Question About Harman Manual Igniter Position

[F4jock]

Ok, so everyone seemed so enamored of the Manual igniter position in the Room Temp setting that I decided to try it more extensively than I have in the past.

What I found was that when I did this last night my actual retail stabilized room temperature dropped approximately 3 degrees from the point at which it was maintained in the Auto igniter position and that after the distribution fan went off, although the stove fed minimum pellets and sometimes more as advertised, my distribution fan did not seem to come back on. At all! Ever! All night. Essentially all I had was a single point radiant heat source. Outside temperature dropped to 26f. When in Auto at this temp my distribution fan always comes on and the room temp is maintained far more tightly and higher.

All I did was move the igniter switch from Auto to Manual after the igniter light went out. I touched nothing else. Did I do something wrong? Is this the way others have found it to operate so set up?

I'm the first one to admit that I have very little experience with this setting as I am quite happy with Room Temp Auto but since everyone else seems to think that Room Temp Manual is an excellent operational setting I thought I'd try it.

To be clear, my question is ONLY about distribution fan operation in Room Temp Auto vs Room Temp Manual.

 

[Golfeur]

I put the switch on the stove temperature manually because my stove is in the basement.
I tried it in automatic room temperature control very well in the basement but upstairs the temperature differential becomes too large and it is less comfortable I must say that my house is 3 storeys. That's why I'm stove manual temperature this way the distribution fan remains on. Even if it is warmer in the basement I am not 95% of the time in the basement.
Excuse me for the language I translate with google

 

[Husky]

I find that when it is colder outside and my stove will cycle from on to off more frequently then I run the stove on manual. Early in the heating season when my house gets up to temp and then the stove will kick off and not come back on for an hour or more then auto is preferred.

 

[Don2222]

Hi F4jock
Sounds like you found a bug in the firmware for the version circuit board behind the control panel you have.
How old is the stove?
What numbers do you have on the component side of the circuit board on the chipset?

 

[F4jock]

I was thinking the same possibility. Far as I know the distribution fan should function normally no matter the igniter mode.

It's a new Platinum board. Just installed it this fall. Stove is an eght-year-old Accentra Insert.

No clue about the chipset. Watching football ATM.

 

[bogieb]

That doesn't sound right at all - not the way my P61 acted last winter. I believe the distribution fan would go on and off (heck, I'm old so the memory goes, plus I never really paid that much attention). But the temp certainly didn't drop down there. However, I only use manual once the really cold weather sets in and the stove would be turning on/off continuously if left in auto (no, nothing to do with igniter wear, just how fast the end by the garage can get quite cod versus the stove end). It almost sounds as if it thought it was in stove temp fireplace mode.

I must say though, your Auto room temp is controlled much more tightly than mine does, so maybe the platinum board acts differently? Of course, I have no idea what my board is, so no help there.

 

[bogieb]

I believe CoryS said his was acting much the same way so he runs his in stove temp - auto to keep the distribution fan going (I tried that and it does keep the fan going at whatever speed you set; hi or lo)

 

[F4jock]

I believe CoryS said his was acting much the same way so he runs his in stove temp - auto to keep the distribution fan going (I tried that and it does keep the fan going at whatever speed you set; hi or lo)

Don't like Stove Temp at all in any iteration.

Gonna call the board vendor tomorrow and see what they say. Will play with it meanwhile to be sure I'm not seeing things.

 

[bogieb]

I'm not a big fan either, but may experiment some with the P43 this winter just because I can

 

[Peterfield]

I have a 52i and have just been comparing the two modes. In auto, it does cycle on and off as needed and the flame oscillates between a high flame and going completely out. In manual mode, room temp, the flame stays relatively steady once room temperature is reached and it seems to burn less pellets that way so far as I can tell.

 

[F4jock]

Yes but what does your distribution fan do in Manual, Room Temp?

 

[wildbill]

I have a 2015 52i and in this mode the fan comes on and off with the ramp up ,down as the thermostat call for heat and shuts off when its satisfied . Auto mode the fan seems to run a bit longer when it shuts down, which in the warmer season is how I've been running , now that its colder I run in manual . idk why your stove isn't kicking in when its calling for heat, mine seems to take longer now I have both stove going, I think in my set up the 52 upstairs the 68 down in the basement is keeping the stat satisfied , is your stat kinda close to the stove, mine was and in slow burn it was just enough to keep it from calling for heat and letting the room cool down more than auto would, long story short yes the fan goes on and off like auto but doesn't seem to run as long as auto does. hope that helps some..lol..

 

[Golfeur]

My idea why the fan faster distribution stops in the temperature chamber in manual is that the screw continuous power operated on a low fire and the temperature in the room would go far beyond the setpoint when in automatic fan continuous distribution work longer because the feed screw stops and the remaining pellet remains a burn will not do much to exceed the temperature setpoint.

 

[ps50]

Yeah

 

[bogieb]

Care to elaborate? F4 is not going to win the prize for Mr. Congeniality (neither will I BTW), but that comment not only is not helpful or related to the conversation, but lacks any evidence to support your assertion.

 

[ps50]

Just playin.

 

[bogieb]

Just playin.

Ooops, sorry, wasn't in on the joke

 

[Peterfield]

Yes but what does your distribution fan do in Manual, Room Temp?

Mine is running very steady, as is the flame. It seems that the stove finds a sweet spot that keeps the temp within a degree or two. When I switch to auto, the flame will go strong and then throttle down and even shut down and then restart the process again. The temp in the room swings a couple of degrees either way. It also seems that I am using less pellets in manual mode but to be fair, I haven't accurately measured this yet.

Correction: Paid more attention tonight and the distro blower did in fact turn off at times. Hadn't noticed that before.

 

[F4jock]

Don't much care about pellet use but my fear is that there is a hole in the software of my new Platinum. Just got back from a Memphis trip via an emergency landing in Nashville courtesy of smoke in terms cockpit do haven't had much chance to play with the stove but with the cold weather coming I plan to see who goes.

Far as I know the only difference between Manual and Auto igniter position should be that in Manual the stove banks down but never goes out. I was looking for confirmation. We'll see.

 

[Zeus]

Ok, so everyone seemed so enamored of the Manual igniter position in the Room Temp setting that I decided to try it more extensively than I have in the past.

What I found was that when I did this last night my actual retail stabilized room temperature dropped approximately 3 degrees from the point at which it was maintained in the Auto igniter position and that after the distribution fan went off, although the stove fed minimum pellets and sometimes more as advertised, my distribution fan did not seem to come back on. At all! Ever! All night. Essentially all I had was a single point radiant heat source. Outside temperature dropped to 26f. When in Auto at this temp my distribution fan always comes on and the room temp is maintained far more tightly and higher.

All I did was move the igniter switch from Auto to Manual after the igniter light went out. I touched nothing else. Did I do something wrong? Is this the way others have found it to operate so set up?

I'm the first one to admit that I have very little experience with this setting as I am quite happy with Room Temp Auto but since everyone else seems to think that Room Temp Manual is an excellent operational setting I thought I'd try it.

To be clear, my question is ONLY about distribution fan operation in Room Temp Auto vs Room Temp Manual.

When you switched to room manuall, your temp should have dropped around 2* holding the exact temp you have set on the stove dial,due to the temp variance in room auto. F4 since your fans did not come back on was the house temp colder than your set temp or the same?

 

[bogieb]

Put the P61 in room temp / manual last night and the room blower went off as the fire banked down (it had reached the room temp). I didn't wait to see if the blower came back on (I'm sure it would have eventually but saw no reason to push all the warmth out the pipe when extra warmth can go upstairs). I wanted continuous blower, so I turned it to stove temp (about mid blower setting) / auto, 1 feed and 1 on the "temp" dial. Basement was how I wanted it to be this morning (good temp everywhere, not just warm by the probe). This setting is starting to grow on me

This morning I changed it back to Room/auto since the carpenter will be in/out of the basement and probably leave the door wide open at time.

If I remember tonight, depending on the projected low temp, I'll leave it in room/manual a while and confirm that the fan does come back on when heat is called for.

 

[Husky]

Put the P61 in room temp / manual last night and the room blower went off as the fire banked down (it had reached the room temp). I didn't wait to see if the blower came back on (I'm sure it would have eventually but saw no reason to push all the warmth out the pipe when extra warmth can go upstairs). I wanted continuous blower, so I turned it to stove temp (about mid blower setting) / auto, 1 feed and 1 on the "temp" dial. Basement was how I wanted it to be this morning (good temp everywhere, not just warm by the probe). This setting is starting to grow on me

This morning I changed it back to Room/auto since the carpenter will be in/out of the basement and probably leave the door wide open at time.

If I remember tonight, depending on the projected low temp, I'll leave it in room/manual a while and confirm that the fan does come back on when heat is called for.

I'm on my second year with the 52i and started doing that exact same thing. Last year I ran the stove on room temp auto almost the whole year. I seemed to go through a lot of pellets for using the stove as my supplement heat source (5 ton). I'm looking for a new way to burn. Its still early in the season to tell if burning this way is saving me any pellets yet. I do agree with you that I don't want any of my extra heat going up the chimney. If I am on a standby burn during manual I want the heat that is being produced. The trick for me is to set the stove temp number and feed rate number at the best setting for the temperature outside. This way I can just let it burn. Right now with high 30's low 40's I can set stove temp at 2.5 and feed rate at 3 and I burn about a bag a day. This keeps living room area at desired 74 and helps heat other parts of the house.

 

[F4jock]

When you switched to room manuall, your temp should have dropped around 2* holding the exact temp you have set on the stove dial,due to the temp variance in room auto. F4 since your fans did not come back on was the house temp colder than your set temp or the same?

Not sure. Just seemed that with no fan lots of heat going going up the pipe so went back to Room / Auto which has served me well for seven seasons. Have to play with it I guess.

One interesting thing about the new Platinum board. It seems that my electric bill has gone down to a new low. Last month it was only 68 bucks! I attribute this, maybe, to the fan cycling more with the new board as the old one was limping for a few seasons. Stove banks down lots more now, fan has lots more off time. Used to run almost 24 / 7.

 

[bogieb]

Dang, those are my summertime electric bills (no AC)

 

[Tonyray]

Not sure. Just seemed that with no fan lots of heat going going up the pipe so went back to Room / Auto which has served me well for seven seasons. Have to play with it I guess.

One interesting thing about the new Platinum board. It seems that my electric bill has gone down to a new low. Last month it was only 68 bucks! I attribute this, maybe, to the fan cycling more with the new board as the old one was limping for a few seasons. Stove banks down lots more now, fan has lots more off time. Used to run almost 24 / 7.

I had a post few weeks ago about the same deal..
switching to manual and having the dist blower shut off [immediately] thus sending lot of heat up the exhaust pipe.
[yes I know how it works.. room/manual works off of the ESP probe in the flueway] and Not the room temp probe.
since the dist blower has not come back on since I switched to manual 25 minutes ago,
I don't think running in Stove[ or constant] temp is going to be any better since that mode runs off of the ESP probe also.
soooo, have been sending heat up the exhaust for almost 30 minutes while the pellets are in maint mode or simmer as I like to call it.
I seriously don't think there is anything wrong with my Harman P61A. I think it is working as it is supposed to..
Note: I just raised my set temperature from 70 to 75 on the room temp dial.
the distribution blower clicked on so my ESP probe is fine..