harman p68 pellet stove

13 years ago

I have a p68. I have had it about 15 months. It ran fine until recently and I am wondering if anyone out there can help me figure out what is causing the problem. It works, just not like it is supposed to. I suspect the thermistor because it acts like it thinks it is at a high temperature no matter what in either stove temp mode or room temp mode. In the past when I turned it to high it would heat real quickly. Now when I turn it to high, the blower motor goes on high, but the flame doesnt stay high for more than a few seconds and it blows warm air. Once it warms up, about two-three hours, it runs okay because it has heated up to the desired temp. The owners manual says for "low heat output" to check gasket, feeder rate and or damp pellets, none of which are the problem.

Comments (2)

brendainnj
13 years ago
Gusman, check out the forum on hearth.com--lots of great help over there and usually you will get a reply within the HOUR! Those guys will help you thru any problem you have w/your stove.
kenwheel
12 years ago
My Harmon P68 is a piece of junk! My first stove was an Englander, a cheap pellet stove purchased at Home Depot. The Englander worked great. My Dad got one after seeing mine, his works great. After using the Englander I "upgraded" to a Harmon P68, that was a mistake.

I saved up $3500, got rid of the Englander, ordered the Harmon P68 in Dec 2010, installed it in Jan 2011. After installation the feed motor needed replacing. So I couldn't use the stove for a week. Harmon sent the wrong part so I had to wait an additional week. The Dealer/installer was apologetic and not happy. I was starting to regret this stove swap. The stove worked great after that.

Fast forward to Feb 2012. The blower motor is making a thunking noise and occasionally screeches like a train whistle. The warranty has expired. Remember, I ordered it in Dec it was installed in Jan and it didn't start working until 2 weeks after installation. But it's a week and a half since its first firing and Harmon doesn't want to fix it.

The Dealer/Installer is an older guy that's been selling and installing stoves for 25 years. He's seems as upset about this as I am. He told me Harmon used to back their stoves with a longer warranty but another company purchased the name and now it's just 2 years. He also said he used to be proud of the Harmon stoves because they used to be built better. He said the original stoves used to go 5 years or longer before needing motors replaced. He told me that he's done with Harmon. Probably feels a little guilty that he didn't tell me this when I purchased my junk Harmon.

So I'm going to replace my blower motor, the 2nd stove motor in 2 years. And I'm going to start saving up for a new stove. Not sure which brand but it won't be a Harmon.

If you want to pay an extra $1000-$1500 for a name on a stove that might or might not work out of the box. That'll probably need expensive repairs and replacement parts soon after the warranty expires. Go ahead and buy the unreliable Harmon P68! It looks nice but it won't heat your house.
Related Professionals
Canton Fireplaces · Jacinto City Interior Designers & Decorators · Hercules Interior Designers & Decorators · Stanford Interior Designers & Decorators · Arlington General Contractors · Cheney General Contractors · Clarksville General Contractors · Dothan General Contractors · Jacinto City General Contractors · Jamestown General Contractors · Jeffersonville General Contractors · Mount Laurel General Contractors · Saint George General Contractors · Pasadena Lighting · Sarasota Lighting