How involved is upgrading Harman P38 to P38+

Found a really good buy on a Harman P38 that may need a new control board. If I purchase, I was wondering how difficult is the conversion to the P38+? Anyone done the conversion? Tips, advice is always appreciated!

 

Hey Paul I just Googled it and some good info came up from the old forum Lousyweather thinks that it would cost $400 plus just for the parts and that was 4 years ago , I'd give you the link if it was from any other site but that one plus add another $150 for a new burn pot . Might not be very cost effective . Hope this helps Bud.

 

There are 2 ways to upgrade to a new circuit board since Harman no longer makes the old 2 knob board that contains 2 - 50k ohm potentiometers.
1. - Harman makes an upgrade kit that basically comes with a newer manual 3 knob circuit board that contains 3 - 100k potentiometers & cover plate and wire harness and room probe - part # 1-00-7738111
2. - To convert to auto lite there is no all in one kit, but it can be done with a p43 burn pot & gasket, flame guide, igniter, igniter cradle, auto lite 3 knob circuit board that contains 3 - 100K ohm potentiometers & cover plate and auto lite wire harness (p43 wire harness) and room probe.
Hope this helps.

 

I wouldnt bother upgrading to the autoignite unit....i would upgrade to the 3 knob board (old P61 board)...theres a kit for that with everything in it...

 

Some people like the auto lite so much they would never go back. If you are going to spend some time any money it does make the stove worth more as an auto lite stove.
I worked on an old invincible RS insert. It needed a new board and harness. The old terminal blocks were corroded. So then my frien wanted to go all the way with a burn pot and igniter. I just had to drill a hole in back of the feeder welderment to run the igniter wires thru.
See vid

 

There have been no autoigniting stoves in the Harman line since they killed the P38, and before that, the P61. So, we are talking about upgrading the P38, P61, and maybe some old Invincibles, which have been out of production for at least a decade. Even going to the trouble of adding autoignition, I dont think you are increasing the value of any of these stoves by adding it. You likely wont get more upon a resale on these units, even WITH the ignition added

 

The resell value is always negotiable but without the auto ignition, it is a good reason to be negotiated down in price.
However it is much easier to sell if it does have the auto ignition installed in the unit because it will automatically turn off and back on in the shoulder seasons which also saves on pellet consumption.

 

I PERSONALLY upgraded my brothers old P-38 to a new control board.

I had to run a new harness, and switch a few of the insulated, crimp on blades connectors. I started by taking pictures, just to be sure. Having the stove tipped on its front made things go very easy. I had to enlarge the cutout for the old board. Not too tough. Just a few drilled pilot holes, and then run a quality pair of tin snips to connect the dots It took me maybe combined 4 hours total ? But I actually did it over 2 days. Taking time, double checking.

The stove now runs MUCH better. Found that the convection fan kicks on much quicker providing the heat, and the auto pellet feeding also much quicker. Old board it would sometimes take 30 minutes before getting usable heat. That's probably down to 15 or so now.

In my opinion, if you cant afford 3K for a new stove, have a decent , solid older p38, its worth the upgrade and time.


Any questions, feel free to ask. But replies are a bit slow in this off season.