I have a Santa Fe insert on my 3rd season and last night the auger started to make a screeching/scraping noise about every 1 to 2 minutes when it was feeding pellets. I removed all of the pellets and vacuumed the auger channel, refilled and restarted. No change. About 2 am, the stove was making the same noise almost every time pellets were fed, so I shut it down. I am posting now, before work, so that I might get some suggestions for a starting point tonight. Has anyone experienced this problem before? Thanks in advance for any help.
Santa Fe Auger Noise
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I think your best bet tonight is to pull out the insert and pull out the auger assembly. There must be something metallic stuck in there from the sound of it. It's not a hard job. The hardest part is pulling that sucker out and putting it back in along with unsnapping the exhaust piping! I ALWAYS get my knuckles whacked by one of them! Good luck!
That is the WORST. I never look forward to my yearly cleaning in the spring, just for that reason!
Amen. I have a custom made surround and everything has to fit EXACTLY RIGHT. And I have a mantle over my Castile that interferes with me lifting up that big, cast surround. My wife learns a few new Navy 'terms' every year!
Pulled the auger assembly and found nothing in the auger channel. Reassembled and had the same noise. The only 2 things I think it could be is a dying motor or the need for some lubrication on the shaft collar that is fastened on the auger shaft to space if from the motor to auger housing. Whats your opinion? Thanks for the help.
Darn. Did you check to be certain that the auger was securely fastened to the motor? Some people posted about them coming loose. Did you see any shiny spots on the auger or the tube or anywhere else that would indicate rubbing?
Tried to turn auger against motor, nice and tight. I checked for indications of rubbing on auger and in tube, but didnt see any. I am going to try to lubricate the space, its tight, between the shaft collar housing tomorrow. BTW, pulling the stove and unclipping/reclipping the exhaust wasn't too bad, only a 2 beer job.
Sounds like you've done everything right. I had a piece of metal actually make it all the way PAST the auger and up against the end of the shaft. It was probably pushed there by some super long pellets. I'm guessing that's the area you are talking about lubing. I wonder if you could Dremel out the hole just a little bit?
I'm gonna give it another check tomorrow, I'll let you know how I make out, thanks.
I think I got it. After removing the auger assembly and unscrewing the shaft collar, I was able to move the nylon bearing that centers the auger in the motor/auger housing. There was a "shine " on the auger shaft that I lightly greased. Also noticed on the end cap of the motor, opposite the auger end, you could see the end of the motor shaft which had a rust colored dust on it. There is a small bearing there and it looked like a small streak of this dust was falling down from this bearing. To me, this is indicative of a dry bearing. The type of noise I was getting also sounded like this. I put some oil on this bearing while it was stood up and let it sit for a while. Stove was reassembled and restarted, No noise for about an hour so far.
That sounds good. That must be one of those oil impregnated bronze bushings? In any rate, that's something to do whenever we pull the auger or at least put some oil there when we do the spring cleaning! Let's hope it survives the wear that it must have taken.
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