled out 4 small dead birds. Put all back together and all working fine now. I would just like to thank everybody on this site for all of the information I have gained. I was lurking on the site site before I bought my current stove for information and it has been very helpful.

Thanks All
Pat

 

[GVA]

kinda gross but at least you have warmth again
another happy fire burner

 

[HarryBack]

Heh...and ya all tought ole Harry was crazy for mentioning the dead-bird-clogged-the-stove issue above, huh!?

 

[pjmac]

HarryBack
My wife and I looked at the chimney cap and can't beleive that the four little birds could fit between the jap cap and the chimney pipe. There is a 4" jap cap and 20' of 4" SS pipe lining my masonary chimney. Sure is a long way for the birds to go. What would be in there that they would even want ? I will get a small piece of SS bird screen and revamp my cap so this will not happen again.

Pat

 

[GVA]

Heh...and ya all tought ole Harry was crazy for mentioning the dead-bird-clogged-the-stove issue above, huh!?

We never would think anyone is crazy especially you harry, But pulling dead birds out of your pipe that is just nasty.. I think fron now on though I'm gonna put some sort of cover over my exhaust pipe wether it be aluminium foil or that glad press and seal for the summer... :sick:

 

[HarryBack]

I use a ball of tinfoil...just gotta remember its in there! We pulled a duck out of a coal stove once too.

I think the birds go in and cant turn around, so they continue to the endpoint...the stove. A old wire coathanger works well to fish them out!

 

[GVA]

I use a ball of tinfoil...just gotta remember its in there! We pulled a duck out of a coal stove once too.

I think the birds go in and cant turn around, so they continue to the endpoint...the stove. A old wire coathanger works well to fish them out!

Just the tought of having to fish out a bird with a coat hanger is nasty.. :sick: :-S :sick:

Any way maybe you can ask Harman about the switched neutral thing for the low pressure switch, at the very least they need to add another neutral to that switch in case one fails.. Just some electrical control experience. :cheese:

 

[moog5]

Heh...and ya all tought ole Harry was crazy for mentioning the dead-bird-clogged-the-stove issue above, huh!?

Harry, you are awesome! I was going to call Mythbusters about the old storys of birds plugging a chimney.