Castile Insert bad auger motor

[skives19]

So I believe the auger in our Castile Insert is dead. If so this will be the third time in 3 years it has died. It was running really good this year to until last night. Is this normal and is there and difference between OEM auger motor and aftermarket auger motor? All 3 that have died were OEM. This last one lasted the longest at just over a year. We do run our pellet insert 24/7 during winter and use about 4 tons of pellets. Looking at buying this aftermarket motor linked below.

Amazon product ASIN B07WCXN179

 

[kappel15]

I would stay away from aftermarket as lots of folks been complaining about the parts they are getting. I don't understand you going thru so many auger motors. And some folks that think they are getting OEM parts, are in fact after market. kap

 

[skives19]

I would stay away from aftermarket as lots of folks been complaining about the parts they are getting. I don't understand you going thru so many auger motors. And some folks that think they are getting OEM parts, are in fact after market. kap

So is there a reputable online stove part dealer? I've bought one from my local dealer and one off amazon from pellethead. Both OEM

 

[kappel15]

Your local dealer should have OEM parts. Weird. I read the one you posted, that it has a 3 yr. warranty. May have to try it. kap

 

[Former Farmer]

How long are your pellets? Is it possible that they are too long and the auger is having to break them up?

 

[skives19]

How long are your pellets? Is it possible that they are too long and the auger is having to break them up?

I would say some are long but they break easy. I’ve never heard it having issues till it died and never any issue with pellets not feeding into the burn pot. Are you thinking the long pellets caused the motor to over work and burn it up?

 

[Overfireinthehole]

I’d say either one or two of those motors were good and you happened to clean something while replacing it that made it work, or you have terrible luck, or you aren’t getting good voltage at your motor, or your pellets are too long. I’ve seen plenty of those motors last 10-15 years. 1” max on your pellet length and empty your hopper monthly to vacuum the fines out. I’ve seen people kill one of those feed motors on a brand new unit in under a month by running finger length pellets.

 

[skives19]

I put a new auger motor in and that doesn’t even work. I’ve tried jumping the vac switch and nothing.

will the auger turn on start up if there are no pellets in the hopper?

I’m lost at what it could be. Everything else turns on and runs.

 

[Overfireinthehole]

You loose vacuum if there are no pellets. Any lights on the control board? Could be a bad thermocouple. Might look for cracks in the end under the white ceramic cover. Getting good voltage at the auger?

 

[skives19]

You loose vacuum if there are no pellets. Any lights on the control board? Could be a bad thermocouple. Might look for cracks in the end under the white ceramic cover. Getting good voltage at the auger?

so I need pellets in it? The control board flashes blue. I believe the thermocouple is fine becauseif I fill the burn pot with pellets they light and control board indicates stove has reached 200 degrees.

 

[SidecarFlip]

While not familiar with your unit, you only lose negative pressure (vacuum) when there is a massive air leak (like an open door, ash cleanout or compromised door gasket. Has nothing to do with no pellets, at least how it works with my stove.

On the subject of drives of any kind, years ago I posted a thread on here (I think) about adding a grease fitting to the triple reduction gearbox and renewing the bearings in the drives. In 20 years on this stove, I bought exactly one drive motor/gearbox and one distribution fan motor. Combustion air blower is original. I rebuild the take out and keep it for a spare and when the on line one gives me an issue, I swap out. Give the reduction gearboxes a shot of grease every spring and I'm good to go.

 

[skives19]

I don’t get it. I’ve cleaned and tried everything I can think of and the auger motor won’t run.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Per chance do you have a hopper lid switch? Newer stoves have them and they get wonkly. If you do, check or jumper that. Might be the issue.

 

[skives19]

Ok so the new motor wasn’t bad. I thought the auger would turn without pellets but it needed pellets in the hopper.

I’m still confused why I have had 3 auger motors go bad in 3 years.

Since the new auger motor works does that mean there’s no way it was something besides the motor?

 

[SidecarFlip]

You need to bench test the motor you removed and possibly the other one as well. They all run on 110 so make up a jumper with a length of lamp cord with crimped on spade connectors on the end and a plug on the other.

Which lead to which don't matter, it's AC, not DC. Motor direction is controlled by the field laminations, not the current flowing through it.

Connect the spade lugs to the motor leads and plug it in. If the motor runs, it's fine. Just be careful you don't touch the energized leads, 110 volts hurts.

All your brain box does is chop the current to the drive motors in correlation to how you set your feeds and blower functions. First stoves used resistance pots to control functions, before brain boxes came along.

Why stove manufacturers use shaded pole motors. Easy to control, cheap to make. Very simple too. Only things that fail on them is the bearings and the gearboxes from lack of grease. Rarely do the laminations fail or the primary windings on the laminations.

Here's the rub... Most cheap aftermarket drive motors use sintered bearings and they fail pretty quick. A quality drive will have sealed ball bearings. They last a really long time but initially cost more. Your OEM drive most likely has ball bearings, why it's more expensive.

Like with most everything in life, you get what you pay for.

 

[skives19]

Had the original motor in there when I realized I needed pellets in the hopper and it made the noise I originally heard.

 

[kappel15]

An empty hopper will cause a vac leak, and switch will not allow power to auger motor. kap

 

[SidecarFlip]

An empty hopper will cause a vac leak, and switch will not allow power to auger motor. kap

Thanks Kap, not my stove (as you know).

 

[skives19]

Thanks Kap, not my stove (as you know).

I still don’t get it. 3 auger motors bad in 3 years.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Drives 'come and go' because of the hostile enviroment they live in. It's hot and dusty, especially dusty under the stove panels, so they succumb to the heat and bearings lock get dry and lock up which is why I said, check the bearings. sealed ball = good. Sintered bronze = no good. That outboard motor armature bearing really takes tha abuse and needs to be a sealed ball. The rest can be sintered but ball is still preferred.