Harman P61A Ignitor replacement

[Cory S]

Stove temp auto FTW.. gets colder outside, turn it up a titch .

 

[Tonyray]

Stove temp auto FTW.. gets colder outside, turn it up a titch .

ftw?

 

[Harman Lover 007]

ftw?

For the Win.....

 

[Tonyray]

For the Win.....

thanks...
I'll give stove a try again but I always seem to burn thru pellets faster..

 

[Mt Bob]

Yep,nope,whatever works! My accentra on room temp,does have a bit of a temp swing,but burns much less pellets,esp. like now with mild temps outside.When really cold,still only use stove temp when I am awake and home,and want a higher temp.There is the expense of re ignition,but elc is down right now,worth the $

 

[alternativeheat]

we have always been back/forth about room auto or manual but I do believe that when in room auto,[ a time for auto and a time for manual are different of course]
it appears that the stove will aqueeze out every last bit of heat that it has via the dist fan as opposed to manual where at times the blower fan shuts off sometimes for quite a long period.sending lots of heat up the exhaust pipe.. not expert here but an observation.

It was comfortable overnight in manual, I just got tired of the stove continuously relighting every couple of hours, if that, yesterday afternoon. The wind died overnight though. I generally run this stove in RT auto but conditions were just odd yesterday and Mon as well. Incidentally , it used about the same amount of pellets in RT manual overnight and set at 73 deg as it did in Stove Temp Auto the night before but set at 3-1/2 on the dial but I woke up to the house being 75-76 yesterday morning vs 73 this morning ( upstairs is cooler but comfortable, I'd guess in the upper 60's).

 

[alternativeheat]

Stove temp auto FTW.. gets colder outside, turn it up a titch .

Stove Temp Auto is kind of a fun setting for stove tinkerers to play with, I use it in the sub 0 weather sometimes at a setting of around 3-3-1/2 and generally in the colder overnight the oil heat will kick on, which is what I want it to do. But you can crank STA too, as long as you don't mind the bags of pellets it will use LOL ! Two days ago, I opened up my studio room, it's a drafty room because one side is poorly insulated, well that cooled the whole house down because it had been shut up for a while , so had to level everything out again. I set the stove in STA at level 6 and went about my business of the day when I noticed it was getting rather stifling around. Yeah, the house now near 80 deg and the stove smelled like heat, hot metal. And that still is not turned up all the way. But hey I had been chilly !

 

[alternativeheat]

ftw?

I took it as For This Weather, only because he was following up on my post where I was speaking of odd weather.

 

[bogieb]

Stove Temp Auto is kind of a fun setting for stove tinkerers to play with, I use it in the sub 0 weather sometimes at a setting of around 3-3-1/2 and generally in the colder overnight the oil heat will kick on, which is what I want it to do. But you can crank STA too, as long as you don't mind the bags of pellets it will use LOL ! Two days ago, I opened up my studio room, it's a drafty room because one side is poorly insulated, well that cooled the whole house down because it had been shut up for a while , so had to level everything out again. I set the stove in STA at level 6 and went about my business of the day when I noticed it was getting rather stifling around. Yeah, the house now near 80 deg and the stove smelled like heat, hot metal. And that still is not turned up all the way. But hey I had been chilly !

Yeah, I played with that (stove temp/auto) in the colder part of last winter for the P43 and it works well on those windy days when I need to have positive air pressure to keep the cold from immediately falling from the ceilings when the stove shuts down on the thermostat. And, oddly, room temp/manual doesn't work with the thermostat hooked up (the blower stops regardless of how high I have the temp setting or the thermostat).

OTH, I just use room temp / manual on the basement stove during really cold weather (and the temp is set >75). But that is because I don't want to run up and down the stairs to play with the settings and any excess heat bleeds up to the main floor, so it works well for me.

 

[HarmanRUs]

anyone recommend where to get the replacement?
I see after market to OEM and prices all over the place.. 29.00 to 107.00 at Amazon and other places.
and,
should I get all the cradle hardware the ignitor is incased in...
or just the ignitor...?
Mine is working fine but concidering getting a spare cause at sometime it will prob croak.

My P61A just stopped lighting after working with no problems. The stove is 12 years old. When I touch the ignitor, it's cold. Think it's the ignitor, or the board? The ignitor light is on when it starts. Also, if it's the ignitor, how the hell do I replace it? Just spent 20 minutes with my head inside the stove, and cannot figure out how to remove it. Appreciate any help.

 

[railfanron]

Here is the instructions you need HarmanRUs. http://downloads.hearthnhome.com/communications/Igniter_Replacement_HAR.pdf It's actually quite easy. Good Luck.
Ron

 

[Tonyray]

Here is the instructions you need HarmanRUs. http://downloads.hearthnhome.com/communications/Igniter_Replacement_HAR.pdf It's actually quite easy. Good Luck.
Ron

Good info..
I have the same pdf saved on my Pc for future installing.

 

[Tonyray]

Stove Temp Auto is kind of a fun setting for stove tinkerers to play with, I use it in the sub 0 weather sometimes at a setting of around 3-3-1/2 and generally in the colder overnight the oil heat will kick on, which is what I want it to do. But you can crank STA too, as long as you don't mind the bags of pellets it will use LOL ! Two days ago, I opened up my studio room, it's a drafty room because one side is poorly insulated, well that cooled the whole house down because it had been shut up for a while , so had to level everything out again. I set the stove in STA at level 6 and went about my business of the day when I noticed it was getting rather stifling around. Yeah, the house now near 80 deg and the stove smelled like heat, hot metal. And that still is not turned up all the way. But hey I had been chilly !

does the distribution blower stay on all the time in Stove mode or cut out as it does in room/manual? don't remember since I never really expirirmented with it.... If it does stay on I assume it uses way more pellets than room/manaul...maybe.

 

[alternativeheat]

Tony, in Stove Manual, the blower will cut out when the stove is set below about level 4. This is considered like a room warmer mode for when you have company in your living room etc. and don't want to hear the blower. Sometimes the heat builds up a little and the blower will come on just to aid in maintaining temp but it's mostly off, especially in the lower settings. In Stove Auto, you have full blower control.

Whether any of this ends up using more pellets than in Room Mode has much to do with external conditions like drafty house at -10f, vs calm day at +32f for instance ( extreme example)!

My point is more that in extreme weather ( and with oil prices somewhat lower) and wanting to use the oil mixed in, I can set the stove to a known pellet use value in Stove mode and let the oil play catch up as needed vs more bags of pellets. I ran our coal stove this way for decades ( convection only, it had no Room Mode or Room Blower lol..

 

[Tonyray]

Tony, in Stove Manual, the blower will cut out when the stove is set below about level 4. This is considered like a room warmer mode for when you have company in your living room etc. and don't want to hear the blower. Sometimes the heat builds up a little and the blower will come on just to aid in maintaining temp but it's mostly off, especially in the lower settings. In Stove Auto, you have full blower control.

Whether any of this ends up using more pellets than in Room Mode has much to do with external conditions like drafty house at -10f, vs calm day at +32f for instance ( extreme example)!

My point is more that in extreme weather ( and with oil prices somewhat lower) and wanting to use the oil mixed in, I can set the stove to a known pellet use value in Stove mode and let the oil play catch up as needed vs more bags of pellets. I ran our coal stove this way for decades ( convection only, it had no Room Mode or Room Blower lol..

Understand but I was referring to Stove/Auto in relation to the above... does the blower stay on all the time?

 

[alternativeheat]

Understand but I was referring to Stove/Auto in relation to the above... does the blower stay on all the time?

Stove Auto the blower stays on at all heat settings, I kind of like that .

 

[Tonyray]

Stove Auto the blower stays on at all heat settings, I kind of like that .

so by nature prob should use more pellets I assume..

 

[alternativeheat]

so by nature prob should use more pellets I assume..

It all boils down to what you are trying to accomplish and the specific settings you use, and the weather..

 

[Tonyray]

It all boils down to what you are trying to accomplish and the specific settings you use, and the weather..

been using room/auto since season started this year..hasn't been extreme cold here yet so that mode works good here..
so as far as using oil/pellets what do u set your thermostat [furnace at]...
Not sure if it would work for me as u can see in pix the hot water baseboards the heat would rise to where [we both] have the Harman Probe. btw: old picture. have ,moved probe since then..
just below hopper... not sure if the pellet stove would ever kick on with that configuration.

 

[alternativeheat]

First I only do this in the really cold weather of dead winter, the P61 is not bad on pellets till then running in room Temp Auto. Oil and the stove together won't work well in Room mode anyway, that's why I use Stove Temp Auto where the room probe is not part of the equation. In my house i set the oil to the temp I want the house to be ( 70-72 say) and the stove to Stove Temp, medium to high fan, around heat setting 3-3-1/2, feed rate 3.5-4. Your house may be different than that, mine might be different than that this year too because I tightened up the basement a little more plus have some auxiliary heat down there if I need it.. But for sure someplace between 2 and 4 on the heat setting. Let's put it this way, it takes a little experimenting to get the combo down. In the past I've had it working so the oil heat did not come on all afternoon and it would cycle two time in the morning and once or twice in the night. I shoot for 4 cycles per day, by leaving the house thermostat alone and bump the stove up or down a little bit till I get those 4 cycles per day. The goal is 1-1/2 bags of pellets used in 24 hours and 3-5 cycles of the oil heat in near 0 degree weather and single digit days or a high of +10 or so.. And it works, I just don't know this year because I changed some variables that I'm not sure how that will effect things. But once I get the combo, it's been very reliable, Tony.

We both know that the P61 can heat our houses in very cold winter to 72 degrees, it's a matter of pellet use is all and outer room comfort too. With oil down in cost, this is a nice compromise. I started doing this back in the Jimmy Carter days of high oil but used coal and oil together. When oil was at it's worst back then I used two coal stoves because coal stayed level in price right through all that false ( man made) oil shortage stuff. I was so angry over that. Here on Cape Cod with binoculars you could see oil tankers far off the coast anchored, not allowed to come into port and off load, while we all had gas lines and something like a 5 gallon max gas purchase. Anyway, I would never keep my house at 72 on oil alone, I'd go broke even at these prices in this old house ! But I can do it this way. All you can do is give it a try but don't use Room Temp Mode, I don't think that will work for ya.

 

[Tonyray]

First I only do this in the really cold weather of dead winter, the P61 is not bad on pellets till then running in room Temp Auto. Oil and the stove together won't work well in Room mode anyway, that's why I use Stove Temp Auto where the room probe is not part of the equation. In my house i set the oil to the temp I want the house to be ( 70-72 say) and the stove to Stove Temp, medium to high fan, around heat setting 3-3-1/2, feed rate 3.5-4. Your house may be different than that, mine might be different than that this year too because I tightened up the basement a little more plus have some auxiliary heat down there if I need it.. But for sure someplace between 2 and 4 on the heat setting. Let's put it this way, it takes a little experimenting to get the combo down. In the past I've had it working so the oil heat did not come on all afternoon and it would cycle two time in the morning and once or twice in the night. I shoot for 4 cycles per day, by leaving the house thermostat alone and bump the stove up or down a little bit till I get those 4 cycles per day. The goal is 1-1/2 bags of pellets used in 24 hours and 3-5 cycles of the oil heat in near 0 degree weather and single digit days or a high of +10 or so.. And it works, I just don't know this year because I changed some variables that I'm not sure how that will effect things. But once I get the combo, it's been very reliable, Tony.

We both know that the P61 can heat our houses in very cold winter to 72 degrees, it's a matter of pellet use is all and outer room comfort too. With oil down in cost, this is a nice compromise. I started doing this back in the Jimmy Carter days of high oil but used coal and oil together. When oil was at it's worst back then I used two coal stoves because coal stayed level in price right through all that false ( man made) oil shortage stuff. I was so angry over that. Here on Cape Cod with binoculars you could see oil tankers far off the coast anchored, not allowed to come into port and off load, while we all had gas lines and something like a 5 gallon max gas purchase. Anyway, I would never keep my house at 72 on oil alone, I'd go broke even at these prices in this old house ! But I can do it this way. All you can do is give it a try but don't use Room Temp Mode, I don't think that will work for ya.

ok... good info....I do remember now about not using room/auto with the furnace..[forgot about that little nugget.].. I will give it it try come colder weather..

 

[Pete Zahria]

I do as Alternative...
I tweek the pellet stove to do "most" of the heating,
and when it gets really cold, the NG kicks in for a few degrees.
This keeps the extremities of the house warmer..
Which would normally get pretty chilly if only the pellets were cooking..
Not using temp probe, is the only way you can do this.


Dan

 

[bogieb]

so by nature prob should use more pellets I assume..

Depends on feed rate - yeah, if you kept feed rate at 4, then you would probably use more pellets than using room temp / manual or even room temp / auto. But if you can turn it down to 1 (or even 0.5), as I can for my small house, then probably not.

 

[alternativeheat]

Depends on feed rate - yeah, if you kept feed rate at 4, then you would probably use more pellets than using room temp / manual or even room temp / auto. But if you can turn it down to 1 (or even 0.5), as I can for my small house, then probably not.

That doesn't work for me and I think Tony tried this last year and it didn't pan out for him either once it actually got cold out.. When I mix my P61 with oil heat I run feed rate around 3-3.5 or so. Otherwise 3.5-4.

 

[bogieb]

That doesn't work for me and I think Tony tried this last year and it didn't pan out for him either once it actually got cold out.. When I mix my P61 with oil heat I run feed rate around 3-3.5 or so. Otherwise 3.5-4.

Now that you mention it, I seem to remember a previous conversation on that where it worked for some, but not for others.