M55 Auger shake and noise

[vinny11950]

On setting 1, lowest, the auger would get to a certain position and make a rattle, shaky noise. After it circled out of that position, it would quiet down. I bumped it up to setting 4, and the noise went away.

In setting 1 again, I can still kind of hear it, but it is much lower. A bushing maybe?

Also took some pictures of the burn at setting 4. Notice the pellets being dumped out of the burn pot liner by the agitator rod. This does not happen as much in settings 1-3. I figure those pellets still have some heat in them.







but mainly, i just like to post pictures of fire.

 

[kykel]

keep them coming vin, I love looking at them. Are you set on premium pellets?

 

[kykel]

keep them coming vin, I love looking at them. Are you set on premium pellets?

Have you vacuumed out the fines at the bottom of the hopper?

 

[flynfrfun]

Are you running in premium mode? Is it the agitator making the noise or the auger?

 

[vinny11950]

Have you vacuumed out the fines at the bottom of the hopper?

Thanks, Kykel. I have never vacuumed the fines. Never had to. They drop into the burn pot with the pellets. As for pellets, I have been burning North American Pellets. Lots of ash and fines. Been burning stove chows too. Usually the stove eats everything no problem. I am figuring something is getting loose or needs some lube. I think the stove was made in 2009 and the auger is the only motor have not taken apart.

 

[vinny11950]

Are you running in premium mode? Is it the agitator making the noise or the auger?

I am burning in regular mode. And I am sure it is the auger making the noise. If I lean over to the back with a flash light, I can see the auger get to this one position on the circle, and make the noise. And at another position I can see the motor wiggle a bit, so I am thinking something might be off center.

 

[flynfrfun]

Thanks, Kykel. I have never vacuumed the fines. Never had to. They drop into the burn pot with the pellets. As for pellets, I have been burning North American Pellets. Lots of ash and fines. Been burning stove chows too. Usually the stove eats everything no problem. I am figuring something is getting loose or needs some lube. I think the stove was made in 2009 and the auger is the only motor have not taken apart.

On my M55 some fines go into the burnpot, but not all. I found a lot of fines at the bottom of my auger this year. Vacuumed them out and the stove is working much better (more consistent and bigger fire). I didn't know they were accumulating because I have an insert and you can't see the bottom of the hopper.

 

[flynfrfun]

I am burning in regular mode. And I am sure it is the auger making the noise. If I lean over to the back with a flash light, I can see the auger get to this one position on the circle, and make the noise. And at another position I can see the motor wiggle a bit, so I am thinking something might be off center.

OK then it might be one of the bushings although I would be surprised they would be bad so soon. My M55 is 2yrs old and my bushings have no slop yet (burned about 6-7tons so far). It is possible that the auger motor's bolt is loose. This is the one that attaches the auger motor to the auger shaft. Or it might be out of alignment. Also the bottom bushing is attached to a plate that bolts to the bottom of the hopper. Check those 4 nuts, they may be loose allowing the whole bottom assembly to wobble, but this is highly unlikely.

Why are you burning in regular mode? You shouldn't need regular for any wood pellet fuel. That is why you are getting so many pellets overflowing the burn pot. The agitator turns with every drop of pellets in regular which is not needed unless you have crappy fuel. That's why I was asking if you knew it was the agitator or the auger because both are going to be turning at the same time which will make it hard to tell which is making the noise. Premium setting makes the agitator turn for 1min every 30 minutes. That is plenty and will allow those pellets to get good and used up before the agitator has a chance to push them out of the burn pot.

 

[Stove Doctor - MT]

I too have a VF55 (VistaFlame - same as Enviro M55) and would also have to recommend vacuuming out the pellet hopper and auger shaft areas as previously suggested. A common misconception is that all fines/sawdust just automatically auger through the system - they don't! Regular cleaning/vacuuming is necessary to maintain proper pellet flow to the auger - as excess sawdust can block pellet flow. The described noise could be caused by a worn auger bushing - check for excess play at bottom of auger shaft and also lots of sawdust accumulation in beck of stove by the auger motor. Also, remove the agitator and apply a small amount of anti-seize lube on each end and re-install. There are several little things that could be going on.

 

[vinny11950]

I too have a VF55 (VistaFlame - same as Enviro M55) and would also have to recommend vacuuming out the pellet hopper and auger shaft areas as previously suggested. A common misconception is that all fines/sawdust just automatically auger through the system - they don't! Regular cleaning/vacuuming is necessary to maintain proper pellet flow to the auger - as excess sawdust can block pellet flow. The described noise could be caused by a worn auger bushing - check for excess play at bottom of auger shaft and also lots of sawdust accumulation in beck of stove by the auger motor. Also, remove the agitator and apply a small amount of anti-seize lube on each end and re-install. There are several little things that could be going on.

Stove Doctor and Fly, you guys are rights, I need to empty the hopper and do some vacuuming. I also need to put more anti seize on the agitator rod, though it is barely making the squeak.

Fly, you are right about the pellet type setting. I had forgotten it makes the agitator run more often. I think the reason I turned it down to normal mode was because I was getting more big build up on the liner and then a big bang every time it turned. I will turn it to premium and see how it behaves.

Thanks for the advise.