Interesting problem with my p43 SOLVED

[railfanron]

My p43 will light off on the left side only after sitting for a few hours. Sometimes it will spread to the right but most of the time I have to mix it up to get a full burn. Funny thing if it only sits about an hour it appears to light correctly. This started last spring and has continued into this fall. The vent is squeaky clean and so is the stove. I've pulled and checked the igniter for crud blocking the airflow and found none. Any ideas?

 

[fmsm]

On my p35i there are access doors on the side. If one is not seated perfectly this will happen. Not sure of your stoves configuration

 

[alternativeheat]

My p43 will light off on the left side only after sitting for a few hours. Sometimes it will spread to the right but most of the time I have to mix it up to get a full burn. Funny thing if it only sits about an hour it appears to light correctly. This started last spring and has continued into this fall. The vent is squeaky clean and so is the stove. I've pulled and checked the igniter for crud blocking the airflow and found none. Any ideas?

Are all your burn pot holes clear ? I ream mine a few times per year, I just run a paper clip through (or small brad) them and make sure they are open.

 

[railfanron]

I don't believe my stove has the doors you're referring to. All cleaning is done from the inside except the fines box.
Yes all the holes are clear. I made a little tool with a finish nail in a stick and clean them regularly. This only seems to show up during the shoulder season. When it's running for a while the right side gets hot and then everything levels off. It just seems like the igniter is only heating on the left side although I find this very hard to believe.
Ron

 

[alternativeheat]

I don't believe my stove has the doors you're referring to. All cleaning is done from the inside except the fines box.
Yes all the holes are clear. I made a little tool with a finish nail in a stick and clean them regularly. This only seems to show up during the shoulder season. When it's running for a while the right side gets hot and then everything levels off. It just seems like the igniter is only heating on the left side although I find this very hard to believe.
Ron

Odd.
My P61a lights in the center of the pellet pile and the fire spreads from there but the pile of pellets never lights full width initially. I thought yesterday it sounds like your igniter is off center or not lighting all the way across it's length. Speaking of the igniter, I assume it's access hatch is secure ? Seems to me though if the igniter was defective it wouldn't light up at all or not light the fire at all at least. I guess I wouldn't care where in the pile of pellets my fire got started from really but it is nice to see it centered. And I guess if it always was centered I'd find concern in it suddenly not being centered. But non of that fixes your situation !!

And no, the P43 has no side access hatches to the burn pot.

 

[railfanron]

Most of the time mine lights in the center also.
The igniter bracket centers the igniter so it cannot be off center. I've had the igniter out to check it for both alignment and to make sure it is clean.
The access hatch is tightly closed. That's the first thing I checked.
I wouldn't care where the fire lights either but when it lights on the left the pellets pile up on the right and if I don't intervene they spill over into the ash pan. It appears like the heat from the firepot face assists in the ignition of the pellet flow after the initial light and until the face gets heated up completely the problem will surface.
Ron

 

[Phoenix Hatchling]

My p43 will light off on the left side only after sitting for a few hours. Sometimes it will spread to the right but most of the time I have to mix it up to get a full burn. Funny thing if it only sits about an hour it appears to light correctly. This started last spring and has continued into this fall. The vent is squeaky clean and so is the stove. I've pulled and checked the igniter for crud blocking the airflow and found none. Any ideas?

Holy coincidence!! Mine did just that this morning and had a huge pile of unburned pellets on the right. I needed to turn the temp down to fool the stove into shutting down in order to burn off the pile, mixing them in to the left.

 

[railfanron]

When it happens I just pile the all on the left. This gives the left a big flame and usually burns them off quickly. If it persists the second time in I mix the left and right pellets and that usually lights off the right.
Ron

 

[railfanron]

I think I've solved my problem. I had to much draft. I don't have a negative pressure manometer so I left the stove at the factory setting. After looking closely at what was happening when it was screwing up I noticed it was literally blowing a hole in the pellet pile. Since the igniter is only on the left side there is no chance for the flame to spread after the hole develops. So I adjusted the combustion blowers speed downward until the pellets just danced in the firepot. Now it lights and the flame spreads properly across.

 

[Harman Lover 007]

Ron, can you explain what you mean when you say "the igniter is only on the left side?"

 

[railfanron]

On my p43 the igniter doesn't span the entire width of the burn pot. It only spans the left half a little more than 2" . As a result the fire starts on the left half of the burn pot and spreads across towards the right. I never paid any attention to this until the problem started and I removed the igniter to see if it was dirty. I just assumed it spanned the entire width of the burn pot.
Ron

 

[Mt Bob]

On my p43 the igniter doesn't span the entire width of the burn pot. It only spans the left half a little more than 2" . As a result the fire starts on the left half of the burn pot and spreads across towards the right. I never paid any attention to this until the problem started and I removed the igniter to see if it was dirty. I just assumed it spanned the entire width of the burn pot.
Ron

Yep have to agree with you after fixing some harmans,ignitor is only so long.Amazed bstrong did not catch this.Just fininished (not long ago) an accentra,was impressed with the quality of the ignitor setup,but saw what you are saying.

 

[Harman Lover 007]

On my p43 the igniter doesn't span the entire width of the burn pot. It only spans the left half a little more than 2" . As a result the fire starts on the left half of the burn pot and spreads across towards the right. I never paid any attention to this until the problem started and I removed the igniter to see if it was dirty. I just assumed it spanned the entire width of the burn pot.
Ron

Interesting....thanks.

 

[md2002]

I have this exact same problem. When you say you changed the settings did you go up or down. In other words my default setting is 2, should I move it to 3 or 1?

 

[Harmanizer]

He reduced his draft by adjusting the voltage to the combustion fan down.It's a small plastic screw on the Harman control.I'm sure your stove is different.

 

[md2002]

Yup, mine is different but I've been adjusting it up to try to solve the issue, I'll try down.

 

[railfanron]

Sorry guys I've been sick all week so I didn't get to read this. The complete fix was first to dial down the combustion blower. That fixed it for 75% of the time. The second thing I did was I noticed the pellet bin latch assembly had vibrated loose and the bin lid wasn't sealing completely. I tightened it up and I have been problem free ever since. I can set the pellet feed anywhere I want and the stove happily burns the pellets and starts completely across the burnpot every time.
Ron

 

[md2002]

Sorry guys I've been sick all week so I didn't get to read this. The complete fix was first to dial down the combustion blower. That fixed it for 75% of the time. The second thing I did was I noticed the pellet bin latch assembly had vibrated loose and the bin lid wasn't sealing completely. I tightened it up and I have been problem free ever since. I can set the pellet feed anywhere I want and the stove happily burns the pellets and starts completely across the burnpot every time.
Ron

Thanks, I'll see if this helps my situation.