Osburn 7000

Wow, that is disappointing. Just about as disappointing as hearing nothing from the dealer. I picked up more LG's yesterday and he didn't say a word about our conversation on Saturday, when he stated he would call the factory and talk with his repair guy on Monday or Tuesday. "Tuesday" wasn't yet over, BUT I don't have a good feeling about his concern. Based on other conversations I believe he knows that this has been an issue and is just being demur about it. I sense a call to SBI coming.

Let's keep this in mind: I cleaned the end of my shaft, oops I mean the auger shaft. I applied spray graphite to the shaft and auger and the noise was abated for about six hours.

I have been revisiting this in thought, and trying to perceive where the noise could be coming from. Your experiences and pictures have led to the following thoughts and questions:

I had wondered about the amount of fines dropping down from those crap Maeder's. They did have an inordinate amount of dust straight from the bag.

Where would it all go? Obviously down the upper auger shaft 1st. How would they acumulate and or disperse?

As the pellets move into the second feed auger, would all of the dust push out as well. Probably not, and as we can see in your photo, they do accumulate? I assume on the shaft and tube?

You cleaned the surfaces of the auger and shaft but the noise still returned. So did the fines work themselves into a sealed bearing? Creating a sludge within the bearing, which causes the vibration to occur in a less predictable harmonic rhythm? I've had bearings fail in industrial sized woodworking machines. If pressure pressed the dust into the seal or cracked the seals, eventually the bearing could fail.

When I cleaned and sprayed graphite I had no noise for about six hours and it steady came back. Is it just a simple issue of a poor design?

Perhaps the pressures within this operation have become too much for the design and construction of the auger motor and shaft. What we hear are the symptoms of a gear box that has become worn and has a much longer road to get to the point of total failure. What would SBI do for the customer whose unit is still on warranty?

There's an answer somewhere, we just have to find it.

 

Hold the presses........it's been an hour........and no crazy vibration noises. Could it be that simple?

 

Auger feed is much different on the Francesca here, but when the 'tone' of the auger changes, we know it's time to empty the hopper and give it a good vacuum / cleaning, due to dust & fines at the base of the auger shaft, and that's with scooping pellets out of the bag -> leaving 2" or so at the bottom to minimize dust/fines going into the hopper.

Last time I did this (Sept./Oct.? 15) I ended up using the air compressor also, and was surprised at the amount of dust pushed out, even after vacuuming for 10+ minutes. That was after burning about 1+ ton of pellets from Feb. 15,

Auger here is a vertical screw type: supported on both ends by a bearing, feeds pellets -> up to the drop tube.

We've been having really good luck with the Liqui Moly MOs2 applied sparingly at either end of the auger bearing w/ a printer cartridge refill needle, the Moly has worked it's way into contact points and the auger is much quieter & smoother than last burn season.

Link in case you're interested:

http://www.amazon.com/Liqui-Moly-2009-Anti-Friction-Treatment/dp/B003U4O414

 

Thanks! I threw it in my cart and will deal with it later. I got two cans of spray graphite yesterday. I think this issue will be a regular maintenance issue for me as you suggest. Clearly the horse bedding pellets have caused quite a bit of trouble. It has now been 1 1/2 hours with no crazy noise.

 

Hoping that auger stays quiet for you Ambient.

 

Thanks, I'm still working on it. When I had one side panel off I still had the noise. When I removed both of them, the noise couldn't be heard, at least not as loud....until you get right next to the stove. It's still there, it's just using the side panels which are held on with magnets, to resonate the sound. My prior post was a reference to this effort.

Without the side panels on I can pound my fist on the top and the hear the noise. Then I can pound on it again and the noise goes away. The noise seems to be coming from the chamber that houses the heat transfer tubes much like an organ in a music hall. Without the side panels on the sound comes up through a vent over the heat exchange cabinet.

I do know if I unplug a lead to the lower auger motor the noise stops. Sadly I haven't figured out exactly where the noise is coming from, but I can make it softer. I know unplugging the motor will stop the noise. How is the auger and motor causing this noise? I had shut down the stove a while ago and I will do another cleaning.

During this cleaning I vacuumed out the auger tubes and then blew them out. Cleaned and polished the auger feed and the end of the tube. Sprayed graphite on the tube and the auger.

I've buttoned it all back up and walked away for a bit. I'll go back down and give a listen in an hour or so.

 

To that comment, there has been no further drips, runs or errors.

 

The noise still exists, although not as loud. I'm going to try different ways to silence the intermittent noise with materials that will absorb but be flame retardant.

 

Great conversation with the folks at SBI. Sending parts my way. YIPPIE

 

What are they sending you?

 

Replacement Bearing Bushing bracket assembly and a new auger.

 

It's probably the auger motor then

 

If it is, it's under warranty. The Crappy Maeder's had all sorts of fines. The tech asserted that they can accumulate, as can be seen in Dex's pic at the end of the auger shaft. The pressure from the dust can actually shove the auger laterally. That movement causes the bushing/bearing assembly to wear. The interview basically ended the moment I identified that by pulling the lead off the auger motor, the noise stopped and started with the replacement of the lead. We talked about monitoring the bag as I'm pouring them in so as not to introduce more fines than necessary. The dust in the Maeder's was not settled in the bottom of a bag. I tried to pour them in every which way. There was always a cloud of dust. The only way to slow the cloud down was to very slowly pour them in. I had mentioned that we were considering the pellet vac set up as mentioned else where on the forum.

 

I asked about this possibility, he explained that the motors are intentionally overpacked during manufacturing. That following their being placed into service they find their own level and some fluid works it's way out. ????????? You design something to intentionally leak? OK, I guess, the jury is still out on this comment. Now it would be right to mention after cleaning the surfaces below the motor, there have been no further signs of leaking....yet.

 

I have a pellet vac setup. Although it's not 100%, it works well enough to get most of the fines/dust out....and it's cheap enough to make and only takes a few minutes to throw together once you have the pvc parts.

 

I'll have to think this through, as my garage is a barn with no electric and the basement is a 4 foot crawl space. Where would I set this operation up to be convenient to the bags of pellets. It's convenient to have some bags on the front porch, although most are in the wood shed. How strong of a shop vac are we talking about?

 

I have mine setup in my garage but that's where my pellets are. I think I have a 10 or 12 gallon vac. I could send a pic when I get home later?

 

Thanks I will check the search function here also when I get back from the shop.