Yesterday our P61A took ~ 15 minutes to start. Before the stove started, the burn pot seemed to be overfilled so we dumped some in the ash bucket. After the stove started we dumped more and the pellets in the ash bucket caught on fire. We noticed today that the status light was blinking 3 times so my S/O shut it down and cleaned it. It again took ~ 15 minutes to start. The ignitor light stayed on even after the stove started. When it finally went off the distribution blower came on but the status light is again blinking 3 times. As I typed this it just shut off.
P61A 3 Blinks
- Thread starter Emmie
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After it shut off, my s/o turned the mode selector to off and turned it back on and it started running again with the status light still on with the 3 blinks and the ignitor wsa still on despite that the stove is burning. And now the ignitor is off and the blower is now running but the status light is still blinking 3 Xs.
After the fire starts turn the igniter to manual, also when you clean it, are you cleaning the exhaust path as well? Could you post some photos of your set up? Exhaust piping etc
![[Hearth.com] P61A 3 Blinks](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/294/294872-56f80dfa0fc88f367283bbfd9f638998.jpg?hash=4DPfTiGHsf "[Hearth.com] P61A 3 Blinks")
Tonyray
Minister of Fire
3 blink code is the ESP probe. It is the silver probe in your exhaust tunnel. The control board is not reading it. Un- plug the stove for a minute to try a reset. Pull your ashpan out and remove the blower cover. The probe may have lot of ash on it so gently brush it. If same problem then the probe is bad and needs replacing. Possible that the control board is bad but that would only be if u replaced the ESP probe and still have this problem. So in that order, clean the probe, replace the probe, replace the board. P61A owner. 8 yrs.
![[Hearth.com] P61A 3 Blinks](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/294/294873-1ecd3995fe4bb898d3c7a5754efc79df.jpg?hash=vV5oiuYPUx "[Hearth.com] P61A 3 Blinks")
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OK - Thanks for the advice. My S/O replaced the ESP ($113.00 locally - $17 on Amazon) and cleaned the motherboard which was very dirty. It took quite a while to light - appx. 13 + minutes, but it's running great now w/no blinking lights. He's planning on doing a more thorough cleaning once the weather improves. We've been very fortunate as repairs haven't been necessary since we bought the stove in late 2008 (but took a few years off to burn wood when a tornado came through our neighborhood).
We appreciate the guidance.
Thank you.
We appreciate the guidance.
Thank you.
One thing that wasn’t mentioned in a cleaning….and this will help with light time either way. Take a pick, drill bit or small screwdriver and clean out and ream the holes in the burn pot, most likely you have some build up of carbon which restricts the airflow.
Thank you for the suggestion. However, this apparently isn't what is causing the delay in the fire starting as my s/o claims that he did clean the holes out. So still not sure what is causing the delay.
If the holes are clean, it is possible your igniter is on its way out, they are very easy to change
Tonyray
Minister of Fire
My P61A can take close to ten minutes or so to light when 1st turned on. Takes a while for pellets to fill the burnpot before ignition. My ignitor is fine.. always took some time.. never thought of it as a "delay".
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