What is wrong with this pellet stove? - See video

[Don2222]

Hello
Just came across this older Tasman 40 and the electrical cord was cut off! So I plugged in a new line cord and turned it on. The Igniter does not get hot but the exhaust fan works and even though the membrane is in tough shape, the control panel seems to work fine!
I am impressed to see a newer better designed door latch and a re-orientated Convection blower where the motor is on the side instead of on top of the squirrel cage for longer life!
So what is wrong? Have you seen this?
See video.

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[vinny11950]

Auger jam?

 

[Don2222]

Auger jam?

No the auger is turning and not working very well. The video shows what is wrong.

 

[mralias]

Looks like more things turning in there than should be? Rust does not help much either.

 

[Don2222]

Looks like more things turning in there than should be? Rust does not help much either.

Bingo!
The Brass bearing turns with the auger!
The turning of the bearing with the auger will cause erratic pellet feeding and possible jamming!
The heat dries out the impregnated lubricant and then gets dirty and sometimes black from the pellets inside.
Then sometimes as in this case, the auger bearing sticks to the auger and when the bearing turns it rips and gouges the outside of the bearing and needs to be replaced. This stove has a 3/4” diameter auger and can be upgraded to Nylatron! Also one thing I learned is that cheaping out and just enlarging the hole in the original end plate is a big No-No!! The new end plate that comes with the Nylatron bearing must be drilled to the Tasman 40 hole pattern and be installed! This is the only way to do it right!

Pic - New Nylatron bearing and end plate

 

[Don2222]

Hello
More problems with this pellet stove. Looks like the previous owner tried to get the auger motor off. There is no auger motor set collar. The base of the auger shaft has a threaded hole. Someone put a torx bit in the set screw and broke the bit off in the set screw! What a mess. I took it to my friend and he drilled it all out, retapped the threads and put in a new set screw! Bingo this wood pellet stove is no longer junk!
It can be fixed!

Pic 1 - Auger with Broken bit inside set screw!
Pic 2 - Auger retapped with new set screw!
Pic 3-4 Inside Of Auger Bearing and base of auger so nasty dirty! No wonder the bearing turned in the end plate!
Pic 5 - Shows quite a bit of Auger Pox too!
Click on pics to Enlarge

 

[Don2222]

Hello
We clamped the old end plate to the new end plate with the Nylatron bearing and drilled 1/4” holes. This Nylatron bearing must be used Then cleaned up the auger with a wire wheel to make it bright and shiny.
Then put it all back together. The old ECM auger motor is a bit noisy and I may replace it. The auger is turning very well just like it should. See video.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7w_iJ8O3NTQ

 

[Don2222]

Hello
Installing the Nylatron end plate was a little tricky. The end plate cleared the hopper rivet on the left side, but because of the stop bracket on the right side the end plate had to be drilled out. Also the silicone end plate gasket had to be notched where the 2 bolts are and trimmed more at the two top corners so it would not hit the two hopper rivets. The auger motor set screw was sprayed with Dry Moly to keep it from falling. See pics
These adjustments are small but making an exact fit will make the auger and motor work well for another 20 years!

 

[Don2222]

Hello
Now the 6” long Igniter is dead as a door nail!
It blew apart in the center so it cannot be pulled straight back out of the stove!
Since I had the auger out of the stove, I removed the air intake and convection blower to get at the set screw that holds the Igniter cartridge in the stove and loosen it. Luckily the rip in the middle of the Igniter was so bad, I could bend the front at a 90 degree angle and cut the connectors off the wire and pull the Igniter out the front in the fire box!
The new Igniter slid in from the back and when I re-installed the Convection Blower I added a black silicone gasket to reduce noise from vibration and make a better seal.

Pic 1 - Convection blower. The interesting part about the design of this Convection blower is that it was done correctly with the motor on the side! The old Tasman 40, the Hudson River Saranac and all versions of the US Stove 5660 have the motor on top bearing down on the squirrel cage and they only last 2-3 years! This stove is at least 5 years old and the Convection blower still works! What a surprise! LOL
Pic 2 - Convection Blower removed
Pic 3 - Igniter in the back inside
Pic 4 - Igniter cartridge removal from front
Pic 5 - blown Igniter cartridge
Pic 6 - air inlet pipe removal

 

[Don2222]

Hello
Well, now it is the AC cord.
The plug was cut off! Probably for the same reason people take the door off a refrigerator before they Junk it for safety! LOL
Therefore I upgraded from the old 20 Guage to 16 Guage for more power! LOL
Anyone upgrade their pellet stove AC cord?

There was a really weird problem here! After installing the new upgraded heavy Guage ac cord, the GFCI tripped due to a ground fault after turning on the stove for approx 2-3 mins! It turns out that the strain relief was biting into the wires too much! One of the AC wires either the hot black or the white neutral, I think it was the hot black wire from the looks of it was so close to the ground wire there was more than 5 milliamperes of leakage from the hot to the ground! Therefore the comparator circuit in the GFCI yelled Ground Fault and tripped out! So I just took it all apart and cut more of the black jacket off and put it back to get her and bingo it worked!

 

[Don2222]

Hello
Now I tried to fire it up and after 13 mins no fire :-(
The triacs in the Circuit Board behind the ripped membrane Control Panel was not making the Igniter hot enough and the exhaust fan blowing hard enough so a new control panel and bingo it started right up to a fire in 5 mins flat!

 

[Don2222]

Just gave it the Stove Bright. How does it look?

 

[johneh]

Just like new
very nice