Corn Auger Rate St Croix Auburn

[Chevyman22360]

I have a St Croix Auburn corn stove. Recently the auger motor went out. I replaced it with a motor I bought off ebay. It seems to auger about twice the rate of corn as the original. I have the stove trimmed down to the lowest setting according to the book. I will burn over 2 pails of corn vs about 1 with the original motor. Any idea what could be done to trim it down? Thanks for any help you can offer!!
A link to the motor I replaced it with:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pellet-Stov...092892?hash=item1eab9b2edc:g:lwEAAOSwKtVWwQhU

 

[heat seeker]

First, the obvious question - are you sure it's rated the same output RPM as the original? My stove uses the 2 RPM, I don't know about yours.
I would hold the auger feed button and time the auger rotation with a watch, say for one minute. You should, obviously, get 2 revolutions, but that would make sure it's the right speed.

Perhaps the old motor was dragging and running slow, so this proper speed seems fast. I had an auger motor do that to me. I thought it was poor pellet quality causing the lack of heat until it dawned on me to check the actual feed rate.

As for usage - do you use a thermostat? Then the stove will idle more and not burn any more fuel.

 

[Chevyman22360]

First, the obvious question - are you sure it's rated the same output RPM as the original? My stove uses the 2 RPM, I don't know about yours.
I would hold the auger feed button and time the auger rotation with a watch, say for one minute. You should, obviously, get 2 revolutions, but that would make sure it's the right speed.

Perhaps the old motor was dragging and running slow, so this proper speed seems fast. I had an auger motor do that to me. I thought it was poor pellet quality causing the lack of heat until it dawned on me to check the actual feed rate.

As for usage - do you use a thermostat? Then the stove will idle more and not burn any more fuel.

I have another Auburn in my garage and that one will burn half of what this one in my house will burn. I would be willing to bet it should be a 1 RPM instead of a 2. Would the RPM be in the motor or the gear box? My old gear box was still good. I do not use a thermostat, but assume that would still be like running at the lowest setting when not calling for heat? Thanks for the quick reply.

 

[heat seeker]

I would still verify the actual RPM by observation. I would also time the "on" time versus "off"time of the auger light. The times for various heat settings should be in your manual. IOW - my stove, on feed level 3, would be on for 3.5 seconds, then off for 8 seconds. If yours cycles properly, then the control is good. I do hope you unplugged it while changing the motor. Perhaps unplugging it for a few minutes (again) would reset the control.

It's best and easiest to verify things before chasing one's tail in troubleshooting.

In my limited experience, I've never seen the RPM output on a gearbox.

Another option would be to take the garage unit's motor and put it in and see what happens. Or just plug it in and check the auger RPM. Or call St. Croix for the answer.

Let's get some data before jumping to conclusions.

 

[MSmith66]

I would check to see if the motor is rated to the same RPM's as the old motor.

 

[Chevyman22360]

I would still verify the actual RPM by observation. I would also time the "on" time versus "off"time of the auger light. The times for various heat settings should be in your manual. IOW - my stove, on feed level 3, would be on for 3.5 seconds, then off for 8 seconds. If yours cycles properly, then the control is good. I do hope you unplugged it while changing the motor. Perhaps unplugging it for a few minutes (again) would reset the control.

It's best and easiest to verify things before chasing one's tail in troubleshooting.

In my limited experience, I've never seen the RPM output on a gearbox.

Another option would be to take the garage unit's motor and put it in and see what happens. Or just plug it in and check the auger RPM. Or call St. Croix for the answer.

Let's get some data before jumping to conclusions.

I did some more investigating, timed the on off on number 1 by counting. Will be off for 10 seconds, and on for 2 seconds. But I notice with motor it is still spinning for 2 more seconds then when the light goes off. I assume it is just free wheeling. Do other motors have some type of brake to slow the motor down? My other stove when the light goes out the motor shuts off. Cannot use the stove as it gets way too hot for the area that it is in.

 

[heat seeker]

Ball bearing motors seem to coast a bit. When I replaced my auger motor with a ball bearing motor, it ended up feeding more than the original motor for that reason. None of these small motors has a brake, in my experience. It sounds to me like there's nothing wrong with the stove itself. There are trim adjustments on mine that affect the feed rate and fan speeds on level one - yours may too. It's in the manual. You can cut the feedrate by a small amount using the control panel. Be aware that if the power goes off, the control defaults to its regular settings. Maybe you have too much stove for the area you're heating?