Harman P61A questions...

[Bigjim13]

So this is my first post here, we (my wife and I) came to this site several times over the early summer when we were looking at purchasing a pellet stove and found alot of great info. Thanks to our diligent research and some of the info we recieved here we finally purchased the Harman P61A back in May 2008. It was installed in early September and we are very happy with our decision (even though the cost of oil has come down-for now).

Today, I had nothing on my list of things to do and got to re-reading my Harman manual. I got the idea to extend the lenght of the ESP probe sensing wire-I had some thermostat wire left over and thought it would be very simple. Somewhere along the way though something went wrong and the sensing wire is not working and our stove will not run properly in "room temp mode."

Since it is Sunday and our dealer is not open we have no choice but to run it in "stove temp mode." I have noticed that while its advertised to get a much more even heat and consistent burn with the "room temp mode" it seems exactly opposite now that we have it set to "stove temp mode." The heat throughout the house has been very nice and warm all day and seems to have burned less pellets.

Has anybody had this experience with their stove?

 

[lessoil]

Welcome to a great site!
We also have a P61 purchased in 2008.
I am not an expert but will try to help.
Room Sensing Probe and not ESP(Exhaust Sensing Probe) correct?

"Will not run properly in room temp mode".... Can you be more specific?
If the probe is not connected properly, you should be getting an error code: 4 blinks from
status light when in room temp mode. If that's the case, check your connections.
I extended ours and soldered all connections.
Book suggests no more than 25 ft from stove and no more than 100ft of 18-2 thermostat wire.

 

[Bigjim13]

Welcome to a great site!
We also have a P61 purchased in 2008.
I am not an expert but will try to help.
Room Sensing Probe and not ESP(Exhaust Sensing Probe) correct?

"Will not run properly in room temp mode".... Can you be more specific?
If the probe is not connected properly, you should be getting an error code: 4 blinks from
status light when in room temp mode. If that's the case, check your connections.
I extended ours and soldered all connections.
Book suggests no more than 25 ft from stove and no more than 100ft of 18-2 thermostat wire.

Yeah, I am getting the 4 blinks from the status lights-checked and rechecked then checked again all the connections. I had some 18-2 thermostat wire left over from moving the Thermostat to my oil burning furnace. How did you extend the wire? Does the thermostat wire have to connect into the P61A?

After deciding that I had done something wrong, and more than a few dirty looks from my wife, I gave up and thought I reattached the original wire to the stove the same way it was installed originally. Still am getting the 4 blinks from the Status light-I guess a call to the dealer is imminent-although I am fairly impressed with the "stove temp mode."

 

[lessoil]

Are you trying to hook the old furnace thermostat to the P61??
If you are, there is a certain type that is suggested.
As I have read somewhere you will get 4 blinks when the thermostat
stops calling for heat. Thermostat opens up which is seen by the P61 as
a disconnected sensor.

**The following is assuming you are still using the original wire/sensor from Harman**
Yes the sensor has to be connected to the plug on the back of the stove or the 4 blink
error code will continue. Fig 24 pg 18 in my book.

I used some speaker wire to extend the reach of the sensor.
I cut the original wire about 8" from the stove.
I then soldered the speaker wire to the wires at the stove.
I ran the wire under the floor and up on the other side of the room.
I soldered the other end of the speaker wire to the wire that has the sensor on it.

The sensor is a Thermistor. (Resistor that changes value as temperature changes)
At 75F the value of ours was 3,000 ohms.

Stove mode does work fine.
One drawback to that mode is that as the outside temp goes up your house temp will also.
Just have to keep an eye on it.

Good Luck!

 

[Bigjim13]

Are you trying to hook the old furnace thermostat to the P61??
If you are, there is a certain type that is suggested.
As I have read somewhere you will get 4 blinks when the thermostat
stops calling for heat. Thermostat opens up which is seen by the P61 as
a disconnected sensor.

**The following is assuming you are still using the original wire/sensor from Harman**
Yes the sensor has to be connected to the plug on the back of the stove or the 4 blink
error code will continue. Fig 24 pg 18 in my book.

I used some speaker wire to extend the reach of the sensor.
I cut the original wire about 8" from the stove.
I then soldered the speaker wire to the wires at the stove.
I ran the wire under the floor and up on the other side of the room.
I soldered the other end of the speaker wire to the wire that has the sensor on it.

The sensor is a Thermistor. (Resistor that changes value as temperature changes)
At 75F the value of ours was 3,000 ohms.

Stove mode does work fine.
One drawback to that mode is that as the outside temp goes up your house temp will also.
Just have to keep an eye on it.

Good Luck!

I see where the original wire needs to be connected, I was asking more if I wanted to install a wall thermostat.

Any reason you used speaker wire?

 

[lessoil]

The speaker wire was already in place.

Do a search for thermostats on the forum.
I think it has to be a low voltage/milivolt type.
I didn't go that route. I didn't like the idea of having
the stove go into error code all the time. Just personal preference.
Our stove does a great job keeping the room at the temp we set it at
using the supplied sensor.

If the outside temp is between 10 and 20, we set the stove at 74 and leave it.
Upstairs stays between 64 and 66 in the bedrooms and 68-70 in the hallway.
When it gets down to -10, we run it around 78 to maintain the temps.
Stove is located in our living room. We have a small Cape. 24' X32'

 

[THE ROOSTER]

Mine is the pellet insert, and on room temp burns for a while before the 4 blinking lights...

 

[lessoil]

Mine is the pellet insert, and on room temp burns for a while before the 4 blinking lights...

Off Subject!!

Rooster,
Noticed the links to Scream and Fly!!
Nice looking boats!
Here is the Checkmate I just got rid of.
..http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v362/checkmate04/Summer07-1.jpg..

Traded for a bike.

Come on Summer!!

 

[richg]

I have a P61A, and extended the ESP wire to about 35 feet of total length. Try using a heavier gauge wire (16-2 or 14-2) which was recommended to me by a Harman tech. 18-2 is probably too small and causing you problems.

 

[Lousyweather]

okok, ESP probe is internal, stands for Exhaust Sensing Probe....dont know of any that have been extended or why you'd do it, but the Room Sensing Probe is sometimes extended, just a clarification.

 

[richg]

My bad, was only on my first cup of coffee when I posted :red: ....I extended the room temp sensor, not the exhaust sensor.

 

[Lousyweather]

My bad, was only on my first cup of coffee when I posted :red: ....I extended the room temp sensor, not the exhaust sensor.

coffee....the Elixir of Life....coffee addict myself!

 

[THE ROOSTER]

Mine is the pellet insert, and on room temp burns for a while before the 4 blinking lights...

Off Subject!!

Rooster,
Noticed the links to Scream and Fly!!
Nice looking boats!
Here is the Checkmate I just got rid of.
..http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v362/checkmate04/Summer07-1.jpg..

Traded for a bike.

Come on Summer!!

I think you'll miss the boat LOL

My bad, was only on my first cup of coffee when I posted :red: ....I extended the room temp sensor, not the exhaust sensor.

How high off the floor do you all have your sensor???