Harman XXV taking too long ignite

[toastyinri]

Thanks all, I did some additional scraping and tapped the burn pot. Seems to work better. Kenny, thanks for the cleaning guide.

One other thing to do is to clean out the air holes in the burn pot.....a metal paper clip works well...make sure you get the lower holes that go half way across the burn pot on the left near the bottom....those are the ignitor holes...if they are clogged your ignition will take longer.

 

[DOBS]

Mine ignites at about 1/3 full after 4 minutes or so. The pellets don't continuously feed non-stop during start up. The pellets never seem to get more than 1 1/2 - 2 " away from the edge of the burn pot - ever. I sometimes get a high flame, but it rarely curls over and touches the glass, but it does get fairly close at times.

 

[greeby]

greeby,

Was the draft checked by the dealer? What is the flue vent configuration like? (length,size,90's,45's,horizontal,verticle)

I wasn't home when the stove was installed. My wife says they did a test burn. Don't know if he checked the draft.

Flue = 90 at the stove to a 4 foot vertical section to another 90 to the thimble, thru the wall to a horozontal section on the outside (maybe 18 inches?) to the cap which is turned down.

 

[HBW3]

I have the same problem. New stove installed in July ,08. First stove would not light at all.
Dealer exchanged everything in stove until I said I wanted another stove.
Second stove lit first time but took quite a long time.
Since then I have had some problems starting the stove after cleaning. Seems to light OK when some ash is in the tray.
I think this is the best stove design I have seen on the market as far as maintenance is concerned.
I am however not happy with the auto ignition design.
My stove was installed by a dealer, while I was home. Located in the basement they used 4" vent pipe to outside. This consists of a 90 deg elbow, 6' horizontal, 90 deg elbow. out wall , tee for clean-out, 18' horizontal, and cap. Outside air also hooked up.
The low draft adjustment would only go down to .59 on their meter. The manual states that this is not a real problem.
I have only used the stove at night when I am home. When in operation the stove starts OK even when cooled down and no visible hot ash. I am not sure what to do at this point so I am watching this forum to see what other people come up with.

One other thing I have since discovered is that with the outside air unhooked from the stove the draft meter reading goes down.
I purchased a meter on Ebay to monitor this. Low draft drops from .59 to .50 when outside air is unhooked.
Seems that Harmans 2 3/8" flex tubing and cap is causing some restriction. The length of run is 6' horizontal from stove to 90 deg bend, to outside. This is less than the 15' max before a 3" supply is needed.
Either way it does not seem to change how well the stove ignites.

The dip switches on the board are something I would be interested in knowing what they do. The installer had a sheet listing the position of the switches for different stoves when the first stove was installed and not lighting but I did not get a copy.
If they change the feed cycle timing this may help in getting the pellets started before the tray is over filled.

If anyone has any helpful information please share it.

 

[toastyinri]

"One other thing I have since discovered is that with the outside air unhooked from the stove the draft meter reading goes down.
I purchased a meter on Ebay to monitor this. Low draft drops from .59 to .50 when outside air is unhooked.
Seems that Harmans 2 3/8” flex tubing and cap is causing some restriction. The length of run is 6’ horizontal from stove to 90 deg bend, to outside. This is less than the 15’ max before a 3” supply is needed.
Either way it does not seem to change how well the stove ignites. "

I'm wondering if your outside air flex tubing with a horizontal run up and 90 deg. out is the cause of the problem. Unless I'm mistaken, shouldn't it be a straight run out from the back of the stove? Try this...with stove running...go outside and put your hand under the air intake...you should be able to feel it sucking in air..you might even hear it too. One other question. Does your outside air flex tubing terminate 3 feet or more to the side or below the vent pipe outlet?
I'll assume that there was a reason to run it up and out?

 

[HBW3]

I have just redone the air intake. The reason for the up and out is because it is installed in a basement.
The new air intake is 2 7/8" I.D. exhaust pipe from a muffler shop. then 3" dia. alum. dryer vent.
It has now reduced the restriction to near 0. Inside air to outside air .02 water column difference.
I would not have known of this restriction if I did not have the gauge.
The draft was only checked by the installers after all piping was installed.
Low draft while running is now .58 water column. I guess this is the best it will get.

My real concern and only complaint is the problem with auto ignition.
As I stated earler when clean of any ash and cold the stove may not ignite.
Pellets feed for 4 min. pause about 4 min.
lf I do not get ignition I turn off stove. Set ig to manual, turn on the stove and lite the pellets with starter jel.
This way the pellets will ont feed until a certain temp is achieved.
I wish this was the case in auto mode. If no ignition after first 4 min. feed, and pause 4 min. the likely hood of raw pellets falling into the ash pan is good. I have had this happen when first trying the stove. The stove did lite but not until over feeding the tray.
Because of this I only run at night when I am home and can monitor the first cold startup.
I then set to auto ignition.
I have never had a problem restarting after first fire and ash is in the pan.
I guess their may still be hot embers in the ash helping to restart fire.

Their has to be a fix to the auto ignition problem.
I have read on line of other people having this same problem.
So please someone post a fix or adjustment if it is out there.
I cannot believe that Harman could sell this many stoves and not address this issue.
My dealer cannot help, I know as much about the operation of this stove as they do.

Harman needs to have a tech line or a web site to address customer concerns.

 

[Hammerjoe]

Your ignitor is dead, call your dealer.

 

[DOBS]

Thanksgiving morning. Shut the stove down to make her nice and shiny to show it off to all the guests coming over. Went to start it back up, and nothing. Emptied the pellets out of the hopper several times, scraped, tapped. Nothing. Hopper would go through the 4 minute cycles till the igniter finally timed out. After each cycle, the area over the igniter was warm enough to keep my fingers on it. I've burned about 3/4 ton since new in mid October, only shutting it down to clean it. I did notice that the ignition time was getting longer each time, but it always started with-in 6 minutes tops...

Finally decided to take the igniter cover off to see what was happening (or not) and presto! The compartment was completely clogged with ash! Tons of it! :bug: I've been cleaning the stove every weekend, but it never dawned on me to clean this part out... I will be from now on.

Put it back together and it lit up with-in 3 minutes. Woo Hoo. Back in business.

 

[Bank]

Hello All, new poster here in Southern Maine, I purchased a Harman Accentra in April and purchased 5 tons of CleanFire pellets from www.pelletsales.com..Very happy with pellets and very warm... However, after burning 30 bags the burn pot filled up big time and would not ignite, I tried this twice...I called my very mechanically inclined buddy who installed the stove and he told me..."oh there's two wing nuts under the burn pot, this is your igniter, open it them up and vaccuum out the ash"...Sure enough, the machine fired up in six minutes with the right amount of pellets in the pot...It got so hot today that I had to turn it off this AM..I have a new home with very good windows and insulation..The thing burns like the sun