Uh-oh...I found this in my hopper.

[mixpat]

Hi Everyone...hope you're staying warm. I have a 3 yr old Timberwolf TPS35. I've burned about 10 tons with zero issues over the last few years. Tonight, the auger started making a weird noise...kind of like a grinding/grunting noise. This noise only happens on half of the auger rotation. The other half rotation is much more quiet. Shut the stove down and completely emptied the hopper. That's when I found this (put the penny there to show scale). These chunks weren't in the auger...just mixed in with the pellets (Energex). But, I have to wonder if it didn't chew some other chunks. Good news is the auger wasn't jammed and seems to operate correctly...except for the noise. Any ideas on what I should look for as a source for this noise? Thanks in advance.

 

[BUBIBEAR]

Those are wood chips , used to make pellets . Must have contaminated the finish product ,by accident . Let the dealer know ,he should be able to do something about that , so it dose not happen to others.

 

[CleanFire]

Greetings, nice stove there.

From what you describe, I think that a piece of wood is lodged at the base of the auger.
The auger won't break or push it, so it will stay there & rub / wear until removed.

I'd get it out of there, it can't be doing any good for the auger shaft or motor. ( Just don't want to see a piece of wood cost you $$$ on stove repair. )

Your manual has a section on how to remove the auger shaft, page 38, titled " 10.4 IN THE EVENT OF A JAMMED AUGER " .

It requires some tools and some down time, but doesn't look anymore difficult than a 1-ton cleaning..

 

[mixpat]

Thanks CleanFire. You are probably right. I'll tear it apart tonight and see if I can find the culprit.

 

[funflyer]

I've come across a few chips like that with Heatr's but not quite as large. I used to not care what was in the bags and dumped them all in but now I set the bag on the edge of the hopper and just slice the corner to let the pellets trickle slowly so I can look out for debris.

 

[Bioburner]

I had a batch of pellets and I posted pictures of them a couple years ago that had 5% or so of wood chips and toothpicks.

 

[Fsappo]

I found pebbles about 3/8" diameter once in a bag of PA pellets.

 

[Bioburner]

I found pebbles about 3/8" diameter once in a bag of PA pellets.

One way to get the weight up

 

[Fsappo]

One way to get the weight up

That's exactly what I thought at the time.