Enviro EF-3 Auger motor shaft stuck in auger from corrosion. Any suggestions?

[Don2222]

Hello

Chipping out the mushed up pellets in the hopper was not too bad, The auger will come out now IF the auger motor will come off.
See pics > https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...-damp-garage-for-2-years.113786/#post-1518837

The auger collar set screw came out easily, then a very generous amount of PB Blaster was sprayed on and left overnight. So far a screw driver, pinch bar and torch was used lightly. Still stuck.

Any suggestions?
See pics below
Click to Enlarge:

 

[Stovensen]

Don, are you absolutely sure that the whole assembly ( motor + auger ) can't come out if you turn the motor housing a bit? If you can pull it all out, I have a suggestion to separate the parts that worked fine for me in a similar situation.
The auger motor shaft was also stuck on the auger of my Quest Plus, when I bought in 2008. It was not rust that caused it in my case, but some deep internal grooves made by an insufficiently tightened set screw sometime in past by the previous owner. On the picture you see these grooves clearly and also the marks on the gear housing made by the previous owner with a pinch bar, when he tried to separate the parts. He did not succeed, though.
It took me some time to come up with a method to solve this puzzle. The inspiration came from another hobby of mine: Engine restoring... think, valve grinding. Only thing is that automotive valve grinding paste is too thick to run by itself to the grooves inside the shaft, so I had to make a grinding agent with a suitable viscosity. I made it of very fine quartz powder and engine oil. Thinking back now I realise that the ordinary grinding paste if thinned up with some kerosene would have been fine as well.
Anyways, with the auger pointing downwards I let gravity pull a good smear of the grinding agent towards the blocking grooves inside the shaft. After about half an hour of hard work wiggling the shaft, it came off ( gloves and beer are needed in the written order ). On the photo you can see that the quartz powder has made the shaft quite glossy.
If you don't have either valve grinding paste or quartz powder some very fine sand mixed with engine oil could do the trick as well. BTW what's the difference between quartz powder and sand anyway, except for grain size?
I hope this will encourage/inspire you. Good luck.

 

[Don2222]

Hello Stovenson

Wow, good job and great info! I did some banging and wiggling and the motor and auger now both turn from side to side. This stove is about the same size as the quest so it may be possible to get it out in one piece. I did squirt some PB blaster into the set screw hole which I could not get to before. So that has been soaking overnight. It may be stuck for the same reason your motor was stuck because I could see into the set screw hole.

Thanks so much for the pic and info, I will keep at it.