Auger stops turning

[bperry]

I have an Enviro Pellet Stove. This is our second winter running the stove. It is 7 years old.

The auger stops turning!!

The motor works and the auger is trying to turn. If we clean the pellets all out and start it again it works for at most 25 minutes depending on the speed of the feed. It seems like it is getting stuck on something. Right now, it is stuck again and I cannot even turn it by hand from the bottom, without pellets hopper.

When I turn the auger on, it moves slightly and then stops again.

This has been happening for several days. We are not sure what is getting it stuck...

Any ideas would be very very helpful

I have checked the vacuum hose and all is well. I have also checked the bushing at the base and there does not seem to be a problem with it.

 

[imacman]

bperry, welcome to the forum.

To get more response from the forum, go to your post and hit the "edit" button....then put your stove make & model as part of the title line.

Since this is a used stove, did you tear the stove apart & clean anything & everything before you installed it? 80% of pellet stove problems (especially from used stoves) are due to a dirty stove.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Check the coupling between the motor and the auger, they have been known to loosen up and then the auger sometimes turns and sometimes slips.

 

[bperry]

I have checked all the componets together and there does not seem to be an issue.

The stove is pretty clean. It was installed new in the house, but we only bought the house last year.

I saw other posts about carbon (?) getting stuck near the top of the auger.. where the pellets drop out.... does anyone think it could be that?

I saw other posts about the gearbox... how can i eliminate that?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I have checked all the componets together and there does not seem to be an issue.

The stove is pretty clean. It was installed new in the house, but we only bought the house last year.

I saw other posts about carbon (?) getting stuck near the top of the auger.. where the pellets drop out.... does anyone think it could be that?

I saw other posts about the gearbox... how can i eliminate that?

Please tell us exactly how you clean the stove.

If your stove is a top feed there won't be any carbon on the auger.

 

[bperry]

When cleaning the stove I take out the walls of the inside and vacuum everything out. The sides come off and the wiring is checked. The auger comes out and is cleaned as well. The bushings are checked too. The vacuum hose is inspected for any cracks and breaks and the exhause is cleaned both coming from the stove as well as the chimey outside.

Today when it stopped, I put a cleaning brush, when it cooled, up the drop shoot and when I pulled it out, like almost 25 pellets came out... how can they get jammed in the top?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

When cleaning the stove I take out the walls of the inside and vacuum everything out. The sides come off and the wiring is checked. The auger comes out and is cleaned as well. The bushings are checked too. The vacuum hose is inspected for any cracks and breaks and the exhause is cleaned both coming from the stove as well as the chimey outside.

Today when it stopped, I put a cleaning brush, when it cooled, up the drop shoot and when I pulled it out, like almost 25 pellets came out... how can they get jammed in the top?

Have you ever taken the auger flight cover off and looked at what is there?

If I had been running my stove for awhile and turned it off and then stuck something up the drop chute I'd expect it to dislodge any pellets that were at the top that would have dropped on the next turn.

I've seen fine dams that prevent pellets from going up the flight everything just sits there and turns, after a bit the stove shuts down due to lack of fuel. The hopper can be full and the auger actually turning.

Still no pellets.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Have you ever cleaned the exhaust blower?

 

[bperry]

The exhaust fan seems fine. I have never taken it out to clean it, just clean outside and brush the dust off.

Fine dams? The auger is definitely not moving.... As well as a lot of pellets coming from the top there was fine wood.....


As well if I turned the auger off and then back on again, it moves slightly, and then no movement.

Right now the auger isnt even turning and Ive taken out all the pellets.


The motor continues to run, the green light continues to flash but no turning of the auger....

We have only been putting in a handful in at a time. Once this week the stove ran for several hours without issue..... We thought there may have been a problem with the pellets, but its stopped working again......

I think the auger is going to have to come out again and hopefully it atleast turns from there... The auger also turns well without pellets and seems to run until the auger is full of pellets....

I hope this is helping because Im at a loss... There isnt even a service technician in my area.. .nearest is almost an hour away.

Maybe this is come indicator... not sure... If i remove the vacuum hose the green light stays on. .. resumes to flashing when put back on... a technician I called did tell me to try this but did not tell me what to look for or the outcome.

Thanks for everyone reading this..

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

If you have burned more than 50 bags of pellets in that stove and you haven't removed and cleaned that combustion blower you likely have so much crud in your exhaust system it isn't even funny.

Clean your stove. Make sure the vacuum hose is clear and that the barbs it goes on are clear.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

When cleaning the stove I take out the walls of the inside and vacuum everything out. The sides come off and the wiring is checked. The auger comes out and is cleaned as well. The bushings are checked too. The vacuum hose is inspected for any cracks and breaks and the exhause is cleaned both coming from the stove as well as the chimey outside.

Today when it stopped, I put a cleaning brush, when it cooled, up the drop shoot and when I pulled it out, like almost 25 pellets came out... how can they get jammed in the top?

sometimes especially longer pellets can "straddle" the drop chute openning and load up in the top , they get driven up there by the force of the motor (which is considerable) and get hammered into the top of the tube becoming wedged. bad part about this is when yyou empty the thing it runs fine but when you add pellets it whacks in tight. first thing i look for in a top feeder jam is to pull the auger and look up the feed tube for debris at the top, probably 90% of the time thats where the problem lies

 

[bperry]

I hope so!! I will be taking the auger out tonight as well as the exhaust fan.

Again the key points about this problem seem to be the motor stays on, tries to turn the auger, it does not turn when it gets full of pellets.......

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I hope so!! I will be taking the auger out tonight as well as the exhaust fan.

Again the key points about this problem seem to be the motor stays on, tries to turn the auger, it does not turn when it gets full of pellets.......

Good, you also need to look at both ends of the auger, and the entire auger flight.

In addition to pellets bridging at the top, fine dams, and pellets stuck at the bottom of things making moving pellets hard, it is also possible that the pellet gate (if your stove has one) at the top of your auger isn't clearing the sides or is loose and not turning with the auger.