Hey all, new to Forum. I hope someone can point me in the right direction. I have an older Whitfield Quest that was given to me. It has worked well for 5 years. Recently the auger has been jamming. After some research I believe I need to replace bushing. The bigger issue presently is no power. While trying to get auger moving I gave the stove a “Fonzi” to the side. Seems to work on everything else I try to fix but not my poor stove. It went powerless. I haven’t been able to figure it out. This is what I’ve done to try to eliminate possibilities. At first I was thinking exhaust motor so I cut wires and pigtailed a power cord to motor and plugged into an outlet. It ran fine. I pulled vacuum hose off to manually pull in switch, which it did but not sure if that means it’s working. I tried to find a fuse but had no luck. I’m leaning towards control panel but could use some advice before I spend the dough. Please help and thanks in advance!
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Ssyko
Minister of Fire
Ssyko
Minister of Fire
I’ll look again. I had control panel off but not out so I couldn’t see the circuit board. I’ll try that. Thank you
Found it. It looks smoked. Hopefully that’s it. I’ll let you know. Thanks you’ve been a great help
That was it Ssyko! Finally got her firing! Still having an issue with the auger but that’s the next project. Thanks for all your help!
Ssyko
Minister of Fire
At least augers are more reasonable to replace, but as long as the drive gear isnt missing teeth a drop of 3 in1 oil on the shaft bearings will do wondersHey Ssyko!, I have a new one for you or the members. With new fuse, the Whitfield Quest fires up and ran for a bit. I’m experiencing jamming of the auger a lot! I’ve replaced the brass bushing which seemed to have a good deal of wear. I put it back together and it ran okay for a little while and them jammed again. I notice 1) a lot of play up and down on the auger once it was put back together ( maybe 1/4”) or better. 2) when I had the auger our I field tested the motor and appears fine ( could not hold it with pliers from turning) however it does make a lot of noise and I’m thinking it may not be strong enough to keep from jamming. Any advice is welcome.
Ssyko
Minister of Fire
The up and down play I don’t know what the specs are. Stovenson, Bob know more about them than i do. But like i said augers pretty reasonable now i would put in a new one keep the old for a spare. Im sure one of the others will pipe in with the info.
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
Sounds like stove has a lot of miles on it,and it needs the upper auger bushing replaced.I assume it is same as other whits,and has an upper bushing.
When you moved the auger, when powered, you shorted the auger connection... only popping the fuse. When running a lot of the connections are live 120V. Always unplug.
Auger jamming. How long (in size) are the pellets you have in there ? I don't believe you can change the top bushing. The bottom is easy. If your auger is slipping (push on the back of the motor armature, there should only be a very tiny movement) then the auger gear could be skipping the first gear inside the auger. Happen to me. Used a fiber washer to push the auger back up into the gears. Worked for another 6 years or so. A tiny bit of high temp grease at the top.
Auger jamming. How long (in size) are the pellets you have in there ? I don't believe you can change the top bushing. The bottom is easy. If your auger is slipping (push on the back of the motor armature, there should only be a very tiny movement) then the auger gear could be skipping the first gear inside the auger. Happen to me. Used a fiber washer to push the auger back up into the gears. Worked for another 6 years or so. A tiny bit of high temp grease at the top.
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
LOL,yep.To me,up and down play would be the auger in relation to the tube body,but I can see where some would think in and out ,up and down the auger tube.The OP will have to clarify.
Bob bare, it does have an upper bushing but not sure I can replace, There is " a lot "of play in the auger when powered up. At this point the auger is almost continually jamming. I have to physically move motor to get pellets moving again. I'm thinking I have a very tired motor. Is that a possibility? Is that how these motors go... slowly?
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
Some just die,but seems lately lots of combustion and auger motors just keep getting weaker with time.