Long time lurker, first time poster (because I've been lucky for the last 8 years and have never had any issues). Last winter I had the chance to upgrade to a Harmon Absolute 43 that I got as a steal of a deal on Facebook marketplace. Got the stove, installed it, and used it a few times before noticing that the burn pot had a crack in it. Ordered the upgraded weldment burn pot (stove is on the older side and used the first of the three styles of burn pots) to try and avoid the warping issues, installed it, and nothing. Got warm, but no ignition. Through research/experimentation, it seemed like it might be a draft issue. The install manual calls for 4" pipe up to the top of the chimney and I only had 3" (previous owner install). I also tried lighting it and it would start but die off after the door was closed. This also made sense based off of some minor things I noticed from the Heatilator PS50 that was originally installed. Defeated, I reinstalled the original burn pot and decided I'd install the 4" chimney pipe this summer. The stove ran like a champ all winter and was well worth what I paid for it. This leads me to today...I installed a new 4" chimney over the last few weeks and just reinstalled the new burnpot. Went to test it and...........nothing again. What am I missing that could be causing the issue? I've updated the firmware/charge time and the ignitor is as close as I can get it to the top burnpot plate. The only things I can think of are that the AOK is only 2" (planning to test this) or that the cheapo ignitor I got from Amazon somehow gets hot enough for the original style burn pot, but not the new one (also ordering a new ignitor because I'm in parts cannon mode).
So, if I understand correctly, the stove ran well with its original burn pot, but when you changed to a new burn pot, it would not continue burning after initial lighting? Does it continue to feed pellets once lit? Is there a film on the new burn pot? Did you try removing the OAK and using room air? (while you are there, check to make sure there is no obstruction). I would not think that a 2" OAK would keep it from burning - just may not have as nice or efficient burn as a 3" OAK may provide.
Correct. It ran fine with the original burn pot but wouldn’t ignite when I swapped in the new burn pot. It seems like the issue was the pellethead igniter I bought because I was too cheap to buy the Harman version. I just swapped it for the Harman igniter and now it’s finally lighting with the new burn pot. Thanks for the thoughts on possible issues though!
Glad you got it figured out. Yeah, the Harman igniter isn't cheap, so I can understand trying an aftermarket one.
