Harmon advance auger question

[Harley]

OK, pellet-heads. I'll be the first to admit where I'm completely out of my league, so go easy.

This question was one that was relayed to me by a friend... so I may not be able to easily get more details, but here is the situation:

My friend was up over the Holiday - he was at his GF's Mom's house, who uses the stove for primary heat. 2-3 year old Harmon advance, professionally installed (I've never seen it). The other night it "stopped working".

He looked it over and pulled things apart, and did a pretty thorough cleaning (it really needed it, I guess). He found that the drive chain had jumped off. After re-assembly, he believes (though nothing to really compare it to), that the auger feels "tight" to turn. He got it re-started and running, and it appears to still be running.

My thought was that something jammed the auger, and that caused the chain to jump. Maybe it was just some of the buildup that he cleaned out, but his comment that the auger feels tight has me thinking there's something else to look for. The pellets she burns are Country boy, premium grade, 100% Oak.

Sorry for the real vague description of the problem, but that's all I have right now.... Is there a lot of concern that there's another problem here waiting to happen, or does it look like this is just a normal occurance, based on the fact that it might not have been cleaned as regularly as it should?

Thanks

 

[Shane]

That chain auger system is something that I'm not all that familiar with. I worked on a Harman once that had numerous "objects" in the auger and it didn't make the chain jump though. Unfortunately that is all that I can add to this thread. Too bad Harryback's not around anymore. He'd know right away.

 

[GVA]

The chain drive is somewhat of a pain but some things that have happened to me in the past....
The tip of the auger was missing - this made it harder to push pellets from the tube into the burnpot.....
The rubber grommets dry rot and allow the motor to flex in the mounts a bit too much making the chain misalign and hop.
The most common was the output shaft on the gear motor gets alot of end play (that is you can pull it out from the case up to 1/4") This makes it really hard to keep the chain on.
Burnpot does need to be cleaned, as does behind the slideplate access door.... these will bind it up too.
It was probably just an issue with the cleanliness though....

 

[Harley]

Thanks, guys.... that's kind of what I think was going on there... that it might have been more of a regular cleaning issue than a mechanical problem that needs serious attention. If timing works out - he'll be back up in a month or so for another holiday visit, so if there continues to be problems, maybe we'll be able to get over there and diagnose the issue a little better.

And thanks, GVA... I'd imagine you must be itching to light up some sort of stove by now - yeah - I know they get some "somewhat cool" nights down in the deep south. If the buyers of your house up here don't want the stove - I could possibly shuttle it down to you - I think I'll be heading down that way (deep into rebel territority) in mid-january.