Harman coal stove run problem.

Stove running problem. I have a Harmon DVC-500 direct vent coal stoker. I has run fine for fourteen years. This year after a proper cleaning, as in past years, I fired her up and discovered it would run in "test" mode but not in "run" mode. I have made arrangement to have a stove tech. come and repair it, but he will not come for two weeks. Meanwhile its run the oil burner and spend crazy money or take a Florida vacation for two weeks. Any suggestion for repair would be appreciated. Thanks, BigRuckus

Sounds like something electronic has failed that controls the unit. If it were me, I'd just bypass the controller - hook it up to a timer, or something, to make it work again.

That right there is why I hate relying on electronics for any part of life ...

any error blinks? Could be anything.

wasnt there a dvc-500 thread from last year with a similar issue? i searched but didn't find the one i was thinking of. i thought it was someone on long island, but could be remembering that wrong. i think it was an issue with how it was re-assembled and there was a missing gasket or something along those lines.

anyone else remember something like that better than me?

titleist1 wrote:wasnt there a dvc-500 thread from last year with a similar issue?

Yep, but that issue was the Stove would run, but not stop pushing coal onto the burn plate. He had accidently pinched the ESP probe tube between sheetmetal when he had reassembled it after cleaning it, and that caused a blinking code.

Thank you all for your responses. I did forget to mention that in run mode the status light remains on and does not blink, which I think it should if there is a problem. Called the dealer this morning and he will return my call and plan a repair appointment. I have five tons of rice in bags , enough for the next two years, so I am committed to get ir running.Also I hate to hear the oil burner running . Regards, Bigruckus

Have you considered the thermistor probe?

http://www.stove-parts-unlimited.com/Ha ... -11744.htm

Due to your stove age it will be the old style (black). The stove will not feed coal unless a certain exhaust temp has been reached but will work on test of course.Easy to replace and given the age I'd replace it anyway. Check b4 you buy but I think it is this probe that is faulty and it is a common problem. The issue with those old DVCs is when the probe shorted out it blew the whole board as the current went through the probe first and sometimes the surge killed the whole board.This was improved later and they put a fuse on the main board and then changed the thermistor somehow (red lead). I joined a thread on this one and we researched this in detail - last year sometime as I remember. Pull the thermistor lead from the board with the two leads and test for a short or open circuit. I think it's 1000 ohms on those old stoves but it may be 100 ohms. If it's open circuit or shorted that is the start of it. If the old one is say 100 ohms pull it (one screw) and dip in boiling water and watch the resistance change. If the resistance does change it's OK and you have saved $85 and if shorted it's done and the Harman tech will charge for for one anyway so nothing lost. LOL.

Thank you coalnewbie for your response. I appreciate all the help and moral suport you all gave me. Bigruckus

Just a follow-up concerning the Harmon stove not running. It was as suggested an ESP that was the problem. The service call was $150. and the part was $62. I watched what he did so as not to have to pay for that again if that problem should arise again. The house is a toasty 73 degrees and I hope it will stay that way all winter. Thanks Again,

Knowledge is power my friend. Now you have the know how and you can see how easy it is. Next time do it yourself and sign in here and share, I think we have this sucker worked out. That probe gets brittle with age so watch it when you clean there at the end of the season - soft brushes and take care with that vacuum hose but you do need to clean the exhaust tube thoroughly. Slow and steady wins the race. I'm even thinking once a season change if you burn long and hard but perhaps that is a little extreme. At mouser.com I am sure this generic 1000 ohm thermistor can be bought much more cheaply. It's not even the cost it's the time it takes for Harman to get round to fix it. In a bad winter that may be a month or more and that can be agony if your sucking expensive HO or worse just cold. So become master of your own destiny. Another little DVC tip is pay attention to the fines drawer. The stove has particular needs but it's a great heat producer and is a very pretty lady - they are always the pricey ones.

Next year Harman are commissioning 100 new service trucks to cover the NE and they are all sitting there waiting to pounce on your problem and give you the worlds best service ... and then I woke up and the bed was wet........... HAHAHAHAHAHA ... Just a little private board joke, ignore this last part, as I'm just fkcin with you.

Have a warm winter.

Next year Harman are commissioning 100 new service trucks to cover the NE and they are all sitting there waiting to pounce on your problem and give you the worlds best service ... and then I woke up and the bed was wet........... HAHAHAHAHAHA ... Just a little private board joke, ignore this last part, as I'm just fkcin with you.

Have a warm winter.[/quote]
How can you sleep at nite
Or buy a Keystoker

The Keystoker is a great heat machine too, mine is awesome. One of lifes questions will always be do you want Cindy Crawford or a Polish washer woman. Answer, Cindy and teach her to scrub floors, the other way around is too hard. Other PA stove designers need to start working harder on pretty. Next year Keystoker will offer a gold door and are hiring an Italian designer to work on the stoves externals and will announce the first stove external redesign since 1830........... HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA, I slay myself.

SMITTY wrote:Sounds like something electronic has failed that controls the unit. If it were me, I'd just bypass the controller - hook it up to a timer, or something, to make it work again.

That right there is why I hate relying on electronics for any part of life ...

smitty sounds right here... Ideal solution would be to take all that electronic crap mounted on the stove and replace, remount to a remote location on a nearby wall (if you plan on using this for long term, serious heating solution its well worth taking the time to learn to do what smitty is suggesting and having a remote location will give you more convenience as well as protect these things for long term/heavy use for many years as well as enabling you to replace/repair easily if ever needed again, its all pretty simple stuff and you can obtain timers/etc. that are far superior to the china made crap most these stoves come with).

Ditto on that. I had to take the Johnson controls and the Verti-stoker unit completely off my VF-3000 and make my own control unit with a Mechanical timer for idle times. Used a simple cube relay to turn on the stoker and fan. Unfortunately, I did way with the low fan speed at idle as well. It could have been done, I just didn't take the time to add it in. I also used a simple Honeywell aquastat to control high temp, the digital stuff just didnt work.

Kevin

I have all the Johnson control if someone is interested. Cheap. 2 of the 350 dump zone controls.