St.Croix Revolution Main Auger Problem

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John Wallington

New Member
Oct 15, 2012
32
Upstate NY
So i had a problem with my main auger becoming bound up. It burned up the auger motor so i put a new one in and then i must have put it in incorrectly because the auger drove the brass bearing right through the back plate. long story short, I got a new bushing, washer, etc and put it back together correctly. the auger worked for about 10-15 minutes and then it bound up again. Anyone else have any issues with the main auger on their St. Croix Revolution? I called the service man because honestly i give up, but the earliest they can be here is the last day of NOVEMBER. yes i said that correctly and i cant be without my pellet furnace till then. I do have a propane furnace but that will bankrupt me between now and then....so any help is appreciated.

See blow up of how i put my main auger back together...this matches the startup hopper installation as well.
 

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We just had an auger jam with our St Croix Afton Bay. We don't know why it happened for sure, but my guess was using old pellets that sat in the hopper all summer.

Are you using a fresh good quality pellet?
 
Also, if there is any proper way to align the auger in the shaft? Some stoves have a proper way to align. Others dont.

Just something to check. But sounds like some old pellets are bound up in there.

Also, was the new auger from St. Croix? Or aftermarket? If aftermarket, was it spinning in the same direction? Sounds like it may have spun backwards to drive the brass bearing/bushing out?
 
Try contacting forum member "hossthehermit"....he has had a Revolution for a few years.
 
Seems like something is causing the auger to jam up as stated. Is the furnace faulting out after a 20 minute start up cycle? I believe the start up cycle on a Revolution has about 20 minutes to make the proof of fire switch or it will fault out.
 
If that stove has a bolen washer between the brass bushing and the auger shaft you most likely put it in upside down. Convex side of the wsher goes up and go easy when you tighten down the plate. The auger should freely spin with tour fingers. Before you attach the motor.
 
I guess the first thing I would ask is this. If there are no pellets in the hopper and the auger motor is off the unit will the auger shaft spin freely by hand easily several times or does it get tight in some spot or another. Also have him look up the drop chute inside the furnace to make sure there isn't a big clump of something at the top jamming it up. It sounds like the shaft spins free until the shat and tube fill up with pellets. Maybe check the auger flighting on the to make sure a weld didn't come loose creating an expansion issue when the tube is full of pellets.
 
Ok, I need to go look at this again because it does appear the washer is convex. i thought it was just my eyes. maybe that is what is causing it because i took it all apart again, and looked in the chute and it is clean enough to eat out of....no joke. i worked my butt off to make sure there wasnt anythign in there. And put it all back together, tightened up the plate tight and it was bound up...i take the washer out and it is great. so maybe i had the washer in upside down. I will double check and then i will only snug up the bolts holding the back plate rather than tight and see what i come up with. this has been bothering me for weeks and my service guy says he is booked until the end of november....and he isnt returning phone calls...which i understand but is still frustrating so thanks for the suggestions everyone..
 
Ok...thank you all so much for the help. I seem to have gotten it working. It has been burning for about 5 hours now and going strong. I even got the fan inside the pellet furnace running the fan in the propane furnace. I dont need the propane when the pellet is running correctly, it heats the whole house, but with it in the basement at the far end of the house, i wasnt getting any air on the other side, so I wired it up. I will take a picture of my install and post sometime soon. Again, thanks for the replies, you saved me a service call and probably a few hundred bucks in propane.

John
 
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Ok, I am having problems again. It ran all night, and all day, i got home tonight and looked at it and the furnace had a very small flame. So i watched it for about 30 minutes and the flame stayed low for about 10 min, then it would get large and more pellets would drop, then it would do that for about 10 minutes and then the flame would die down again. So i opened up the back and watched the auger turning. It would turn about 1.5 revolutions just fine, about 1/8 turn each motor run. Then it would basically stop....the motor would turn, it would inch about 1/32 to 1/16 turn and be like that for about a full half turn of the auger and then it would go back to the 1/8 turn each time. I noticed when i put it together and ran it dry that every turn and a half it would squeak but I didnt think anything about it cause it was turning fine even when it squeaked. But apparently full of pellets its a different story. so my question is...is it possible to bend the auger? I rolled it on the floor before i put it back together and it didnt seem to have a problem, there was no wobble or hump in it, but apparently there is something....

any suggestions?
 
Tell me about the venting including the existence or not of an outside air kit on the unit.

I sounds like it could be a couple of things, one of which is vacuum related and the other of which is a loose coupling between the auger and its motor.
 
The venting is a sidewall vent, there is a 5' piece vertical, a 90 degree ell and then a 4' piece horizontal, with a 45 on the outside to direct it towards the ground. It is 18 inches above grade on the exterior and sticks approx. 16" out from the foundation wall. There is no outside air kit on the unit, it draws from the basement directly from the tap.

I double checked the coupling and it is tight. The auger itself is bound because to get it past that point last night I had to put a pair of pliers on the coupling and actually help the motor spin it by hand. Once past the sticky point, it turns fine again for about 1.5 revolutions and sticks again....rinse and repeat

I replaced the door gaskets this year because they were nasty (my fault I left the doors closed all summer and it formed a bit of rust on it) So i know i have a good seal on the doors....
 
Ok, is there anyway you can adjust how the auger aligns in the auger flight? Say like loosening screws on the back and centering the auger, same with the other end. The auger could just be misaligned in the flight. While it is possible to bend an auger you'd have to be trying hard to do that bending. One thing you shouldn't do is crank on that auger with the motor attached you'll cause issues with the gears in the reduction gear train.
 
There doesnt appear to be any way to align the auger, other than the tightness of the back plate nuts. Which I have been told only need to be snug. And I didnt crank on the auger against the motor, I just gave it some assistance every time the motor turned, basically I increased the torque output on the motor with my pliers. I am not totally stupid, and actually fairly handy, however in the case of this stove I am just mostly stupid cause this stove is currently defying common sense on how SOMETHING SHOULD WORK.
 
Then it is time to take the auger out and do a bit of rolling it on a flat surface to see if it is bent and while the auger is out inspect the flight and cover to see if there is a bump in it and if the front or rear mount hasn't been twisted or deflected.
 
Yeah, I intend to take it back apart tonight when i get home from work. I have been talking to Larry Golden with EvenTemp about this and he wants me to take the washer out. And my service guy finally called me back and gave me a few things to try, so I am going to do them all and see what I come up with. I am going to triple check the set screw and make sure that is tight, but I am all but positive it is...And I am going to take a bunch of pictures when i have it apart so I can post. Thanks for the advice.
 
Keep us updated!
 
Knock on wood, haven't had any issues with my auger, other than a jam or two each season, and cleared that by holding in the auger feed button until I could hear pellets dropping again. Reading back over your trials and tribulations, I guess if it was me, I'd try jumping the relay and running the auger (empty) steady for a few revs, maybe a couple minutes. Maybe throw in some powdered graphite, mark a spot on the auger and see if a squealing, grating, binding noise happens at a particular spot. Possible bent shaft but I doubt it. I'd prob'ly try it for a bit with the bolts on the mounts just finger tight, and only a quarter bag of pellets at a time, don't wanna hafta take 3 bags out of that hopper every time until ya get it straightened out..... But hey that's just my opinion, I don't know everything, unlike some here...... I'll make a point of checking back, don't get here much anymore........ good luck..............

Oh, and maybe don't try ALL the things at once ......... try one, assess, think it over, try another............
 
OK I took it apart again and took a bunch of pictures. Put it back together and turned the auger by hand and it turns freely for 3/4 of a turn and then it gets 'sticky' so i pulled the auger out, marked up the end of it with a marker, put it back together and spun it again and lo and behold the marker was gone off the end of the auger. Take a look at the pictures. Seems to me this is a warranty issue...Nothing I did caused the auger to unspiral....wonder if they will reimburse me for the burned up motor...that was 80 bucks from St. Croix....

First one is looking up the drop chute, it is clean.
Second is the entire auger, as i marked on the photo i think the spiral is starting to unspiral. There is 1/8 gap between the spiral and the shaft and when it spins around to the top of the chute it is when it is binding. when it is over the opening/drop chute it spins freely.
Third is looking up the chute at the bushing inside (notice how clean it is)
Last is the marked up end of the auger.
 

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Is there any thing that should be between that mount and the auger that would change where along the flight the end of the auger would be?

This could also be accomplished with something at the back end (like a washer) being removed or even the coupler seating being changed.

The picture angle isn't such that it is easy to see if the space lessens as you get to the front of the flight.
 
Attached is a photo of the auger back plate, the bushing and the washer there. I put it together both ways, with the washer and without, per the service tech with Even Temp (St. Croix) Larry Golden. I have the binding issue either way. And I know its hard to see, I tried to get the right angle, try the attached photos.

Back Plate is just that, how it went together.
DSCN3110 is the top of the auger with a target gift card stuck in the opening.
DSCN3116 is looking through the gap with the gift card used as contrast
DSCN3112 is the bottom of the auger showing that the gift card wont fit.
 

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Looks like the auger has separated from its shaft. There was a case on here back ago where the spiral completely separated from the shaft and the shaft would turn and no pellets, it wasn't a St. Croix product .

I think you just found your problem.
 
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