Harman Invincible Distribution Blower

[Bkins]

Hi, I,m new here. I am going tomorrow night to look/buy a used Harman Invincible Insert and have some questions. This insert is 15 years old. The owner says it needs a new dist. blower. High speed on the fan works but cuts out after about 15 minutes. It does come back on according to him. The slow and medium speeds work without any problems. This blower was replaced 5 years ago. Is this something that has to be replaced every so often? Is it something that could be caused by lack of maintenance or is there likely some other problem such as a control board. Does anyone know what the BTU output rating is of this stove. Anything I should look for? What are these inserts worth used so I don't get hosed. He is currently using this insert everyday for heat. He said he is replacing it with a Whitfield insert that is used but only 2 years old. Probably has auto ignite.

Thanks for any info.

 

[MCPO]

Hi, I,m new here. I am going tomorrow night to look/buy a used Harman Invincible Insert and have some questions. This insert is 15 years old. The owner says it needs a new dist. blower. High speed on the fan works but cuts out after about 15 minutes. It does come back on according to him. The slow and medium speeds work without any problems. This blower was replaced 5 years ago. Is this something that has to be replaced every so often? Is it something that could be caused by lack of maintenance or is there likely some other problem such as a control board. Does anyone know what the BTU output rating is of this stove. Anything I should look for? What are these inserts worth used so I don't get hosed. He is currently using this insert everyday for heat. He said he is replacing it with a Whitfield insert that is used but only 2 years old. Probably has auto ignite.

Thanks for any info.

Sounds to me that the distr.motor itself is OK but the problem is with whatever controls the fan speed.
A quick simple check is to connect the motor itself to an isolated (direct) 120v supply and see if it cuts off.

 

[Bkins]

Gio,

Thanks for the reply. I did buy the insert last night. It does need some work so I'll be asking some more questions. I pick it up in 2 weeks so I can't start until then.

The motor is making a squealing noise that varies. Just sounds funny to me. When set on high it ran for about 8 minutes b4 shutting down. It started back up about 2-3 minutes later. Probably more then 1 thing wrong. It was pretty clear to me that the owner did not keep up with keeping things clean. There are cobwebs on the air intake covers, so my guess is I will find the motor/controls junked up. My wife blushed when she saw how dirty the house was.

Can someone help with the chain of events with running a stove? It calls for heat and then what happens? How does the ESP probe and control box work/come into play? Is there a book/manual that may help me? I am getting the Harman manual with the unit.

Where is the best place to get the parts for these?

Thanks and keep them fires burning.

 

[rap69ri]

I think it may just be the potentiometer on the control board for the dist. blower that is the problem. I replaced my fater's old whitfield with an invincible this winter and the dist blower works great, but the knob is touchy. When the fan shut off did the status light begin blinking?

Parts will come from a dealer only in most cases, and the manual helps somewhat in troubleshooting.

 

[Bkins]

I am totally new to pellet stoves. I have been heating with a wood stove for 30+ years. I didn't know to look at the lights. I read the manual last night and also the sticky on this forum about stoves not working correctly. I really need to get the insert home before I can try to fix the problem. I am excited about getting this. I am using it to add heat to the other end of our house. I will still heat with wood at least until the price of pellets comes more in line. I will re-post once I have some hard info. I was trying to get a response b4 I bought the stove yesterday.

Thanks for your help. It looks like I need to see if the blower works when I test it out of the stove. I don't know if the hopper lid missing a major portion of its gasket would make these problems. I don't know if his flue has ever been cleaned. He said it had been in January, but judging from the rest of the home?????

 

[MCPO]

If it is the control board that is causing the fan problem you could wire it directly and control it independently of the board.
It`s the cheapest fix but workable.
I say this not knowing whether you want to spend the money for a new board or not.

 

[Delta-T]

if the old invincible is anything like the newer Harmans, the distribution blower is connected to the ESP probe and will shut itself off whenever the probe thinks there is not enough heat (internally) to maintain an efficient burn. the blower will come on again once the temp comes back up. Dirty ESP probe can do this.running the stove on a low output setting with the fan on high can do this too.

 

[Lousyweather]

Didnt post sooner, because I didnt have anything to add to Gio's stuff above. He's pretty concise and accurate. A 15 year old stove? Before ya bring it inside, give it a good cleaning in the yard.....blow out the tubes on either side, both the horizontal and vertical ones. Clean off all the fans and their motors. Good time to think about replacing gaskets, combustion fan blades, pulling the coer off the fines chamber and cleaning that. DO all of the above, then, plug the little devil in outside and let her rip! You'll be able to see it work, check stuff right then and there. That things an oldie, but the Invincibles were tanks.......

As for circuitboards and fans and parts...they are available online or through a local dealer. Id suggest a local dealer, since if there are more issues, they might be able to offer more insight. ALL parts for this unit are still available too. The circuitboard should run you about $150 or so.

 

[Bkins]

Didnt post sooner, because I didnt have anything to add to Gio's stuff above. He's pretty concise and accurate. A 15 year old stove? Before ya bring it inside, give it a good cleaning in the yard.....blow out the tubes on either side, both the horizontal and vertical ones. Clean off all the fans and their motors. Good time to think about replacing gaskets, combustion fan blades, pulling the coer off the fines chamber and cleaning that. DO all of the above, then, plug the little devil in outside and let her rip! You'll be able to see it work, check stuff right then and there. That things an oldie, but the Invincibles were tanks.......

As for circuitboards and fans and parts...they are available online or through a local dealer. Id suggest a local dealer, since if there are more issues, they might be able to offer more insight. ALL parts for this unit are still available too. The circuitboard should run you about $150 or so.

I don't know what a fines chamber is but I'm sure once I get the insert I'll find out. I didn't pay that much for this so I have some leeway in putting it back into original condition. I had read that the Older Harmans especially were/are tanks. It will go in our room real nice. Both the wife and I like the looks of it. I was told that the selling dealer is still in business and gave good numbers on replacement parts to the current owner, so we will see. Whats up with the combustion fan blade maybe should be replaced?

 

[MCPO]

if the old invincible is anything like the newer Harmans, the distribution blower is connected to the ESP probe and will shut itself off whenever the probe thinks there is not enough heat (internally) to maintain an efficient burn. the blower will come on again once the temp comes back up. Dirty ESP probe can do this.running the stove on a low output setting with the fan on high can do this too.

Yeah! Good thinking above. If it does have that esp probe it could very well be the culprit as it does control the fan thru the board. Clean that up first and then check the fan.

 

[rap69ri]

I have refurbed two of the invincible inserts this winter, and neither really needed anything but a very good cleaning. I will be replacing the potentiometers on my father's this spring, but it still functions perfectly. I saw these old units selling for over $2000 this winter.