Englander 25-PDVC weird noise

[DrewBoogie]

so my stove is only three weeks old, it's a Sunners Heat but same as the Englander, and it started making a weird noise this weekend. The best I can describe it is the sound when you open the door of the stove, a metal on metal vibration from rubbing. It's not a grinding noise. My wife thought there was an animal dying in the crawl space when she first heard it.

I figured it was the top auger. As I just shut my stove down this morning, the sound continued for a while longer. I was under the impression that the top auger stopped spinning when pellets stopped dropping into the burn pot. Now I'm not sure what it is. Any ideas?

I was going to empty my hopper this afternoon and try hit it with some Dry Molly.

 

[johnnyb1970]

Have the same stove it was doing the same thing but it was the bottom auger. I removed panel an set screws was loose and also the oil in the motor was leaking. I called new englander and the mail me a new auger motor. But u have to removed the panel and check everything.

 

[Chrisnow86]

my stove does that sometimes.. its build up on the lower auger.. the best trick for cleaning it is while the stove is cooling down and the convection blower is still running open the door and take a flat head screwdriver and scrape around the auger.. its a lot easier when its still running so you can get all around the tube and chip off the build up.. i clean mine every week when i shut it down for a good cleaning.. but ya that nose of a animal dieing has been around for a while with me i just ignore it cause while its hot and running the noise goes away.

 

[DrewBoogie]

Thanks for the replies guys. I was really hoping I wasn't going to have to break down the whole stove to fix it. That makes sense Chris, there is some build up there and i haven't been good about scraping it. The noise is pretty consistent, not just when shutting down, which makes me think it must be the bottom auger. I will do that this week and let you know, I hope that does it so I don't have to take the back off.

 

[SidecarFlip]

They all squeak ocassionally, nothing to be concerned about.

 

[Chrisnow86]

im pretty sure that will fix it.. always stay on top of keeping that clean, it could jam and get bound up if it gets really dirty..

 

[HD41]

so my stove is only three weeks old, it's a Sunners Heat but same as the Englander, and it started making a weird noise this weekend. The best I can describe it is the sound when you open the door of the stove, a metal on metal vibration from rubbing. It's not a grinding noise. My wife thought there was an animal dying in the crawl space when she first heard it.

I figured it was the top auger. As I just shut my stove down this morning, the sound continued for a while longer. I was under the impression that the top auger stopped spinning when pellets stopped dropping into the burn pot. Now I'm not sure what it is. Any ideas?

I was going to empty my hopper this afternoon and try hit it with some Dry Molly.

Three weeks is about the right time to awaken the Englander animal if you have not been scraping the carbon from the auger tube as Chrisnow has suggested. Doubtful if you will have to align the auger; the problem should go away with scraping on a newer stove. Dry Moly or powdered graphite are OK for minor squeaks but are not a substitute for weekly maintenance. Too much carbon buildup can overload the auger motor and lead to premature failure.

 

[DrewBoogie]

I've been good about cleaning everything else, just not so good about the auger. Since the pot builds up the way it does, the fire winds up burning in the auger tube as the pellets come out. I will scrape tonight. You think a wire brush will help too? It's real warm here today so the stove is off, makes tonight a good night to clean it up.

 

[Chrisnow86]

the carbon build up will come off in chunks.. it would be tough to get a wire brush in there you can try it tho..

 

[HD41]

You will find the carbon quite hard and have to scrape and chip it off, I find a screwdriver works best. Scrape what you can reach first then, push the ON button momentarily, then the OFF button, the auger will keep turning so you can clean all the way around. You should be able to wiggle the auger to know when it is free as it turns. Watch your fingers and be careful not to get the screwdriver stuck and stall the auger.

 

[DrewBoogie]

I was home at lunch, perk of living down the street from the office, and scraped some for a minute and a bunch came off. I noticed play in the auger and I assume that's normal?

 

[HD41]

I think you probably have the problem solved. Play at the end is what you want, should be free all the way around. Carbon buildup is often uneven. Wiggle the end of the auger as it turns (carefully if you use your finger) to make sure there are no tight spots. Doubt you need to align the auger but the owners manual covers the procedure.

 

[jackbean53]

that noise can be isolated the control board can run either blowers and augers seperately might help before tearing a new stove apart. i am sure someone here has the exact info. as far a crud on the auger i use a hack saw blade sliding it back and forth teeth away from auger . a little grease to the auger bearings might help also

 

[Chrisnow86]

Ya the auger having play is normal, it's slightly smaller than the tube I can imagine it's for the reason of the build up that accumulates in the tube... Did the noise go away? Or get better?

 

[DrewBoogie]

It's in the 60's here so I didn't light the stove yet. I plan on scraping some more tonight and maybe trying it tonight.

 

[Chrisnow86]

Ok keep us poseted!

 

[Learnedtoburn]

I believe that pellet sawdust can make that noise as it works its way through the bottom auger-I have a 25pdvc since 2002-a workhorse. I never cleaned the auger but did notice a metal grinding noise if I happened to empty a bag into the hopper only to find that some pellets got wet and turned into sawdust.

 

[rich2500]

This http://xacto.com/products/cutting-solutions/knives/knives/Medium-Weight-Precision-Knife-2.aspx works great for scraping the auger tube

 

[DrewBoogie]

Decided to do it now. Wow was it bad. Hammered it all off with a old chisel. Worked like a gem. Vacuumed it all out and test ran it. Noise is gone so far. I killed the stove though, not trying to sweat out the family. I'll fire it up tomorrow or Wednesday and report back. Thanks for all the responses and the help. I also tightened up the burn pot bolts. How tight should they be? They were pretty lose. I got em pretty tight now.

 

[Chrisnow86]

Tight lol not to tight You don't wanna bend the steel of the burn pot.. While ur at it check the lid on your hopper... Make sure it closes nice and snug if you latch it and can still press it down a little it needs to be adjusted..

 

[Stretch]

I ran one of those Englanders for about 9 years. I always used a flat-bladed screwdriver and
a small mallet, and chipped the buildup right off. Just be careful not to whack the auger. No need
for disassembling anything!

I also always lubed the lower motor with a drop of gun oil or ATF every day. Just a drop, though.
That round disc-shaped bearing carrier in back? (You can see the motor shaft spinning in it.)
Just a drop there and let it work in. Those lower motors run HOT! I replaced the original after only
about 18 months, and while waiting for the part, I took the entire motor apart and discovered the
sintered bronze bushing in the bearing carrier looked awfully dry. So, I cleaned it with WD-40 (what
else?!), and lubed it with some synthetic grease and motor oil. Put it all back together and it ran fine!
When the new lower motor came I installed it and began lubing it with the "just a drop"
method noted above. That was at least 7 years ago and it's still going fine as far as I know.
I'm not sure that the supplied motors are rated for continuous duty in that sort of hot environment
without some help.

On my stove every 2 or 3 days I'd vacuum and scrape the burn pot, chip the auger tube, wash the
window, and clean behind the plate in the combustion chamber. Anal retentive? Yeah.... but the stove
heated my whole house and was very reliable!

Good luck!

-Stretch

 

[DrewBoogie]

Already did that the other day Chris, were you the one who recommended in one of these new threads?

Sawdust makes sense. A few of my bags have had some dust in the bottom. I'm burning soft woods, not sure how common that is with them.

 

[DrewBoogie]

Good to hear Stretch. I scrape the pot everyday and usually vac it out Wednesday's and Sunday's. I'm getting used to heating with pellets and I'm loving it.

 

[Chrisnow86]

Ya that was me I noticed a difference when I adjusted mine.. Just want to share with all englander owners

 

[Chrisnow86]

Oh and on saw dust, if I notice a lot of dust when I do my weekend cleaning I scoop out all the pellets out of the hopper and shop vac the bottom of the hopper to get the dust out.. You may suck up a few pellets too haha