Osburn 7000

I had mentioned in another thread that I have been having a strange vibration noises that happen
intermittently with the Osborn 7000. They have been occurring the last 24 hours. I woke up in the middle of the night and decided to turn off the stove, lest something fail while I was sleeping and I wouldn't get a chance to really check it out before it let loose. I fired the stove back up and sat down with my cup of coffee at five this morning. I couldn't really tell where the noise was coming from. So I removed both side panels and started to listen again. I held a non conductive rod to all the parts to see if I could dull the noise, still no luck. However shining the light about I noticed the pellet feed motor has a line of what appears to be oil sitting under it: See Picture below





Dexter, Smokey anyone care to offer an opinion?

Yes, You should be concerned and maybe this is a warranty issue?
No, this is common from these motors.


The noise is an annoying vibration that can be heard in other rooms, it almost sounds electrical, like a ballast? A further point to consider is the constant mess burning those maeder's this season. (I switched to LG's when I came in from working on the truck last night, although I'll do a complete cleaning today.)

 

I don't think that oil leaking from the motor is a good thing , I would call your dealer the stove is not that old correct? It may very well be a warranty issue .

 

Is that the auger motor Ambient?

Agree w/ Will, that ain't normal - time to place a service call, I would check w/ them before cleaning anything up, if they need to verify what's going on at time of visit..

 

if you can see on the motor where the shaft turns, you can tell if it's the motor itself making the noise.
i can see it on the motor in my stove.
the auger motor on my stove makes a little noise normally (even a brand new one)
when i first noticed it, i had to find out where it was coming from.

no oil leaking out of mine though.

could it be a flaw in the layout of the stove?
i once hung one of my vornados upside down in a doorway and the oil leaked out of the motor..

 

Update:
I sent the pic, an email and a phone call to the dealer. He said he would ask his repair guys Monday or Tuesday when he will see them. He would also call the factory and review it with them. When I got home last night the wife said she hadn't heard the noise in quite a while. I listened myself for about 1/2 an hour and couldn't hear it either. Then I put the side panels back on, and the noise could be heard again. A build up of heat could exacerbate the issue???



No change in the status this morning. I will do a major cleaning today including dusting the area behind the service panels. I didn't get to it yesterday as I was working on the truck.

 

Found the source of the oil : the seal on the shaft is leaking. As the shaft is turning you can see the oil freely spinning with the shaft.
I still can't find the noise...

 

At least you know where the oil is from sounds like a dealer warranty fix to me .

 

Good information! I shut down the stove for a good cleaning today. I will pay particular attention to the carbon at the end of the auger. The maeder's caused a huge carbon build up at the end of the auger, mostly a speed bump about one inch out on the burn platform. I would shut down and scrape the carbon every three bags of Maeder's. I may have to get that graphite today!

Thanks Dex!

 

Holy chit, what the hell is in those pellets???!!!

 

Junk

 

That pic was after I scraped it.





This is a picture of the burn plate after I removed the ash today. The picture is after burning only three bags of Maeder's. It's a better picture of the "speed Bump" as of today's cleaning.

I cleaned the snot out of this. It is as clean as it can be, short of tearing the whole thing down. I took the burn plate down to the shop and buzzed it with the Mini scotch brite pad then took a scotch brite pad to the auger feed tube and the end of the auger. I then applied graphite to those surfaces. I loaded it with LG's and restarted it. No crazy noise yet.

 

Sadly, the noise has returned. The first few hours the noise just wasn't present, by this morning it was back to the same old annoying cold fluorescent light starter sound. I've noticed a few things:

1. Dex sent a YouTube of his noise. A big THANK YOU to Dex for the special effort it is very appreciated! I believe it is the same noise.
2. The noise had gone away for several hours after the cleaning and the application of Spray Graphite.
3. It returned slowly and very lightly, progressing until this morning where it was back and heard in full force.

I therefore think the graphite has worn away. Perhaps a a different type of graphite or lube as discussed earlier to rid the burn plate of the speed bump might work in the auger tube. If it was a motor thing I would think the noise never would have gone away, so the conclusion is as Dexter maintains: carbon build up.

Happily, the LG's are burning great! They have maintained an even fire all night. The pellets are pushing out, burning as they pass over the air holes on the burn plate, with no mound of spent ash at the end of the plate. I had set the fire on level three last night, having had the stove off for so long during the cleaning. This morning it was 75 in the house and 18 degrees outside. The maeder's on level three would have had the house at 65 when it was 36-40 outside. Welcome back LG's! I'll be making a run for more tomorrow, and I may stop off at Home Depot and see if they have these Chow's all of you are chatting about.

 

Having really good burn w/ the Satisfaction pellets (aka re-branded LGs) here this season also Ambient, burning Hot & clean.

Glad to read you have a handle on why the noise is occurring - cool & Props to Dex.

I'd still get that auger motor/gearbox checked out, just in case those Maeders borked it, due to all the carbon buildup. (Holy crap, that was a lot of buildup.)

 

I cleaned the motor and the plate below it so it was absolutely dry. If it skips any more fluid/oil I'll know. It's under warranty, with labor included for a few more weeks. Since Dex has this issue , there may be others, I'm going to make an effort to ask if this is an issue that deserves an answer from SBI. I'm waiting for the dealer to get back to me on the factories thoughts.

Satisfaction pellets...good to know and yes that was a lot of build up especially after only three bags!!!!!

 

Hey that's mighty fine of you Dex!! What day are you coming? I'll have the coffee on as of 4 something in the morning and your favorite brew when you're done.