Value of a 10-12 year old Harman Advance?

A friend who already owns a P38 is looking at a 10-12 year old Harman Advance. Seller listed it at $1400 and now has been negotiated down to $1000 with the hearth pad included. Stove seems in good shape. Seller says it needs a chain tensioner for the auger. Thoughts and opinions on that price are welcome...

 

Hmmm....imo, that's a good price and it looks like it's in good shape. So basically, $800 for the stove and $200 for the pad by my math. What's the tensioner cost?

 

Tensioner is cheap at about $10. It's a fair price I think

 

1000.00 seems fair, after all it is a Harman, they keep on going and going

 

I agree....stove looks to be in good shape. Reasonable price, IMO.

 

Hello
You can get the MFD of the stove from the serial #.
I picked up my 2004 Advance for $1150 about 2 years ago. If you like the look, then go for it.
There is an updated chain and sprocket set that wears longer that you may want to check into. The old design had rubber gromets used in the auger mounting. They wear quickly and is something to watch out for! Also there is a new fluted design burn pot that brings the burn air up behind the burn pot and out 2 notches in the flame guide that pushes the flame away from the fire brick back panel. The really old Advances had a metal hopper lid not the pretty glass hopper lid and they did not have the cast iron fire brick it was the more flimsy vermiculite.
In my case I had to throw in an auger motor. Also the older stoves have the special 1.5 inch wide TadPole fire door gasket instead of the standard 3/8" rope gasket used in the later models. The older control panels do not have that nice click stop when turning the mode switch from room temp or stove temp to OFF. I would recommend a new control panel like I put in because the heat algorithm is much better. I would definitely pull the auger and check for any bad spots when slowly rotating the auger bearing and check the auger and auger chute for auger pox! (Splattered bits of pointy slag from sloppy welding) No stove is immune to that!
For $18 I would install the Harman upgraded Crossover Air kit for the gummy fix and definitely use the Selkirk Direct Temp venting kit to keep the speed bump down and keep the auger cleaner!
Also I repainted the stove using Stove Bright Satin Black and got the Nickel Trim Kit just to perk up the looks a bit.
See my stove below with custom built raised Hearth with 3 doors for extra storage, led rope light for added ambience and wood burning logo on the center door.
All in all it is more to clean than a P series Harman so in that way, you pay for looks.
That is my little experience.
I installed a can light in the ceiling with a gimbal mount for a deeper accented showcase look and more light for cleaning too.

 

$1000 is probably worth it. Check the sprockets...they wear out and aren't real cheap......youll know when they wear, they get really sharp (the sprockets are softer than the chain).
The tensioner is simply a nylon disc...yea, cheap. Bear in mind though, that while parts are still available, the chain drive feeder system has been out of quite a number of years now, and the longevity of the availability of parts for that system could be short.....Ive not heard this, but wouldn't be surprised.
Be prepared to change a motor or two...not a biggie, just be ready.

 

He ended up getting the stove for $900 with the hearth pad and all of the venting that the guy had. Stove is 12 years old and the guy never used it in the 8 years he has owned the house. I told my friend since it hadn't been run in so long he should just take his time and give it a good cleaning and inspection. Replace whatever is needed and then swap out his P38.

 

Can't beat that even if you have to stick a couple of bucks into it.

 

Serial number is GL 009830. Can anyone do anything with that?

 

He can either call or send Harman an email, they'll be able to tell him.

 

I've called harman twice with serial numbers and they were of no help. I hope you make out better than I did.

 

HUGE upgrade over the P38

 

why bother? is the serial umber THAT important? Its a $900 stove

 

No....but I'm trying to find out what year the stove is to help out my friend. If you don't have the answer..."why bother" replying?

 

Englanders and (I think) the Avalon have it stamped on the label.

 

because I DO know the year. Don't think its of much help tho......Advances haven't really changed since their inception, the only changes being the UL feeder change, the brick panel change, the fuel door change, and a few circuit board changes, which changed as they were produced. Later stoves even had an ESP probe change. I'll let you get the year yourself.