How to tell if a Harman p43 burn pot gasket is bad

well guys I’m just curious if there is a way to tell if your burn pot gasket is bad. I always clean my stove very well when I do but for some reason for the past year or 2 I have to manually light it with a torch when on room temp. But after the first light it usually ignites like normal afterwards. Had this ever happened to anyone else?

 

How much time are you waiting before taking the torch to it?

 

Cleaning a stove very well in your book can be a subpar cleaning to someone's else book, just saying. Clean pot after cleaning versus ashy pot on normal afterwards? Does it light better in stove mode?

 

Igniter is probably on the way out.Time to order a spare.For some strange reason a clean stove seams to take longer to ignite versus a stove that is in between cleanings.

 

well, check the resistance of the igniter....should be 40-50 ohms. When they go out, its usually sudden, not slowly. A slow igniter tells me its dirty....or....a bad gasket somewhere leaking air, not making it past the igniter.....the leak is usually the door or ash pan gasket, they are used the most, and the leak usually occurs on the firebox area somewhere.

 

My first guess is when you clean under the burn pot (where the igniter is), that ash gets pushed way to the back and impedes air flow. The air comes from the left side, way to the back. Once you light it with a torch, the natural air flow pushes enough of the ash out of the way that future lightings work fine. I will say though that that is less likely with the P43 than a bigger stove like the P61 since that area isn't as deep and it is easier to clean that part so this may not be the issue.

 

dont forget that the air gets sucked through the burnpot, so, most of that ash will be in the front of the burnpot. I think it ramps over the igniter, causing the airflow to move over the igniter rather than through it. So, any leaks, anywhere will mess up that airflow. Since the firebox operates under negative pressure, if theres a leak somewhere there isnt supposed to be, it will suck air through there as well, decreasing the amount of air going through the little holes in the burnpot.

A couple other things to check.....the intake damper.....is it opening all the way? is the igniter access door tight? Door gaskets? How about the spark arrestors on your pipe (if any)? They get caked up too and mess with airflow....easy fix too....just clean them off...takes maybe 10 seconds...will take you longer to walk there than it will to clean it

 

I replaced them door gaskets like last year, this igniter is maybe 2 years old but it’s not a Harman it’s a kwik fire. I actually made an attachment that has a piece of hose on the end to get under the burn pot all the way back. I have a new igniter coming tueday (a Harman with new cradle too. I took the tube and sucked on the fresh air inlet tube on the left side if your looking at the stove all the way to the flapper. Only thing in wondering is right where the igniter wires come out have never been siliconed since I bought it new, I wonder if I should silicone that because maybe there’s air leaking in? I bought the stove in 2012.

 

cant hurt to put a dab on them. Just make sure you get the wires pulled all the way back so they dont melt and ground themselves, thereby often destroying the triac on the circuit board....then, either your igniter never comes on, OR, it stays on forever, which then often bubbles and destroys the burn pot, etc........

 

Wonder if this could be part of problem. The top is a new Harman oem igniter and the bottom is a used kwik fire that I had when I bought the one that’s in there now.

 

I will bring this up,again,some heating elements have more than one element inside them.You can lose part of the elements,still work,but not well.Only way to check is look for almost the whole element getting red hot(80%).To my understanding,Harman elements are still only one element,they work or do not.But,I could be wrong

 

As LW mentioned above, put an ohmmeter on it....if you get 40-50 ohms, should be good to go. Only diff. I see in the 2 ignitors is the spacing of the "fins". If it were me, and the old one tests good, I'd gently wire brush in between the plates & keep as a emergency spare.

 

That’s what I plan on doing. The Harman has more space in between the fins and it seems to be longer. If it’s longer then it will cover more of the burn pot and light more evenly I would think.

 

I also noticed this today while I was changing the igniter. Looks like it’s cracked between some of the holes.

 

Also like I stated I just replaced the igniter and it’s been about 10 min and I still have no flame. That 10 min is from the time I plugged the stove back in to now. I don’t get it

 

After 14 min I finally had to light it with the burn gel and torch. I’m burning stove chows right now so idk

 

I never had a Harman, but that just doesn't seem right.

 

I think I might actually have a bad burn pot or burn pot gasket. I don’t know why else I would’ve getting that kind of weird burn pattern on the back wall of the stove. Maybe the flame tamer isn’t sitting right but I made sure today when I put the igniter in that it sat good

 

Is that a "normal" flame for that stove? I can't see it completely, but it looks lazy. Can you post a video?

 

I had the door open to take the best pic. It’s in cooldown mode right now