Upgrading a 30 year old Whitfield Advantage bushing to Nylatron!

Hello
This old Whitfield MFD = 1990 missed the Dr. Upgrade letter sent to the dealers to trash the the old common oil impregnated bronze bushing used in many applications but not the best bushing for a wood pellet stove!
The old bronze bushing was scored and gauged so the bushing turned freely in the auger end plate! Then the stove was not used for atleased 1.5 years so the pellets in the hopper swelled from moisture then stuck together to create a nice stiff auger jam!! LOL
The new black permanently lubricated Nylatron Black bushing comes with a special made end plate which is an aftermarket part but made especially for the Whitfield pellet stoves!
Now the auger turns like butter!
Anyone else do this??

 

For a while maybe. I prefer a 660 CA Bronze one nd I oil it regularly. In fact I machined it.

 

That is good you can make your own bushing. I have a lot of experience with the black Nylatron and they never need lubrication and last for approx 20 years! Unfortunately they only come in one size for 3/4” shafts so they only fit the older Enviro EF-2s and Hudson River Saranac & West Point stoves. :-(
But I believe every top feed auger should have them, even though the Older Pelpro Pellet Stoves have a good white Nylon auger bushing that last longer than the Magnum white Delron auger bushings.

 

The old Whitfield were/are good work horses.....Very little issues with the mechanical parts.

The electronic controls...Not so much....
Mechanically our Advantage 2T is just a great stove.........Still has the factory auger motor and bushing.
Ours is a September 1993 Build date

The original controls were really sketchy.....The fan speed controls usually died and left things with a fixed speed....About full speed.

The fuse on the control board was useless....If a fan motor shorted it took out the board....

IMHO.....Everything needs to be fused separately....Auger motor, draft fan and convection fan ......

The control layout was OK just the components were ragged edge inadequate......

But the mechanical stuff was robust....

The only downside to the firebox and related parts were the torturous path the exhaust was routed within the stove.

Way too many right angle turns with too many places that catch ash that will clog up the stove ....
The LBT ALONG with getting a skinny WA WA BRUSH snaked through the passages and then vacuum or do more LBT........

The exhaust fan needs to be removed at least twice per season (Mid season...then at seasons end)

Once the innards get dirty even the LBT has a rough time clearing out the crud from the ragged pathways........

Smooth is the way is should be.....All the way from the the heat tubes to the draft fan.

The radical flow reversal does knock down the bulk of the ash.....But it takes a toll on having a good air flow through the stove...

No way to clean the cavity above the heat tubes......

But these old beasts were built tough..........

I love the cast iron doors......They do not warp......
Ah yes....The good old days

 

Should have PM'd me, I would have made you one.

 

Snowy - you should get a used Harman P61 like BogieB and I have? It would be interesting to see how you like it? The heat exchanger is not tubes, it is a. Accordion shape so you never have to clean above the tubes!! There are no ash traps and funkey pathways for the dirty ash air to flow and clog up! Also the way the bottom feeder pushes the ash right into the ash pan is amazing and No need to keep buying 6” round gaskets every time you clean the exhaust blower! It does not need one! Also I bet if you got your Hands on a Harman model PC-45 with the special multi-Fuel burnpot with agitator it would burn your Hazel nut shells pretty well! Just my 2 cents.
Harman PC-45 Review
The Harman PC45 Corn And Pellet Stove
Se Harman PC-45 manual & pic of Harman PC-45 multifuel burnpot below.