Breckwell SPC50 - Auger Making Terrible Noise

[Mt Bob]

To me,the spc50 was like a leap backwards,being a positive pressure stove.Have seen lots of complaints.Anyway,you might want to consider buying hi-temp self adhesive insulation,and install inside the stove,around the auger,hopper,etc.You can find it at hot rod places,Jegs,Speedway,etc.Sometimes just taking out the vibration of the sheet metal can make a big difference.

 

[sequoyah101]

A reasonable suggestion but I don't trust this stove and the more I know about it the less I do. Brand spanking new but this is probably its first and last season. Better to learn an expensive lesson than to suffer some other greater loss.

Others have operated the stove and like it so maybe it is not as inherently unsafe as I see it but I have done risk assessments on equipment and systems for many years. There are at least two fault paths that only human intervention can address. There is a reason the manual is specific about not just unplugging the stove to shut it down. Doing so may be unsafe. Shutting the stove down is the same as a power failure and we all know that seldom happens in winter right?

As for it being a positive pressure stove, Breckwell has apparently told some that it is not. I tested that theory today when it is cold as I said I would and it most assuredly does use a blower to source outside air and blow it onto the fire pot and the window. This is why the manual is specific in saying NOT TO USE A DAMPER on the stove pipe to reduce the risk of blowing fire back through the feed tube into the hopper.

I have never had a pellet stove and thought it would be more convenient than a wood stove but now I'm not so sure it fits our needs here in or relatively mild climate. I would rather hear nothing or the crackle of the fire than auger feed motors.

 

[Mt Bob]

A reasonable suggestion but I don't trust this stove and the more I know about it the less I do. Brand spanking new but this is probably its first and last season. Better to learn an expensive lesson than to suffer some other greater loss.

Others have operated the stove and like it so maybe it is not as inherently unsafe as I see it but I have done risk assessments on equipment and systems for many years. There are at least two fault paths that only human intervention can address. There is a reason the manual is specific about not just unplugging the stove to shut it down. Doing so may be unsafe. Shutting the stove down is the same as a power failure and we all know that seldom happens in winter right?

As for it being a positive pressure stove, Breckwell has apparently told some that it is not. I tested that theory today when it is cold as I said I would and it most assuredly does use a blower to source outside air and blow it onto the fire pot and the window. This is why the manual is specific in saying NOT TO USE A DAMPER on the stove pipe to reduce the risk of blowing fire back through the feed tube into the hopper.

I have never had a pellet stove and thought it would be more convenient than a wood stove but now I'm not so sure it fits our needs here in or relatively mild climate. I would rather hear nothing or the crackle of the fire than auger feed motors.

Simple logic,does your combustion blower blow into the stove(yours) or suck the exhaust out.blowing it in is a positive pressure stove.Pellet stoves can be exhausted straight out the wall,in a 3" pipe.Yours cannot,as it also needs some "natural" draft from the fire,in addition to the small combustion blower.Your stove is a regression,by most standards,but,yes,I bet it can be quiet.

 

[sequoyah101]

Update. Gears stripped in feed motor. Had to turn the auger shaft with a pipe wrench after taking the motor off.

This stove is a major PITA. Have not even put 200# of pellets through it. I'd say LEMON but looks more like a poor design that is very succeptable to lots of things causing it to fail or operate poorly.

 

[sequoyah101]

Update: Second auger motor stripped after less than 20 minutes. Cleaned and fixed the auger motor attachment all day yesterday. It was a struggle on my side teaching behind th stove to do it. I did all the vegetable oil conditioning of the auger and ran about 4# of pellets through it before lighting a fire all to no good end. I wish Breckwell had their stove and I had my money back. This thing is unsafe and unreliable.

 

[zrock]

Well hopefully it continues to work... Just out of curiosity where was the stove stored for a year while your renovations were under way?

 

[sequoyah101]

Quite dry and safe in the shop. Absolutely no chance of getting wet or damaged otherwise.

I'm giving up on it. When the motor went out, gears actually sheared, I had to shut the stove down of course. I removed all the pellets I could from the pellet box and scooped much of the embers out of the burn pot but of course there were a few. I even aimed the draft tube away from the burn pot. As designed the fans continued to run until the stove cooled down. In time though, maybe about an hour, the pellet feed tube alarm went off. I opened the pellet box to find a blaze had progressed through the feed tube to the pellet box. Not smoldering but a blaze. This is a blow through design, there is assuredly a draft into the pellet box from the fire box even with the chimney completely clear and the pellet box door well closed. As one fellow on this thread suggested this thing is simply not safe.

I'm burning very good hardwood pellets. Little dust and they stay together very well. Like little logs.

I spent some time yesterday doing a fault tree type HAZOP on the stove. The biggest problem is that it does not have any passive safety device that separates a source of ignition from the fuel in the event of a system failure. It is just not a safe device to have burning in the home.

What surprises me is that so many use it and like it and have not reported incidents. I've used it very little and had two motor failures and two near misses already. Believe me, I don't believe I'm just an idiot that caused this.

 

[zrock]

I was sorta thinking that while your home was on reno one of the crew helped himself to the hopper feed motor and did some damage to your stove causing all your feed issues.. while i don't have the same breckwell i love mine works like it should..
What heat setting are you using?

 

[sequoyah101]

No, nobody took the motor. I most of my own work.

For the short time I used the stove it was on a moderate setting. Good yours works. I'm sure there are designs that do work just not this one. Anything that requires this much babying is not something worth having. If I want something that needs to be pampered to work I have an airplane.

 

[sequoyah101]

Sorry. It doesn't work. Breckwell screwed up your stove somehow.

You just can't believe how much effort I have made to get this stove to work reliably and safely.

Breckwell may have messed it up but it is a lousy and inherently unsafe design If anybody uses it they should never leave it alone because if the auger feed stops for any reason it will burn back and ignite the pellet hopper. Mine has burned back twice. If the auger won't turn all the temp sensors in the world will not stop a fire in the feed tube from getting to the pellet hopper.