I have a P68 that is less than a tear old and have had nothing but problems with pellets igniting. Last winter it went out on error over 25 times from failing to light. I had a Rika Integra that never has a problem burning yet this Harman is nothing but problems. Two different kinds of pellets in the Harman and it still fails to light. Checked the ohms on the igniter and it was fine. Installed a new one anyways and it still fails to ignite. I am not impressed with the Harman stove at all.
Harman ignitor install tip.
- Thread starter Tonyray
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interesting.. burning 10 yrs with the P61A, same stove but [Slight smaller than 68].. burning mostly softies all this time including doug firs and never an issue. not sure what to tell you....
have replaced 2 during that time and always bought the OEM and not the asian knockoffs from amazon and such..
not saying u bought cheapies but for yrs many use the P68 with doug firs and no issue...
do u have an outside air kit installed? deff need good air flow to get pellets to ignite...
["assuming your feed rate is 3-4, try setting it at#2 just for igniting then raise it after they light...:]
have replaced 2 during that time and always bought the OEM and not the asian knockoffs from amazon and such..
not saying u bought cheapies but for yrs many use the P68 with doug firs and no issue...
do u have an outside air kit installed? deff need good air flow to get pellets to ignite...
["assuming your feed rate is 3-4, try setting it at#2 just for igniting then raise it after they light...:]
Last edited:
bogieb
Minister of Fire
Instead of being an igniter issue, that could be an issue with airflow being disturbed. I'm a big advocate of checking the free stuff first when there is any kind of issue:
- I'm assuming you clean out the ash under the burn pot, but make sure to reach way back at the junction of where the air intake is. If there is a pile of ash way back there, it can be an issue
- Make sure the cover plate below the burn pot is on correctly - don't just look at it, remove it and reinstall it (wile checking for an ash dam at the air intake
). If it is cocked just a little, it will cause problems. - Make sure all doors (including hopper) are tightly closed. If air is pulled thru a place besides the air supply, that will disturb things. The one I'd really look at is the hopper lid - if there is even a small piece of a pellet stuck between the lip and the gasket, that could be an issue
- Remove the fines plate and reinstall it to make sure it isn't off a little (I assume you clean the fines box out on a regular basis - if not, clean that area out)
- Check/clean the air holes in the firepot to ensure there is good air flow
- Stupid as it sounds, check the air intake (and OAK if you have one) and ensure nothing got lodged in there that will constrict the incoming air. One year I found a piece of cellophane in my P61a's intake - I have no idea how it got there, it could have been there from install of the OAK pipe but it finally moved and started blocking air.
Thanks for the comments. Since the stove is less than a year old, I have the original OEM ignitor on it. I replaced it with another OEM ignitor (both ignitors tested and are within the proper OHMS parameters) and still had problems with ignition.
I also have an OA kit installed. I went through the entire stove before this years heating season. Fines box cleaned, flue brushed and vacuumed. Pulled the ESP and cleaned.
The stove seems to be working now. I will try another brand but our choices here in Alaska are not as good as the Lower 48. The pellets that are premium are so outrageous in cost it would be stupid to not be heating with fuel oil. ($15/bag). Once the heating season starts the stove with be in Auto with Ignitor turned off so it will never shut off and just maintain since the basement is older than the upstairs.
The only time my Harman P43 ever failed to light, (which only happened a couple times over years) it was because of too much ash deep in the back of the igniter chamber, and/or some of the holes in the burn pot being clogged with carbon. I occasionally take a little mirror and put it down near the auger so I can see the holes on the slope that you cant see from just looking at the burn pot from the front. If I've been lax on scrapping the burn pot, the carbon on the burn pot down near the auger can build up and can be hard like cement. There aren't any holes on mine close to auger that can clog, but a layer of carbon can insulate the heat from the igniter.
I also have a small tube that attaches to my ash vac that can reach back into the igniter chamber to clean it out way back in there. I use the same vacuum tube in the fines chamber as well.
I've had a couple different stoves over the years and helped friends and family with some others, and the Harman has been by far the best and most reliable of all of them.
I also have a small tube that attaches to my ash vac that can reach back into the igniter chamber to clean it out way back in there. I use the same vacuum tube in the fines chamber as well.
I've had a couple different stoves over the years and helped friends and family with some others, and the Harman has been by far the best and most reliable of all of them.
I have the tube attachment also but another big help is to give it a shot of compressed air from a can every other time..
just keep mouth closed..lol
Yup, I do that also, either with canned air or with my rechargeable electric blower. You're right, it does help a lot, especially with the igniter fins. I typically turn on test mode so the combustion fan sucks out a lot of the ash cloud, keep the door closed, and reach up from the ash compartment door with the compressed air. That way I don't get much if any ash in the room.
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