New Accentra Insert Having Trouble Igniting

[Proulx06]

Got our Accentra Insert installed in mid-Nov. Burned about 1.5 tons of Cleanfire Hardwoods (haven't tried anything else yet). We've had an issue, starting in early December (stove was under a month old), where our stove won't ignite after being shut down for cleaning. I clean it once a week, and have been sure to take the plate off the ignitor to clean it out with a paintbrush/ash vac. But I'd say about 75% of the time, upon start (ignitor set to Auto) it just feeds pellets into the ash pan without lighting. And of course, sometimes the pellets light upon start as they should. But more often than not, they don't. When they don't light, I'm able to get the stove back by manually lighting with hand sanitizer.

I had my dealer come out (awesome folks at Stove Keepers in NH) and the guy was there for 2 hours. Said every single thing checked out fine, and that the ignitor was getting plenty hot. But even with him there, they just fed into the ash pan. Then, eventually, they lit. He said it might be the moisture content of the pellets as the bag was towards the bottom of the pallet. I've now gone through the top and middle of another pallet, and same thing. FWIW, I scrape the ash pan 2-3 times a day (each time we load the hopper, it's been cold lately) and vac the whole thing out once a week.

To say my wife is annoyed that our brand new, expensive stove doesn't work 100% is an understatement. And I don't disagree. But I know from working in IT that it's hard to diagnose and fix a problem that is intermittent and sometimes resolves itself.

So what can I do? I'm planning on trying some other brands of pellets shortly when I run out. But aside from that...anyone run into this? Is this common with the Harman's?

 

[DAKSY]

Have you taken a small allen wrench or a piece of 12 gauge wire & made sure all of the combustion air holes are clear going into the burn pot? That's where the heated air enters after passing over the igniter... Blockage there can give you that ignition problem. Make sure you're gentle tho. Don't damage the igniter.

 

[HnMA]

Got our Accentra Insert installed in mid-Nov. Burned about 1.5 tons of Cleanfire Hardwoods (haven't tried anything else yet). We've had an issue, starting in early December (stove was under a month old), where our stove won't ignite after being shut down for cleaning. I clean it once a week, and have been sure to take the plate off the ignitor to clean it out with a paintbrush/ash vac. But I'd say about 75% of the time, upon start (ignitor set to Auto) it just feeds pellets into the ash pan without lighting. And of course, sometimes the pellets light upon start as they should. But more often than not, they don't. When they don't light, I'm able to get the stove back by manually lighting with hand sanitizer.

I had my dealer come out (awesome folks at Stove Keepers in NH) and the guy was there for 2 hours. Said every single thing checked out fine, and that the ignitor was getting plenty hot. But even with him there, they just fed into the ash pan. Then, eventually, they lit. He said it might be the moisture content of the pellets as the bag was towards the bottom of the pallet. I've now gone through the top and middle of another pallet, and same thing. FWIW, I scrape the ash pan 2-3 times a day (each time we load the hopper, it's been cold lately) and vac the whole thing out once a week.

To say my wife is annoyed that our brand new, expensive stove doesn't work 100% is an understatement. And I don't disagree. But I know from working in IT that it's hard to diagnose and fix a problem that is intermittent and sometimes resolves itself.

So what can I do? I'm planning on trying some other brands of pellets shortly when I run out. But aside from that...anyone run into this? Is this common with the Harman's?

The new Accentra 52i has a cover over the combustion blower that comes loose and will not allow the unit to light. Check that the bottom of the cover is reseated and have your dealer order the upgrade.

 

[Proulx06]

Have you taken a small allen wrench or a piece of 12 gauge wire & made sure all of the combustion air holes are clear going into the burn pot? That's where the heated air enters after passing over the igniter... Blockage there can give you that ignition problem. Make sure you're gentle tho. Don't damage the igniter.

Yes, I used a small nail. That said, how often should that be done? The first time we saw this issue was with the stove only three weeks old, having burned about 3/4 ton of pellets. Lately I've been doing it during my weekly cleaning.

 

[Proulx06]

The new Accentra 52i has a cover over the combustion blower that comes loose and will not allow the unit to light. Check that the bottom of the cover is reseated and have your dealer order the upgrade.

Do you have more info or a thread on this? I have the new 52i.

 

[HnMA]

Do you have more info or a thread on this? I have the new 52i.

I work on the side for a dealer and this is what they found. They also had some issues with the new style ignitors (16 fin) not lighting in the insert but working well in the P-series.

 

[Proulx06]

I work on the side for a dealer and this is what they found. They also had some issues with the new style ignitors (16 fin) not lighting in the insert but working well in the P-series.

Do you have a picture of the cover so I know what to look for? Still pretty new to this stove and not sure where exactly the blower or the plate might be. Good news is it will be 50+ all weekend so I'll be able to power down and mess around with it.

 

[HnMA]

Still learning to post pictures, but the cover is behind the right side (facing the insert) baffle in the front of the stove. It is held in place at the top with a latch and just sits in place at the bottom. This is where it comes loose and creates a gap. The new covers have a lip and small tab at the bottom of the cover to keep it from coming loose.

 

[Avalancheman]

I have had a lot of problems with the metal cover over the combustion fan on my new 52i. My cover is currently sealed in place with a sealant called Mill-Pac. It was a temporary fix to the problem that worked. Basically what is happening is the cover is a poor fit and it not pushing enough air through the burn pot.I have attached a photo of the seal cover. Please note the tabs were welded on to break the cover lose to clean the fan and exhaust port.

 

[Proulx06]

Just wanted to close the loop on this...I ended up doing a very thorough cleaning about 10 days ago and re-seated the combustion blower cover. Once I put it back together, it fired right up. I haven't had it off since then (though I am due for another cleaning this weekend). Tough to say if it wasn't seated correctly all along. Either way, my dealer (who is awesome) ordered me the replacement blower cover, so hopefully this is the end of the issues. Thanks all.