Advance w/ Loud, Infrequent Clunking Sound

[anjenaire]

My four year old Harman Advance is making a loud, clunking sound caused by the chain-auger motor shuttering. A had a new motor put on earlier this year and that's when this started. Service guys came out and adjusted the chain, etc. They also said the slide plate wasn't attached but I am not really buying that as there would have been no feed. The auger feeds pellets fine its just these LOUD clunks that violent move the auguer-chain assembly (and quite frankly wake me up sometimes). Before I call the dealer (again) does anyone have a pointer?

The stove is cleaned well and it seems to get worse after it has been working for a while. This recent cold weather really brought it on. The last time it got so bad I shut it off for a week while I waited for the service guy to show up (not saving anything that week except pellets). He was here a week ago and it started about four hours after he left. It is not every turn of the auger but it does appear to happen when the cam wheel comes to the bottom of the slide plate rocker arm. I pulled the slide plate and it was pretty clean, a little discolored on the leading edge. I cleaned that off and reinstalled it. I am burning New England Pelllets manufactured in upstate New York and although they appear to be a little "sawdusty", I just checked the slide plate clean out again (not mentioned in the owner's manual by the way) and there was only a dusting of fines there after 4 weeks of operation.

I am beginning to think I have a lemon or at least a very poorly designed product. I have had the retrofit of the auger motor bracket (two years ago), two auger motors, a new sensor, new drive chain and gear (because the orginal design ate the gears when the chain slipped). It is one noisy beast and I purchased the premium stove when I did so as not to have so many issues. I spent over $400 in maintenance last year on the pellet feed system.

Any suggestions?

 

[Lousyweather]

could be quite alot of things.......the most common would be the slide plate cutting off pellets in its closing stroke......could also be worn sprockets, a bent feed motor bracket, or a stove beginning to fail due to the fact that its getting "gummy" (but you said the slide plate was fairly clean, so, unlikely).

I would suggets trying a few bags of different pellets, and see if that makes a difference.....why chase ghosts that might not exist? The Schuyler New Englands have been known for being long this season. This is the most likely issue. See any pellets that are about 1-1/2-2" long in your bin?

You cant "adjust" the chain. You are correct in that if the slide plate werent engaged, you would get no pellets.

 

[mlwschultz]

Our XXV was making a loud clunking sound too & tech said it was because the gears the chain rides on weren't square (due to auger tube replacement). He built a couple of nylon shims to square up the gears & that has stopped the chain from slipping.

 

[dougd]

Hi I had similar problem and removed the auger from rear of stove, shine a good bright light into empty tube and you may see carbon buildup in spots , which in my case I chipped and scraped away at it then slid the auger back and forth till smooth, got rid of screeching noise. second part of my problem was adjust the drive gears perfectly in line with a straight edge and gave a little slack to chain, seemed like this was binding but the bind made a thump that hit the plate above the exhaust outlet. You adjust the round nylon piece up/down for a little slack It took some time, but all good now. hope this is helpful :bug: