Auger not feeding equal amount of pellets

Im running a breackwell big e and the auger turns and operates as it shoulds but as u watch it it will feed 2 pellets then no pellets and then 15 pellets and the fire will look good when it starts then die down then come back up halfway of the window and go between almost dieing out and half the window thats on setting 3 on a thermostat and will go out and go into an alarm all most every day it will run more consistantly on 5 but the feed is still hit and miss just wondering if there is a way to make setting 3 operate properly. Thanks for what ever info i get

 

Im running vt wood pellet just incase that helps

 

And the top of the auger shaft is about 1/4" below the chute is this right ?

 

Correct - on a stove with a drop tube auger setup, there is an air gap at the top: the pellets being pushed up the auger reach that point, and -> drop down the tube into the burn pot. There should be a (feed) port at the bottom of the hopper - the exact amount of "exposed" auger at the bottom of the hopper varies, from stove to stove.

If you left pellets in the stove at end of last season, consider (emptying) the hopper into an empty pellet bag (or 3/4 bags with that stove) and vacuuming out the dust/fines at the bottom of the hopper: excessive fines/sawdust at the base of the auger tube can cause uneven feed.. at least it does here. Especially with softwood pellets, I would give the hopper and auger base a good vacuum, in any case.

 

If cleaning the hopper doesn't help ...

How old is the stove? Is this a recent install? If not, how many seasons have you been running it?
Was the stove given a full cleaning before start of season? Was the exhaust venting given a full cleaning before start of season? Is there an outside air kit (OAK) installed? If so, was the OAK checked, to ensure a clear air path, before start of season?

IIRC the Breckwell stoves have an adjustable Intake air damper. Have you tried adjusting the air damper to stabilize the flame on level 3?

Lots of questions, but the info would help FHC folks to help you here.

 

Well the air damper has been adjusted multipul time with no luck cause the pellets burn up before the next ones drop in. Its a new install at our house and its a 2008 but was only run for one season then stored before being given to me and ive gone through it and lubed all bearings to fans, auger, repainted it and cleaned inner chamber and every thing and removed auger cover and vacuumed all fines out of auger and everywhere stove was working good till just lately when it alarms out and the other night i was watching it and noticed the uneven pellet feed and timed the auger rotation according to the chart all levels are good and the total cycle time is right on and the auger bushings arent wore out also it has new hi and low (pof) temp thermodisks

 

And the top of the auger screw (the highest part of the screw that the pellets ride on) is a 1/4" below the bottom of the enntrance to the chute that leads to the burn pot i realise that the fall through the chute at the top but thought it was odd that there will allways be some at the top of the auger that wont be able to make it high enough to even reach the chute to the burn pot

 

How is the stove vented to the outside, e.g.: straight through wall w/ termination cap, through wall with vertical pipe riser, etc.? What kind of vent termination cap is on the exhaust venting?

Have you checked voltage at the outlet the stove is plugged into? If so, is the voltage supplied at the outlet in-line with the other outlets, e.g.: voltage feed is not higher/lower vs. expected?

*Dunno how the weather is today in your location, but today may not be the best day to diagnose - wicked winds are going through here this afternoon.

 

Providing the auger is seated correctly at the base / you don't see any issues: the gap is not an issue - that space will be filled w/ pellets by the auger -> they will push up and over the lip of the drop tube.. It's a safety feature designed in the drop tube, to prevent burn-back from the stove.

 

I havent got the chimney up yet so it is straight through the wall about 3ft past outside wall with 45 degree temination cap the standard one they sell and its 3 inch inside diameter pipe. And yes it is really windy here in vt already lost power once but there is 117.8 volts at the outlet feeding the stove just checked it

 

Voltage seems ok. Tuning or 'dialing in' a new stove install during this time of year can be challenging.

Temperature and/or winds may be affecting your ability to get a stable airflow through the stove,

pellet length / consistency should be pellets varying in length from 1/4 inch up to 1 inch in length, there should be a consistent mix of pellets in the batch evenly loaded in the hopper.

Tip: you mentioned thermostat. When running a thermostat, you need to make sure the stove maintains a good burn in the burn pot at the -lowest- setting. * Try tuning the stove to run reliably at the -lowest- setting first - then see how the higher settings run.

 

Ok ill give that a try

 

Hey jtakeman ....didn't you have a Big E?

 

Larry duel - see jtakeman 's recommendation on checking / increasing feed trim above .. I've frequently been tuning the Intake air & pellet Trim rates over the past few weeks, on our stove here.

 

I don't know your stove, but in firdt post I read that auger turns but inconsistent amount of pellets are delivered. Had a problem like that once with old stove and piece of paper (Christmas wrapping paper) had gotten into hopper and wrapped around auger. Can you get auger out and check if you haven't done that already ? It did deliver some pellets, but not correct amount.

Doggy

 

Ill try the reset trim that jtakeman suggested