Please please help Harman p68 only source of heat is down

[JCoxBuilder]

Please help.. our Harman p68 will start up, ignite everything will start to come up then it slowly just dies. I really need help. No status blinking or anything. Our power is out - I’ve been running it off a generator . Is our generator not strong enough for this thing to start??! Help

 

[Mt Bob]

Some generators do not provide clean enough power.
Voltage from generator could be wrong.
May have fried the board.

 

[JCoxBuilder]

Okay - it is on a surge protector

 

[Dataman]

Surge Protected is not going to help. Your thinking Surge vs Frequency of Power.

 

[JCoxBuilder]

Oh man I guess I won’t know till power comes back on

 

[JCoxBuilder]

Is it a possibility that the generator doesn’t have enough clean electricity to start it?

 

[Dataman]

I have small 1k Inverter Generator for longer than 12 hours and couple of 100ah Batteries for Shorter Outages. Run thru Inverter/Charger (AIMS 1250). Longest I have had to use it is 10 hours. Your stove won't use much power running. Even 1k generator will be enough. Key is Pure Sine Wave so you don't screw up the computer in Pellet Stove

 

[Mt Bob]

Is it a possibility that the generator doesn’t have enough clean electricity to start it?

Yes.

 

[ABusWrench]

Depending on the generator. Harman's like pure sine wave, not modified sine wave. My P61a runs just fine on both our inverter generators. A surge suppressor is just that, it suppresses line surges. It won't condition or cleanup dirty power.

 

[Mt Bob]

I have small 1k Inverter Generator for longer than 12 hours and couple of 100ah Batteries for Shorter Outages. Run thru Inverter/Charger (AIMS 1250). Longest I have had to use it is 10 hours. Your stove won't use much power running. Even 1k generator will be enough. Key is Pure Sine Wave so you don't screw up the computer in Pellet Stove

View attachment 306015 View attachment 306016

Yep, I bought one, on sale, runs the Harman,abeit it is not perfect, if I listen hard, fans run just a tad slow, when I switch back and forth, gen to outlet, but fine, so bought another, when they went back on sale, they are again on sale at Walmart, $159.00

 

[JCoxBuilder]

So long story short if it feeds ignites starts to start then slows way down could it be the generator or circuit board? Hard to say but super anxious about this

 

[Mt Bob]

Gonna have to try stove on house current, or at least a different generator, probably both. Also, there is a dip switch setting on the control board, that shuts down stove if on generator power. Others may disagree, but I am pretty sure the way it works is, if it "sees" dirty power. generator or other , it automatically shuts stove down. I'll see if I can dig it up, but it used to be descrobed in the back of the manuals.

 

[JCoxBuilder]

Gonna have to try stove on house current, or at least a different generator, probably both. Also, there is a dip switch setting on the control board, that shuts down stove if on generator power. Others may disagree, but I am pretty sure the way it works is, if it "sees" dirty power. generator or other , it automatically shuts stove down. I'll see if I can dig it up, but it used to be descrobed in the back of the manuals.

Where is dip switch?

 

[Northwoodneil]

The dip switches are on the hidden side of the circuit board. Dipswitch number 4 in the on (up) position keeps the stove running. In the down (off) position it will trigger quick shut down.

 

[Mt Bob]

OK, switch #4 has to be turned "on". You have to remove the board, as they face to the outside. This may get you up and running. Unless you have a really old control board. Will leave you info. You may not want to change any of the other settings, there are different versions of the boards, and they all come with instructions, but #4 is a constant.
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[Mt Bob]

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[JCoxBuilder]

TY I will check on this - I so appreciate this!! I’ll look tomorrow I just upgraded to a new board a month ago so hoping my board isn’t shot

 

[Mt Bob]

If you just upgraded, then I am 99% sure that switch is your problem.

 

[Mt Bob]

Sorry it took so long to remember, but been nasty cold, and kinda turned into a sofa vegetable,lol.
Was -31f

 

[Northwoodneil]

I agree with Mt Bob, if your stove is trying to shut down it is seeing dirty power (modified sine wave). If the generator was producing pure sine wave the stove wouldn't know the difference. I've heard bad things about running Harmans on dirty power.

 

[JCoxBuilder]

Guys I sure hope this does the trick. I’m away not but gosh this answers allot. At startup it runs amazing - doesn’t sound bad or off at all but upon startup.. down it goes. Will reply with update

 

[brenndatomu]

I agree with Mt Bob, if your stove is trying to shut down it is seeing dirty power (modified sine wave). If the generator was producing pure sine wave the stove wouldn't know the difference. I've heard bad things about running Harmans on dirty power.

Maybe I am misunderstanding things, but if you flip the dip switch and basically force it to run on dirty power, isn't that just gonna fry something sooner or later?

 

[JCoxBuilder]

To all who have responded. I sincerely thank you. I feel that my responses and posts have been written too quickly and I apologize for the rush. We live in Northern NH and have been greatly affected by this storm. We lost power at 6 this morning and are still without in an old farm house. I decided to drive my young family to my wives parents for the night and let the house just “be” no power yet and no answer on when.

I am hoping power will be restored in the am and at that time I will try to fire up the stove directly to an outlet. Let me explain further - our stove is our main source of heat and with it being Christmas - nobody is open to assist however it seems like this may be the ticket. If it works plugged directly into an outlet from the house I will know that’s what it is. If it doesn’t work I’ll know I screwed something up by running it off a generator. This has been a learning experience for me. I was able to run the pellet stove off of generator (never did a full start up) before the installation or the new control board but just had a new one installed a couple of weeks ago so am assuming this is a new thing with the new boards. Hoping this works otherwise who knows how long we could be down.

I appreciate all of you! Merry Christmas

 

[Mt Bob]

Maybe I am misunderstanding things, but if you flip the dip switch and basically force it to run on dirty power, isn't that just gonna fry something sooner or later?

"Dirty power" is a relative term. Sometimes the issue is--inverter generators, by their nature, create a whole lot of "electrical noise", so,depending on the device it is hooked to, can reject this. It has to do with whatever sensing circuitry Harman put in the boards. So the power is not really dirty,. My Harman, to run on my little inverter gen, needs the #4 switch turned on.

 

[stvigi1960]

Oh man I guess I won’t know till power comes back on

Do you have an a battery backup connected to a computer, if so switch it out with your surge protector it should help in cleaning up your signal.