Used older Harmon Pellet Stove

[northborn89]

Good day everyone,

I am looking into purchasing an older used harmon P61 pellet stove. He states it was in good working order last winter. Is there any advice on what to look for when i go and look at it and what are some common issues with older harmon pellet stoves. He origionally wanted 500 but then agreed that he could let it go for 250 with piping. Is that a fair deal? I am going to look at it on friday night. Any advise is greatly appreciated.

 

[DAKSY]

Look behind the hopper cover for the rating plate.
That will tell you the date of manufacture.
From the pic, it looks beat, but Harmans are built like tanks &
they hold up well.
If you buy it, you will have to go all thru it to determine its condition...
Remove the firebox door, the ash pan & the ash pan door & replace the gaskets.
Replace the glass gasket as well...
Wire brush the entire outside & repaint it & the doors with Stove Bright.
Look at the body opening near the corners of the firebox door & make sure there
are no cracks evident.
Scrape the entire inside & the ash pan.
Remove the igniter cover, poke every hole in the burnpot, & clean the igniter cavity.
Remove the combustion blower cover & brush the inside, but don't clean the exhaust
path til you remove the ESP, or you could damage it.
Remove the lower shrouds & vacuum everywhere.
Check all wiring for cracks or sheathing damage...
Remove the fines box cover, & make sure the gasket is still good.
Clean that area, make sure you note the inner slide cover position so it reassembles correctly.
Pull the ESP & clean it without using any abrasives...
Vacuum the hopper.
Start your reassembly & fire that bad boy up!

 

[northborn89]

Daksy,

Thank you very much for the extensive reply. The person said they would fire it up for me when i go to look at it. Is there anything i can check while it is going? Is this a good deal for 250? Again i appreciate the feedback!

 

[DAKSY]

Before he fires it up, find out if it's a P61 or P61A. If it's an A, turn the Feed Control knob to "Test."
Three lights should come on: Distribution Blower, Combustion Blower & Feed Motor.
If there are pellets in the hopper, they should feed into the burn pot & both blowers should run for about a minute.
Turn the knob to about 3.5 & Set the lower knob to room temp - IF there's a temperature probe hooked up.
Set the thermostat to higher than the ambient temperature & see what happens.
The unit should fire up within about 8 minutes & once the room temp reaches the tstat temp (+/-2 deg), the unit should back off.
If it's a P61, you will need to use starter gel to fire it up, but the temperature test should be the same...