Question....

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Northwoodneil

Feeling the Heat
Feb 10, 2012
421
Land of Cheese
I was reading in a post that someone had to replace a P38 auger after 20 tons. What would the signs of a worn out auger be on a Harman? Pellets jamming, noises, not feeding? Just wondering because I have never pulled the auger on mine and might not even know what to look for. Thanks in advance.
 
Nobody huh? I guess what I'm asking is, do augers wear along their flighting to a point where they need to be replaced? If so whats the cut off point, when a pellet could be trapped between the auger and the tunnel?;?
 
I might be wrong here Neil. I think on bottom feeders the wear usually happens on the end where exposed to fire.
 
Auger wear on harmans is on the spiral part that extends out past the end of the 1/2" (APPROX.) rod at the center of the auger. It will burn, wear back flush w/ rod. P38 dont wear much. I think most of the burn happens during shutdown. Which only happens during when you shutdown instead of mutiple times a day when stove shuts itself down. Fire is above auger during normal operation. my P38 auger still looks like new after many years.
 
I was reading in a post that someone had to replace a P38 auger after 20 tons. What would the signs of a worn out auger be on a Harman? Pellets jamming, noises, not feeding? Just wondering because I have never pulled the auger on mine and might not even know what to look for. Thanks in advance.
I replaced mine after less than 20 tons. The auger tip burned away (disintegrated) . I suspect it was from running it on low for extended periods of time . This causes the flame to burn closer to the tip vs further away when on higher settings. I also think when this happens it contributes to the " gummy stove syndrome" .
However, I find myself again running the stove on low setting on days when it`s above 30 degrees and I`m willing to chance another burned auger tip in the future (in 4-7 yrs )and I`ll be checking the auger tube for the gummy buildup yearly now that I know what to look for.
 
Auger wear on harmans is on the spiral part that extends out past the end of the 1/2" (APPROX.) rod at the center of the auger. It will burn, wear back flush w/ rod. P38 dont wear much. I think most of the burn happens during shutdown. Which only happens during when you shutdown instead of mutiple times a day when stove shuts itself down. Fire is above auger during normal operation. my P38 auger still looks like new after many years.

I also think the auguer tip wear happens during shutdowns. Yesterday I did a full cleaning (including vent and combustion blower) and ran the stove for a couple hours afterwards. I then shut it down before going to bed (temps in the mid 30's here last night) and noticed that pellets were buring in the first inch or two of the auger during shutdown. I don't remember seeing this but I think it may have been due to increase airflow. Doesn't some of the combustion airflow come down the auger towards the burnpot (along with through the burnpot and to the airwash)?
 
My harman has very substantial flights, but the end gets a bit toasty when idling. I use stirrer all the time so the auger end may be protected a bit more. Harman should make a plug to protect the end when not using stirrer. My 83 Whit has seen a ton or so every year and still feeding ok. Quad Santa Fe has a oversized cork screw that feeds up.
 
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