Auger issues with new Englander

[BrianS7]

New Englander 25 single motor 3rd season

Last year it would stop dropping pellets at random. No rhyme or reason to it. Would run for weeks or a month at a time then the auger would stop. Shut it down, fire it back up and it would be fine—for weeks at a time.

But it got progressively worse very late in the season. Shut it down for the season and forgot about it.

Fired it up last week and it would drop just enough pellets to keep a fire. Auger would turn a few minutes then pause, turn, pause etc. Then it stopped turning at all. Figured the motor went out, put a new one in and still doesn’t turn.

-exhaust blower works
-by passed the hopper lid switch [thing is nearly pointless anyway]
-by passed the vacuum switch temporarily just to rule it out

I’m out of ideas! Any help would be appreciated lol

 

[Ssyko]

Vacuum port clean? It is to the right of the burn plate. The 25 pdv and pdvc work great as long as you keep them clean. Give the entire stove a good cleaning and let us know how you make out

 

[Don2222]

Hello
Check these 2 items
1. Vacuum hose to exhaust
Remove the hose and if it is cracked at the end then replace it.’very common issue.
2. Check the auger block bearings.
They should have plenty of red high temperature grease available at Home Depot.
If the zerk fitting does not take the grease from the grease gun then hand pack it and fill the 2 reservoirs.
Good luck.

 

[BrianS7]

Thanks guys!

It’s not the vacuum switch because I bipassed it by disconnecting the two wires and hooking them together. It’s not the hopper lid switch because I did the same thing to it.

I replaced the auger motor and it still does it. Only thing left is the thermocouple and mother board. Thermocouple is seated in the exhaust blower? If so, I’d appreciate any tech help with diagnosing it.

Thanks again.

 

[BrianS7]

About the auger block bearings: not familiar with that. Is it not part of the new assembly? On this stove, the auger attaches directly to the motor shaft.

Not sure where any other bearings are...

 

[Don2222]

About the auger block bearings: not familiar with that. Is it not part of the new assembly? On this stove, the auger attaches directly to the motor shaft.

Not sure where any other bearings are...

Only the double auger Englander stoves have the block beaings

 

[BrianS7]

Just as an FYI for anyone who stumbles in here with a similar problem:

If none of the common fixes [vacuum system/hopper lid switch, auger motor] take care of the problem, then the issue is most likely in the control board or wiring harness.

You can also engage the auger by pressing the ON button if the stove stops feeding pellets. No need to pull the motor to do a bench check on it. I learned that much lol

But I literally did nothing but mess with the wiring harness by manipulating them and got the thing to work but it didn’t correlate perfectly. IOW, sometimes manipulating the wires would cause the auger to kick back in—sometimes it wouldn’t.

Presently, the stove is running great and has been for the past two days. I can only assume it’s because the weak connection [where ever it is] has found its happy spot —for now. I’m careful to touch any of the wiring in the meantime and fully expect to replace the wiring harness or control board before the end of the season.

Hope that helps someone lol

 

[Don2222]

Just as an FYI for anyone who stumbles in here with a similar problem:

If none of the common fixes [vacuum system/hopper lid switch, auger motor] take care of the problem, then the issue is most likely in the control board or wiring harness.

You can also engage the auger by pressing the ON button if the stove stops feeding pellets. No need to pull the motor to do a bench check on it. I learned that much lol

But I literally did nothing but mess with the wiring harness by manipulating them and got the thing to work but it didn’t correlate perfectly. IOW, sometimes manipulating the wires would cause the auger to kick back in—sometimes it wouldn’t.

Presently, the stove is running great and has been for the past two days. I can only assume it’s because the weak connection [where ever it is] has found its happy spot —for now. I’m careful to touch any of the wiring in the meantime and fully expect to replace the wiring harness or control board before the end of the season.

Hope that helps someone lol

You May have a loose or oxidized connector. I suggest removing every connector and if it is loose give it squeeze with pliers to tighten it up a bit. Also by removing the connectors and plugging them back it it removes oxidation that you may not even see.

 

[BrianS7]

You May have a loose or oxidized connector. I suggest removing every connector and if it is loose give it squeeze with pliers to tighten it up a bit. Also by removing the connectors and plugging them back it it removes oxidation that you may not even see.

Good idea, thanks.

I’m a fan of dielectric grease so I removed the main power clip from the motherboard and put a tiny dab of grease on each pin. Also, did the same with the two vacuum switch lines going to/from the board. Didn’t seem to matter as it shut down again at the next start up.

Probably, the point here is I can’t point to anything I DID that caused the problem to go away. But next time it happens I’ll try your idea. I’m gonna do everything I can before I shell out for a control board.

Thanks again

 

[Don2222]

Also
Link To Englander Diagnostic Mode
(broken link removed to https://heatredefined-net.reamaze.com/kb/25-ep/diagnostic-test-mode-ef4abea11022d2ce)