Breckwell BigE Shear pin

[Todd Hackett]

Hi All!
Hope your Christmas was the best!

Auger was not turning as it should. Took the cover inside the pellet bin off and found fines all the way up. Also at that time I found a piece of plastic at the top of the auger which looked to be a piece of pellet bag. Had people over and one of the kids loaded the stove which probably was the source as I cut the tops all the way off of those bags to make an easy poor.

Anyway, auger motor was spinning on the auger with shear pin still inside the motor shaft. You could see that it had been 'sheared'. 12 degrees here and nobody in town has such a small critter. So - what do you think? Looks like either 14ga or 12ga copper wire would be the right size - have to get my calipers. If one of those is too soft, what about a nail or small screw - do you think that those would be soft enough? Don't want to strip the auger motor, but I do need heat.
Ideas?

 

[Mt Bob]

Would not be the first time a nail has been used. BTY, they just wear out, get worn through ,then break. May not have been the plastic. Some people drill it out to a larger size. Stay warm!

 

[Todd Hackett]

So, finish nail it is. Question - shear pin was 0.090" but the hole in the auger motor is about 0.115". They supposed to have that much slop in them? Stove is 4 months old. Was gonna try 12ga copper as I was worried about stripping auger motor gears if something happened to jam up. 12ga is too big by not much. Have flame and heat!
Thanks for the answer.

 

[Mt Bob]

So, finish nail it is. Question - shear pin was 0.090" but the hole in the auger motor is about 0.115". They supposed to have that much slop in them? Stove is 4 months old. Was gonna try 12ga copper as I was worried about stripping auger motor gears if something happened to jam up. 12ga is too big by not much. Have flame and heat!
Thanks for the answer.

Copper will not last very long, maybe a few minutes. Yes, as I said, others have drilled them out to next size bigger. Was a thread on here some time ago. I think the next size larger hairpin is .120. So you would be going from a size 6 to a size 8 hairpin(there is no size 7). I bet you could get a pin that size at local Ace hardware.

 

[zrock]

go to your local hardware store and get a selection of cotter pins and find the one that works best. I had mine shear off 2 years ago due to a build up of fines been running ever since with no issues... Every hardware store and automotive shop always has a good selection. I never had to drill anything out

 

[Todd Hackett]

go to your local hardware store and get a selection of cotter pins and find the one that works best. I had mine shear off 2 years ago due to a build up of fines been running ever since with no issues... Every hardware store and automotive shop always has a good selection. I never had to drill anything out

I did not think about Cotter pins - nail is in and working now, will replace later. Will watch the fines better!

 

[zrock]

That's all the original shear pin is just a odd ball size.. I would not trust a nail for long since they are a harder material and may not shear off properly. good to get you out of a jamb for the day

 

[Mt Bob]

That's all the original shear pin is just a odd ball size.. I would not trust a nail for long since they are a harder material and may not shear off properly. good to get you out of a jamb for the day

It is not a shear pin,and no where will you find anything that says it is supposed to shear when an auger jams.It is meerly a cheap fast way to connect 2 parts together.

 

[Washed-Up]

Roll pin is the piece you’re looking for