Englander 25PDVC top auger issues....Help please!

[Darryl]

Hi all,
this is our 6th year with our Englander 25PDVC and it's been flawless in operation and keeps our entire house toasty warm....never a complaint with it, and I'm not starting now, just have come up with a problem. Late last night the stove shut itself down and threw an E2 code. The burn pot and lower auger tube were both void of pellets, and the hopper was 3/4 full. First thing I checked was the vacuum line and it was hooked up with no cracks at all. Then I emptied the hopper and vacuumed all of the remaining pellets out and tried to turn the top auger, it was jammed. This happened around 3:30 am, so I decided to mess with it later. I just got done taking the upper auger out and found absolutely no jams! I put everything back together except for the back cover of the stove, put some pellets in the hopper and fired her up. From the back of the stove I could see the top auger cycling and turning freely.....cool, maybe whatever was wrong is fixed. Well, after a minute or two into the startup I could hear the top auger straining, and when I went to take a look at it I could see it was jammed again. Here's my question....is this a bearing issue or is the auger motor toast?
Thanks for any and all help....I'm cringing just thinking about turning the furnace on and burning that precious fuel oil

 

[imacman]

If the auger motor & auger turn freely w/o pellets, and then it strains to turn with pellets, the motor may be shot.

One thing to try is to swap both auger motors.....put the top one on the bottom & vice versa. Bottom one might work there since it will always be turning and doesn't need as much torque to keep running.

Another thing to try (if your handy w/ tools) is to remove the auger motor, open up the gear case and try re-greasing the gear train. A few drops of 3 in 1 oil on the motor bushings might help too.

 

[Darryl]

Thanks for the reply imac!
While I was waiting for any ideas here I did just that and went and swapped the upper and lower motors. It seemed to be working fine, but that lasted just three or four minutes. The auger was turning freely, but now it's straining again so I just shut her down. Now I'm going to put the motors back and swap the bearing plates and see what that does.

 

[slvrblkk]

Did you happen to start using a different brand of pellets?

 

[Darryl]

Did you happen to start using a different brand of pellets?

As a matter of fact I did.....just started using the Great American Pellets brand about three days ago.

 

[slvrblkk]

Ok...I'm not saying it's the pellets in your case BUT when I had my pdvc and won a ton of the NEWP...those CONSTANTLY jammed my upper auger. I'm still not really sure why it did that but it did (only pellet to do that on me). As soon as I would empty the hopper and use another pellet, it was fine. Do you have anything else sitting around to try?

 

[Darryl]

No I don't, but Home Depot is only a few miles away and I'll be heading that way in a little while. I'll grab a bag from there and see if it makes a difference. In the meantime, I'm waiting for the stove to shut down so I can swap the motors and bearing plates. I'll keep you informed and thanks for your help!

 

[slvrblkk]

Good luck, I hope you get it figured out.

BTW....if you are swapping the bearings, make sure you have the upper properly aligned. Directions are on Englander's website.

 

[Darryl]

Okeedokeeee, well I got her all fixed up and we're burning again! I pulled the top auger and motor out, again no jams. Then like I said I was going to swap the bearing plates to see if that made a difference. Well, when I went to pull the bottom auger out first off the motor was real warm, almost hot....hmmmmmmm. After taking the motor off I went to pull the auger out and it was stuck in there, so I gave it a good tug and out came a wad of pellets and these....two pieces of cardboard The bottom auger couldn't pass the pellets being fed by the top auger because the cardboard was blocking the entire mess....which in turn made the top auger bind up because there was no place for the pellets to go....go figure! And the motor on the bottom auger was working harder than usual because of the jam and that's why it was getting so hot. So, for all of you that have a two auger system and are having problems with the top auger binding be sure to also check the bottom auger for a jam. I got lucky cause my plan was to swap everything around and that's the only reason I found what I did. I hope my experience can help someone else out of a jam...pun intended, LOL. Thanks to imacman and slvrblkk for your input and willingness to help. I've been a member of this site since I bought my Englander back in '07, and this place and the people here are the greatest, someone is always willing to help.
Thanks again and have a good night,
Darryl

 

[imacman]

Glad you got yourself outta that jam.

 

[Darryl]

Thanks, I was getting ready to start ordering parts....now I'm just gunna relax with a tall Captain & coke

 

[slvrblkk]

DAMN!! WTH! Out of curiosity, any writing you can make out on the cardboard? lol

 

[Darryl]

No, but I did inspect it, LOL! It feels like the cardboard that gift boxes are made of....early b-day present for me I guess

It did get the crap chewed out of it by the auger though....and I can probably change out the augers and motors with my eyes closed now, LOL!

 

[imacman]

Seeing that you have 6 yrs on those auger motors, might be a good idea to swap them anyway.....give the bottom one a rest.

 

[slvrblkk]

No, but I did inspect it, LOL! It feels like the cardboard that gift boxes are made of....early b-day present for me I guess

It did get the crap chewed out of it by the auger though....and I can probably change out the augers and motors with my eyes closed now, LOL!

Now you're a seasoned vet!

 

[Darryl]

Seeing that you have 6 yrs on those auger motors, might be a good idea to swap them anyway.....give the bottom one a rest.

You be reading my mind. I plan on ordering two motors and bearing plates as soon as the craziness that is Christmas is over.

 

[Darryl]

Now you're a seasoned vet!

You aint kiddin', LOL! Seriously, it's nice that these stoves are so easy to work on and maintain....definitely one of the best things I ever bought fo sho!