Auger noises on Breckwell 24FS pellet stove

[jackk]

The auger on my pellet stove is very noisy. The noise is like a big groan. I originally assumed that it made this noise when a pellet was in the auger the wrong way and it was being ground up. However the noise is often so recurring that I am assuming that something is wrong.
This noise does not occur all of the time. Sometimes it will run for 30 minutes without the groaning noise. However often it is so constant, that we have to turn it off in order to sleep.
I ran one experiment to see if perhaps something is causing the auger to grind up a lot of pellets. I put a piece of aluminum in the hopper above the auger opening to control/slow the entry of pellets into the auger. This has greatly reduced the number of groaning noises.
Has anyone else had this problem of excessive groaning noises from the auger?
Any suggestions on what the problem may be?
Should I elect to take the auger out to check it, does anyone have instructions for removing it?
Thanks

 

[kinsmanstoves]

The auger on my pellet stove is very noisy. The noise is like a big groan. I originally assumed that it made this noise when a pellet was in the auger the wrong way and it was being ground up. However the noise is often so recurring that I am assuming that something is wrong.
This noise does not occur all of the time. Sometimes it will run for 30 minutes without the groaning noise. However often it is so constant, that we have to turn it off in order to sleep.
I ran one experiment to see if perhaps something is causing the auger to grind up a lot of pellets. I put a piece of aluminum in the hopper above the auger opening to control/slow the entry of pellets into the auger. This has greatly reduced the number of groaning noises.
Has anyone else had this problem of excessive groaning noises from the auger?
Any suggestions on what the problem may be?
Should I elect to take the auger out to check it, does anyone have instructions for removing it?
Thanks

Did you buy the stove new?
How old is the stove?
Where is your Dealer and have you called them?
$5 the auger motor is going bad. Pull the motor and bench test it by hooking 110 volt to it and run it for a while. Do not hurt yourself or cause a fire (legal disclaimer).

Eric

 

[jackk]

Yes, I bought it new...15 years ago.

Our dealer takes a long vacation over the holidays, and he is not very helpful when he is around.

I am considering just getting a new auger motor, but I would like to know what else could be wrong and should be looked at when I have the motor off.

 

[kinsmanstoves]

Yes, I bought it new...15 years ago.

Our dealer takes a long vacation over the holidays, and he is not very helpful when he is around.

I am considering just getting a new auger motor, but I would like to know what else could be wrong and should be looked at when I have the motor off.

A 15 yr old stove and this is the first auger motor? I would say you got your money's worth out of it.

Eric

 

[jackk]

I finally resolved this issue. The local dealer doubted that the auger motor would cause the problem, but since it was 15 years old, I decided to replace it. After I removed the motor, which only required backing off one allen screw, I tried to rotate the auger by hand. It would generally turn easily, but occasionally it would bind and be hard to turn. If I rotated it back a hair, it wold again turn easily. So I pulled the auger and found it in very good shape except for the upper 2 or 3 inches. The upper part was coated with tar and resin. I had to use steel wool to remove it.
After cleaning the auger and installing a new motor, the problem went away.. at least for now.

Any ideas on how I could clean the auger housing where the dirty auger resided? I cleaned the auger but not the housing. It is very difficult to get to.