Auger not turning Rika insert

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Bill Kennedy

Member
Sep 17, 2012
27
NW CT
Stove starts to cycle but no pellets and auger is not turning.
I emptied the hopper , vacuumed what I can see of the auger which is only about 2inches is clear
The auger has a cover that is accessible from the hopper ,should I remove this cover to exspose the entire auger ?
The rika info says either out of fuel , clogged auger or high cutoff , if it is high cutoff does anyone know how to check it
 
Did you check the auger bushing, as SMWilliamson suggested earlier??
 
I actually had a broken gear in my Rika Integra II (of Austroflamm legacy) gearbox on the auger motor. Replaced with aftermarket model with same RPM, no gearbox, and twice the oomph. Don't regret it, but was tough to diagnose without pulling the dust cover off the gearbox and watching what was happening.

New motor also had no capacitor, less to break.
 
As soon as I get home
What exactly am I looking for ?
The bottom of the auger is exposed
I cannot move it at all by hand , but I do not know if this is normal
 
You'll want to remove the fuel from the box or do whatever you need to do to be careful not to start an actual fire (because you'll need to remove the chimney first). Then remove the insert from the wall and run it with the innards exposed to you can see if there's any movement and what might be broken. Usually this is evident.

I'm sorry I can't be more specific, but my unit is freestanding so the configuration will differ a bit although the parts are the same. It's a bit easier to maintain because I can get at the rear of the unit during normal operation and don't need to remove it.

-Matt
 
Mine is an insert , but it was installed into a two sided fireplace that the building inspector had me block off the other side
So what I did was to have a piece of 10 gauge steel cut to cover the entire opening so by removing 4 screws I have complete access to the unit without removing it
My plan is to dedicate some time Tuesday morning for troubleshooting
Any other suggestions please let me know
 
There's really a lot of things that can cause the auger not to turn. Could be a jam even (might be worth removing the entire auger and re-inserting).

Before making any other suggestions you'll probably want to get some additional observations, such as, is the motor turning? etc .... to find out where in the chain things are breaking down. These things aren't fun to take down to bits, so anything you don't have to disassemble, good.

If you've got a multimeter that does AC (these only cost $20 or so I think), you might even get a reading to see if the motor is even getting any power. You'd better hope it's not the control board (but likely it's not).
 
I do have a meter my first thought is to do a complete vacuuming and cleaning of the entire unit
Then remove the cover from the auger and check for blockage
Open to all opinions on this subject
 
Stove starts to cycle but no pellets and auger is not turning.
I emptied the hopper , vacuumed what I can see of the auger which is only about 2inches is clear
The auger has a cover that is accessible from the hopper ,should I remove this cover to exspose the entire auger ?
The rika info says either out of fuel , clogged auger or high cutoff , if it is high cutoff does anyone know how to check it





Try this:
http://www.butkus.org/whitfield_pellet_stove.htm

Good info for all stoves;)
 
Removed the cover on the auger and found a small piece of wood jammed in the auger
Used a pair of pliers to remove it and free the auger
Gave the stove a complete cleaning , fired right up and running awesome
Thank you everyone for your advise
Glad it was the first place I started and an easy fix
Forums are the absolute best tool available
 
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