Harman Stove squeal...fairly easy resolution

[bcb1]

All,

This is my 6th or 7th year with a Harman Advance stove. I'd say I clean it (scrape burnpot, vacuum residue, clean glass) almost every day, and a bit more thorough cleaning about every 2-3 weeks. I burn about 1 1/2 tons per season. I've had the dreaded squeal noise once before, a couple years ago....and it just started again a few days ago, but I'll be darned if I remembered what I did to fix it!

I know there is multiple tips when this happens, but this worked for me twice now:

Take off the right side door and slide the back cover out of the way, open up the fines box, and vacuum it out. It's always PACKED solid! After it's 100% clean, I take spray graphite lubricant (Lowes and Home Depot sell it as lock lubricant in a small spray can) - and I spray the entire fines box thoroughly. Re-assemble, wait an hour till everything is good and dry, and squeal is 100% gone. Until it happens again a couple years later.

I guess cleaning and lubing the fines box needs to be something that is done at least twice a season at opening and closing of burn season.

 

[sandpipe]

New season, new squeal here. I don't think our squeals are related. My squeal started this morning and lasted about 9 hours. It happens every so often. It makes this noise when the auger is feeding pellets so perhaps a pellet or piece of pellet has gotten wedged into a spot that it is causing a harmonic rubbing between the turning auger and the pellet. Eventually the pellet wears away and the sound stops.

I threw in a handful of pellets soaked in graphite spray (after the solvent evaporated) but this didn't help.The high pitched squeal eventually stopped on its own after several hours. Whenever I clean the burn pot I always shoot some graphite spray deep into the auger and run the auger a bit to try and ward off a future squeal. Maybe that helps, maybe it does nothing.

 

[Tiggar61]

I get the noisy augar once and a while,when stove is on low just add some powdered graphite when pellets are low ,usually does the trick.

 

[gfreek]

I use a small wire brush and clean the auger and tube as best as can reach and run it hot for an hour...

 

[sandpipe]

I never tried powdered graphite, just spray. I'll pick some up and give it a try.

 

[Montecarlossfan]

I’ve gone the graphite route etc.. it helps but what I found makes it go away is a good cleaning ...also some pellets do it and some don’t...beggjning of season I pull auger and use a wire brush on drill and run it through to clean any carbon buildup in the tube as well as clean the auger then graphite slide plate etc.