QuadraFire Castille stove not dropping enough pellets - auger motor?

[quigleybmd]

I'm having another problem with my pellet stove, and I think it might be a weak auger motor. It doesn't drop
enough pellets initially to get a big enough fire going to call for more pellets. If I hit the reset button, more
will drop and then the thermocouple will kick in, and the auger will start moving again. Each time the auger
moves, the end of the auger moves about 1/4 in. And it does that every 4 seconds (for at least a couple of minutes). But on each move, it might drop only 1 or 2 pellets into the fire pot. And often, no additional pellets drop. Eventually the fire dies out. There are pellets in the hopper, and there doesn't appear to be any jam or obstruction. I sucked out all the pellets, from both the hopper and the chute, and could feel good suction
from the hopper when vacuuming from the chute. I tried it starting it again, and the same thing happens.

Could this be a weak auger motor (it's 11 years old)? Any other possibilities? Also, does anyone have a pointer to a set of directions for getting at and changing the auger motor on this model (free standing QuadraFire Castille). Thanks very much.

 

[Bkins]

Have you changed your pellet brand recently? Is this problem new?

 

[CaptSpiff]

Have you changed your pellet brand recently? Is this problem new?

Poster Bkins is suspecting that you got new pellets brand with different consistancy, which may require you to increase the "in-hopper feed lever" opening a quarter to half inch. I suspect he's right. What say you?

 

[quigleybmd]

Poster Bkins is suspecting that you got new pellets brand with different consistancy, which may require you to increase the "in-hopper feed lever" opening a quarter to half inch. I suspect he's right. What say you?

I did get new, different pellets ("Green Supreme") at the beginning of the season, and I did have a problem in Nov./Dec. with getting the initial fire big enough
to get the thermocouple to kick in. But if I hit the reset button while it had a small initial fire, it would take off and drop enough pellets
to get a big enough fire, and then it would continue to feed enough pellets to keep going after that point.
Back then, I adjusted the feed lever, and also tightened the sliding plate on the bottom of the firepot (it was pretty loose, and open about 1/8 in.).
That seemed to work, and it was fine until about 2 weeks ago (beginning of Feb.). Then I couldn't get it going even if I hit the reset button several times.
And I noticed that even when the auger tried to move, sometimes no pellets dropped.

I just tried opening the feed lever again - now it's as far open as it will go. I got the fire going with a couple of hits of the reset button
(that might be ok, since the chute was totally clean). And now it's running on it's own. But a couple of things still bother me.
The fire isn't as big as I'd expect. It's on 'high', with the feed level fully open, and the fire is just a couple of inches above the fire pot.
And sometimes when the auger moves, or tries to move, no pellets drop. Also, occasionally I hear a 'thumping' or 'grinding' noise
when the auger tries to move, and sometimes it seems to slip, and not really move at all. That's why I thought maybe the auger
motor was shot. Thanks again.

 

[DMKNLD]

My auger thumps when it is breaking up the longer sized pellets. Are your pellets longish, possibly bridging at the top or bottom end of the pellet chute? If your pellets are all uniformly short in size then it may indeed be your auger motor going bad.

There is a small slit in the auger feed motor, towards the rear of the stove side of the motor, where you can watch the auger motor turn to make sure it is moving in the correct direction (counter clockwise) and not going in reverse.

With the hopper and feed chute empty of pellets, you could also jumper / bypass the vacuum switch and #2 snap disc. Unplug the stove, connect one jumper wire across the 2 vac switch terminals and another jumper wire across the #2 snap disc terminals, then plug the stove back in. Assuming everything is working OK, and the call for fire light is on, that should make the auger turn, and you can watch / listen to it for bearing noises or non-functioning.

It's not too hard to take the auger shaft and motor out, which would be good to do to make sure there isn't something obstructing the pellet feed tube. There are 2 nuts ( I believe they are 7/16") that attach to a bracket on the auger and feed motor assembly. Remove those 2 nuts and the whole auger assembly will come out of the auger housing, then you can remove the auger motor that is held in by 4 Phillips head screws.

Here is a link to the Castile manual that has a parts diagram and part #'s, if you don't have an on-line copy already. (broken link removed to http://hearthnhome.com/downloads/installManuals/250_6422.pdf)

 

[Bkins]

Have you rechecked the sliding plate on the bottom of the fire pot to make sure it didn't loosen up again? I always look for the easy stuff before jumping to maybe it needs a new motor. I'm cheap and I would have to know a motor was really bad before replacing it. The fact that the stove runs when it's up to temp would tell me it's not a bad motor.

Maybe some more members here, that own a Castille, will chime in.

 

[SwineFlue]

Each time the auger
moves, the end of the auger moves about 1/4 in. And it does that every 4 seconds (for at least a couple of minutes)

On startup, it should turn for around 30-60 seconds (I never actually timed it) for the initial feed. After the green light turns on, it should start turning "intermittantly", based on heat level. Each turn should be for somewhere around 1/2/3 seconds for the L/M/H settings. If the red light does not turn on in time (5 minutes???), the control box will stop feeding due to insufficient heat to sustain a fire.

It sounds like your auger is turning as it should... something may be in the auger tube partially blocking the pellets. Before springing for a new motor, pull the auger and check like DMKNLD described.

 

[quigleybmd]

On startup, it should turn for around 30-60 seconds (I never actually timed it) for the initial feed. After the green light turns on, it should start turning "intermittantly", based on heat level. Each turn should be for somewhere around 1/2/3 seconds for the L/M/H settings. If the red light does not turn on in time (5 minutes???), the control box will stop feeding due to insufficient heat to sustain a fire.

It sounds like your auger is turning as it should... something may be in the auger tube partially blocking the pellets. Before springing for a new motor, pull the auger and check like DMKNLD described.

Thanks for the replies/advice. I tried to start it this morning, and after initially dropping some pellets, it stopped. Now it won't drop any
pellets even when I hit the reset button. I just hear a buzzing noise for the duration of the feed, which I assume is coming from the
auger motor. But the auger isn't turning at all. I'll have to do some more diagnosis, based on DMKNLD's suggestions.

 

[DMKNLD]

Thanks for the replies/advice. I tried to start it this morning, and after initially dropping some pellets, it stopped. Now it won't drop any
pellets even when I hit the reset button. I just hear a buzzing noise for the duration of the feed, which I assume is coming from the
auger motor. But the auger isn't turning at all. I'll have to do some more diagnosis, based on DMKNLD's suggestions.

Is it both the auger screw and the auger motor that are not turning? There is a set screw at the base of the motor that holds the auger screw into the motor assembly - if the motor is turning but the auger screw isn't, that set screw may have come loose and thus won't spin the auger screw. If neither the auger screw nor the motor are turning, then your motor is toast. Take the auger assembly out as described above, then plug the wiring harness back in to test it.

The auger motors are about $160 on Amazon and other on-line pellet stove parts stores. Keep us posted on what shake outs - sounds like more polar weather coming for the end of the week in the NE !