Auger/Auger Motor Lopi Pioneer Bay Insert

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deep wood

New Member
Jul 20, 2008
30
AK
I'm on my second season with a Lopi Pioneer Bay Insert. When activated, the auger or auger motor produces a sound that is best described as a "groan". I'm familiar with the faint hum normally produced when the auger is activated, but tonight when I returned from home the faint hum had turned into noticeable groan.

I emptied the hopper and shop vacuumed the exposed portion of the auger and the pellet chute....still groaning. I now have the insert on a tarp on the living room floor. The top is off the hopper and the auger cover is off. All pellets and fines have been removed....still groaning.

I assume the next step is to remove the auger motor and the auger and do a thorough clean. Am I missing anything?

Thanks in advance.....

___________________________________________________________

1 - Lopi Pioneer Bay Insert

1- Quadra Fire Castile
 
Thanks Dave

The Auger motor and Auger come out tonight. How will I know if it's the bushing? Do I replace or lubricate (probably a bad idea with fines etc.)?


I downloaded the Lopi troubleshooting manual from your site last night....nice service....thank you
 
deep wood said:
Thanks Dave

The Auger motor and Auger come out tonight. How will I know if it's the bushing? Do I replace or lubricate (probably a bad idea with fines etc.)?


I downloaded the Lopi troubleshooting manual from your site last night....nice service....thank you
Click to expand...

if the auger doesn't spin freely in the bushing ,the plate should be replace. if the brass bushing spins, the plate should be replaced.

fyi, i will always give out manuals for free upon request....
 
Last year about this time, my leyden started doing the same thing. the dealer ended up replacing the auger motor and that helped for a day or so. then it came back and they replaced the bushing and auger. been fine ever since. they said they had never seen it happen before.
 
It's the lower bushing. It was bound up so tight I could barely turn the auger by hand. I'm surprised it didn't fry the auger motor. It took a great deal of effort to remove the auger shaft from the bushing. Any idea what causes this problem? The surface of the bushing and the surface of the auger shaft appear to be corroded . Could it be moisture?

I was careful to clean the stove for summer storage and I placed a desiccant in the burn area. In the future I will place a desiccant in the hopper too.

Soooo......should I replace both auger and bushing or only the bushing?

Any advice on how to prevent this in the future?....I'm not interested in an annual tear-down

thanks again for all the advice and information.
 
follow- up question in addition is questions above:

...how do I bench test the auger motor?

Thanks
 
deep wood said:
It's the lower bushing. It was bound up so tight I could barely turn the auger by hand. I'm surprised it didn't fry the auger motor. It took a great deal of effort to remove the auger shaft from the bushing. Any idea what causes this problem? The surface of the bushing and the surface of the auger shaft appear to be corroded . Could it be moisture?

I was careful to clean the stove for summer storage and I placed a desiccant in the burn area. In the future I will place a desiccant in the hopper too.

Soooo......should I replace both auger and bushing or only the bushing?

Any advice on how to prevent this in the future?....I'm not interested in an annual tear-down

thanks again for all the advice and information.
Click to expand...

If it were me, I'd clean the auger shaft with some steel wool or fine sandpaper, and try to do the same inside the bushing (rolled-up sandpaper around a dowel rod or pencil?). After that, WD-40 would be sprayed on both parts, and a test fit done. If they slid together easily, then I'd clean all the WD 40 off, apply light weight oil (3-in-1) to shaft & inside bushing, and re-assemble.

As for "testing" the auger motor, many of us on the forum have made a "test power cord" out of an old lamp cord. Connect to auger leads, wrap w/ electrical tape, and plug into 120v....output shaft should turn at rated speed (1 rpm, or 3 rpm, etc, etc). Can be done in the stove (stove unplugged!), or on the workbench.
 
imacman said:
deep wood said:
It's the lower bushing. It was bound up so tight I could barely turn the auger by hand. I'm surprised it didn't fry the auger motor. It took a great deal of effort to remove the auger shaft from the bushing. Any idea what causes this problem? The surface of the bushing and the surface of the auger shaft appear to be corroded . Could it be moisture?

I was careful to clean the stove for summer storage and I placed a desiccant in the burn area. In the future I will place a desiccant in the hopper too.

Soooo......should I replace both auger and bushing or only the bushing?

Any advice on how to prevent this in the future?....I'm not interested in an annual tear-down

thanks again for all the advice and information.
Click to expand...

If it were me, I'd clean the auger shaft with some steel wool or fine sandpaper, and try to do the same inside the bushing (rolled-up sandpaper around a dowel rod or pencil?). After that, WD-40 would be sprayed on both parts, and a test fit done. If they slid together easily, then I'd clean all the WD 40 off, apply light weight oil (3-in-1) to shaft & inside bushing, and re-assemble.

As for "testing" the auger motor, many of us on the forum have made a "test power cord" out of an old lamp cord. Connect to auger leads, wrap w/ electrical tape, and plug into 120v....output shaft should turn at rated speed (1 rpm, or 3 rpm, etc, etc). Can be done in the stove (stove unplugged!), or on the workbench.
Click to expand...

you should never oil the "oilette" it will only help temporarily, and will cause issues/ act as a dust magnet over time

OP, if the ager shaft is smooth, replace the auger end plate(includes pressed in brass oilette)
 
I had to sit on hands to keep from oiling that bushing, that was my first instinct (even before the suggestion), I wanted to do it....really bad, but I knew that such bushings were designed to function without oil...they are impregnated with oil as part of the manufacturing process....correct?

Well, my dealer is a new business and his tech has not completed the Travis Industries training, so the store manager called the Travis technical folks. They said to clean the busing and shaft with fine steel wool and reinstall...I told-um I wanted at least a new bushing cause I know it will fail again (about 24 hours after the warranty expires).
So, I have a bushing on the way. I think I'm going clean it up, and run it until it fails then replace with the new bushing. I gotta believe this is going to be a regular maintenance issue as I'm sure the "fines" will always find a way to get between the auger shaft and bushing.

Thanks again to the forum for all the help and advice!
 
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