bolt in bag of wood pellets

[Gavin641774]

Hi everyone,new to the forum though been looking on here for over a year.I came home last nite and my 5660 had stop running,looked in the side panel and noticied the hairpin on the auger motor had sheared,removed pellets in hopper and discovered a bolt wedged in the auger the only pellets I have been burning is indeck energy pellets so I know that the bolt came from them,anyways I had to tap on the auger motor to get it off of the auger shaft to put new hair pin in as some of the hair pin was still in the hairpin hole I noticed that the hole in the auger shaft was really oblong due to the pin shearing,was wondering if I need a new auger or if this is just a bushing that the auger is pressed on it looks to be aluminium.thanks this is a 5660 bay front.

 

[Lake Girl]

Sorry to hear that your stove was damaged but you came to the right place. I have no first hand knowledge on your stove but others should chime in. For future reference, best to put stove type in title thread so people with that stove will pay attention...

Not impressed with Indeck pellets at the best of times due to their high ash content but now their ruining augers. Call them to see if they come good on pellets or repair... Good luck on the repairs.

Page 33 of the manual has an exploded view of stove parts - may help you to identify if it is a bushing
http://www.heater-store.com/images_templ/5660_Manual_Part2.pdf

 

[Gavin641774]

Thanks,I called today and left a message with Darrin from indeck energy pellets but no call back as of today,anywaysI will not be buying these pellets ever again about a cup of fines per bag too.

 

[Lake Girl]

I like the smell of pine better than swamp Not sure exactly what wood type they use but bark content contributes to the ash...

 

[Tim_M]

I had a rock jam the auger in my Whitfield Profile 30 insert a couple years ago. Luckily when I removed it there was no damage and everything worked fine. I emailed the pellet mfgr, Eastern Embers, and to their credit they called me back, inquired if my stove was OK and sent me a coupon for 10 free bags. They asked me to mail them the rock.

 

[lagger]

this thread reinforces my decison to always sift my pellets before use.. some here say it's not needed and cite how Harmans and many other stoves are unaffected, I suppose I could see it that way too since I have the Lopi AGP (all grade pellets) ... but I will certainly continue to spend the extra 5 minutes a bag to ensure as long a life as possible for my stove

 

[johninwi]

I'd say the hairpin did it's job, when you say the hole is oblong how much are talking about?
If it was my stove i'd consider the options of
1. put it back together and run it,
2. Redrill the hole to a larger size, (and larger hairpin) after looking at any denting of the bolt and auger. Did the hairpin give up without a fight or not? My snowblower has sheer pins in the auger, they look like plain bolts but with grooves cut in to reduce the cross section and allow shearing when needed.
3. Is drilling a second hole for the original size hairpin an option?

Pictures?

 

[SidecarFlip]

Pellet extruders and associated machinery are just that machinery and most machinery is bolted together so it's always possible to loose a fastener in the process. Highly unlikely, but it happens.

 

[stellep]

I had a big hunk of fan belt in some pellets a while back. Somehow I saw it before it went into the auger and jammed the stove. Last year a friend had a bolt jam his stove. Just as you did. Including you, that's three folks that I know of. Probably won't happen again.

 

[SidecarFlip]

One thing to always keep in mind and that is keep your digits out of the bottom of the pellet hopper and auger area when it's rotating. Not a big motor but enough gear reduction to nub a digit off or smash the hell out of it....