Squeals like a pig! Help! Timber Ridge 49TRCPM

[Chodey83]

I recently purchased a Timber Ridge 49 TRCPM Multi Fuel stove. I ordered my pellets (Clean Fire Pacific) from wood pellets dot com with a two month wait time on delivery so I went to Home Depot and bought a ton of Stove Chow hardwood to hold me off.

After a week or so of use the stove developed a nasty squeal. I searched, learned about graphite spray, used it, and the squeal went away! Then the Clean Fire softwood finally showed up and I switched over.

Instantly, the squeal came back. I pulled the auger again and reapplied the graphite, no help. When I run softwood in my stove (by itself or mixed in ANY combination with hardwood Stove Chow) my stove squeals like a pig!

Any suggestions on what to do? I noticed the softwood pellets are longer than the hardwood so I'm thinking they're getting pulled between the auger and feed tube to create the squeal but I have no idea. I have 3 tons of this stuff to burn and if I have to listen to that squeal and have it wake me in my sleep every night, I'm gonna lose my mind!

 

[CladMaster]

You need to make sure the auger is in straight, if it's not, it catches the inside of the tube that it's in when it gets hot. There should be details in the manual about alignment for the auger and set screws / bolts.

 

[corkman]

did you take a look at the burn pot.sounds like there could be some carbon buildup on the pot itself.if so then the fingers on the stirrer will rub against it causing it to "squeal like a pig".use a painters multi tool,screwdriver or a gasket scraper to remove the carbon.if its hard to remove then soak the pot in water and it will come off a lot easier.Peace,Corkman

 

[Chodey83]

If it was an alignment issue, wouldn't it squeal all the time, hardwood or soft? This is just happening with the soft and it's not even once warmed up. It can happen almost instantly, within a minute of startup.

 

[Chodey83]

Burn pot is clean. It's definitely not coming from there. I'm 95% sure it's the auger.

 

[corkman]

i would go back to burning the chows by themselves for a while.if squeal is still there then you can at least rule out that the softies are causing this.also where the auger chute meets the burnpot,have you checked there for carbon build up.peace,Corkman

 

[Chodey83]

I have not yet checked the chute. However, I have gone back to the chow for the last two nights so I wouldn't keep being woken up by the squealing. Zero squealing with the hardwood. I'm almost certain it's the soft that's the problem. I'm trying to figure out why it would happen with only the soft and how to continue burning the soft without the squeal. I have maybe 20 bags of hardwood left and THREE TONS of soft to go through still. I cannot burn three tons of constantly squealing softwood pellets!

 

[Chodey83]

Bump. Anyone else have any suggestions of why it would squeal with soft pellets only?

 

[Lake Girl]

Bad bearings in pillow blocks? Item 16 on exploded view on page 26 of manual. Try running with back off to get better determination of exactly where the squeal is occurring. Email or call Englander with findings ..

Words of wisdom from Mike at Englander from another thread ...
the bearings are identical, pillow blocks, they allow the auger to sort of float in the tube , now the upper should always have a bit more movement due to the shorter length of the auger (principle of radius) the shorter the auger the more deflection(yaw rate) you see in it with the same distance covered by the tip longer auger moves the same distance at the tip but since its 11 inches long and the top is 6 inches long the actual degrees of travel are roughly half

 

[Chodey83]

So a few questions about the last post. I only have one auger in my stove and page 26 of the manual isn't what you're mentioning. Any parts breakdown in the manual doesn't refer to pillow blocks or bearings anywhere. I have the timber ridge 49-TRCPM Multi Fuel.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Have you checked your stirrer?

Build up on that has the same effect as build up in the burn pot slots Also the softies are apt to burn just a little bit warmer making something that is close to rubbing actually rub. Metal being affected by heat and such.

Get a mechanics stethoscope and pinpoint the squeal location otherwise you are shooting in the dark.

 

[Lake Girl]

So a few questions about the last post. I only have one auger in my stove and page 26 of the manual isn't what you're mentioning. Any parts breakdown in the manual doesn't refer to pillow blocks or bearings anywhere. I have the timber ridge 49-TRCPM Multi Fuel.

Sorry pulled up the wrong manual

 

[TimfromMA]

Bump. Anyone else have any suggestions of why it would squeal with soft pellets only?

You didnt name your stove Ned Beatty by any chance?

 

[tjnamtiw]

If it squeals like a pig, just be grateful that you don't hear banjos!!

 

[mithesaint]

I have the same stove, and it did the same thing with lower quality pellets like Freedom fuel and North Americans. Now I burn primarily Somersets and AWF and haven't heard a squeal in months. Not sure exactly why it happens, but my auger squealed with certain pellets too. Good luck.

 

[hossthehermit]

my stove squeals like a pig

A pellet pig

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

A pellet pig

No we grunt and slurp, squealing is so old.

 

[tjnamtiw]

I think we've hit an all-time low now when we blame pellet brands on making a stove squeal. Shaking my head in total disbelief!

 

[Chodey83]

The soft pellets I got aren't low quality so even if quality was an issue with some I don't think that's my problem. I'm using cheap hardwood pellets right now and they're running just fine.

The problem is just that as soon as I add the soft it starts right away. When I switch back over to hard it's silent. Soft, squeal. Hard, silent... Frustration

 

[Big papa]

Lol sorry I won't be any help here but popped in to say that has to be the funniest thread name I've have seen

 

[TimfromMA]

Soft, squeal. Hard, silent...

Too many jokes....all dirty. I guess Ill save those for another forum.

 

[Chodey83]

I've killed the pig! I hope...

I finally had time to pull the rear cover off and really investigate what was happening and where exactly the noise was coming from. The sound was definitely coming from the soft pellets only and it was definitely coming from the auger rubbing somewhere inside the feed tube (not the auger motor).

Let me step back a moment and say from the time I got this stove I noticed the auger motor stuck out a little on the back, pressing against the back plate and making it bulge a little. It was seated fully in the feed tube but it was still sticking out. This bothered me a little.

Now, as the auger motor was running I paid a lot of attention to where exactly on the auger rotation the squeal was coming from. Turns out it was only one particular spot every time it made a full rotation. Full spin, squeal. Full spin, squeal. So I started playing with the set screws that hold it to the feed tube, loosening one and tightening the other (SQUEAL). Tightening this one then loosening that other (SQUEAL). Finally, I figured "Why not turn the auger motor upside down so when I put the cover back on it won't bulge out. Loosened both set screws and rotated it 180 degrees, tightened them up, SILENCE! No more squeals! The pig was dead! It's been running for about an hour now and hasn't squealed once!

I have no idea why it would squeal with soft pellets in the hopper and not with the hard. Maybe the hard tasted better to the pig and he wasn't happy when fed the soft. Whatever happened, I don't care. It's quiet. I'm happy!

I really appreciate everyone's input on the subject.

Cheers!

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Just goes to show you have to actually find the noise to get rid of it.

 

[Lake Girl]

Silence can be golden ... or if not silent at least no squeal. Well done Wonder if it was installed upside down when assembled?

 

[woodmakesheat]

I guess I can now say that mine "moans" once it a while.