Feed Problem on Alaska Channing FREE UNLIMITED BEER!

OK, so I have a Channing in my new home. It's a paddle feed stoker, meaning instead of a quarter-pusher-game style tray pushing the coal, there's a little paddle in the bottom of the hopper. We cannot get this little paddle to move. It goes like this; From the motor, there's a cog that spins round and round. There's a solid rod connecting it to another cog that only travels about 45 degrees or so. SO FAR THIS ALL WORKS PERFECTLY. NOW, the second cog is attached to a rod that runs right up into the hopper and is supposed to turn the paddle 45 degrees. This rod does not move. I'm trying to figure out how much tension this rod is supposed to have (i.e., if the problem is that the cog is stripped, or the rod is frozen in it's housing.) We cannot move the paddle by hand, at all. We can tap it one way with a hammer then force it back with pliers. Is it normal for it to require this much effort to move? I'm afraid that if it is supposed to be tight, I will make matters worse by pulling it out. Similarly, if I replace the second cog or "Modify" it so it's forced to stay meshed with the rod, I'm afraid I'll burn out the motor if the damn rod is NOT supposed to be so tight.
Can anyone help me? As always I'll be happy to PAY SOMEONE MONEY to come to my house and just make my problems go away. So far the only such person I've found says "Maybe he can get me in the middle of November." lol I'll just set my house on fire for warmth until then. I'm in Denver, PA, 10 miles south of Reading, 10 North of Ephrata.

oh yeah and FREE UNLIMITED BEER! FREE UNLIMITED BEER! FREE UNLIMITED BEER!

Sometimes a large piece of coal can get jammed in the feed mechanism causing it to stop and seem like it is seized up. Happened a couple of times to me last season.

Kevin H wrote:oh yeah and FREE UNLIMITED BEER! FREE UNLIMITED BEER! FREE UNLIMITED BEER!

Careful there, you may wind up with a three shift teams full time firemen.

FREE UNLIMITED BEER!

I'm on the way. I'll figure out the problem even if it takes 2 weeks.

(Yuengling, right??)

tvb wrote:Sometimes a large piece of coal can get jammed in the feed mechanism causing it to stop and seem like it is seized up. Happened a couple of times to me last season.

I don't think that's the case, I'd be able to see it. I have the hopper empty and can see the paddle and rod where it goes down into the housing. The paddle and rod are meshed, seemingly very tightly. The question is, with the rod disconnected from the linkage below, how much effort should be required to turn this thing? Should I be able to turn it by hand? I certainly can't.

Thanx!
Kevin

The shaft is frozen in the housing(rust?) .Gear motor may already be damaged(stripped). You will have to free up the shaft for the paddle. Unfortunately that is a drawback to that feeder system .

Yep, what Flyer5 said.

Had that happen to SIL's stove last year. It could be rust or an accumulation of coal dust and little pieces (Properly called "fines")

You may have to tap it with a hammer and block of wood to free it up. Maybe you can get some type of penetrating oil to help loosen it up.

Rick

When it happened to me last year, I couldn't see it either even with the hopper emptied. I had to stick my hand down in the feed mechanism to pull out the chunk that was jamming it up. I was able to do it while the stove was burning but was also on many drugs recovering from surgery at the time so my judgment was probably a bit skewed.

isn't there a zerk fitting on that shaft housing so you can introduce grease

jim d wrote:isn't there a zerk fitting on that shaft housing so you can introduce grease

If not, I'd install one.

I think we all need to meet at Kevins, and get that thing working properly. I'd say that job is a half-kegger, maybe a full-kegger?

tvb wrote:When it happened to me last year, I couldn't see it either even with the hopper emptied. I had to stick my hand down in the feed mechanism to pull out the chunk that was jamming it up. I was able to do it while the stove was burning but was also on many drugs recovering from surgery at the time so my judgment was probably a bit skewed.

Did you pull the entire shaft out when it happened to you last year? I don't know how. Like I said it's pretty tight in the sleeve or whatever you want to call it. Maybe a puller, or a slide hammer?

No zerk fittings, there are 2 set screws (y I don't know) in the housing which I've removed and keep introducing PB (Penetrating blaster, like wd on steroids) into the holes; and 2 set screws that are supposed to keep the cog meshed with the rod. At this point, if I force the paddle back and forth and then tighten the set screws in the cog real tight, it will turn the paddle a little bit, but then it lets go. Now I COULD fire a self-tapping screw into one of the set screw holes on the cog, which would force it to stay meshed with the rod; But as I said earlier I am afraid to do that because if the rod is too tight, I am afraid I will break the motor by doing this.

So: 1. with the paddle and rod disconnected from the rest of the linkage, how much effort should be required to turn it? Should it be moveable by hand? and 2. If so, how would one remove this rod? Straight up and out of the hopper I suppose, but just yank and yank until it comes or is there a snap ring somewhere or something i'm not seeing?

We're getting there, thanks guys!

Kevin, the feeder paddle should pull right out when its unhooked from the bar that drives it(the one connected to the gearbox) My stove does have a zerc fitting which I have never used! inside that peice has a bronze sleeve bearing and it has never seized up on mine. It has however been jammed up so bad the stove shut down. I would also run the gear motor unhooked to make sure the gearmotor output shaft rotates 360 degrees too, if it doesn't thats the problem. Get that hopper emptied right out so you can pull that paddle out to clean up the shaft first, thats where I would start.

Good luck

Jim

Kevin,
With the two set screws loosened in the square stock located on the bottom on the paddle shaft you should easily be able to rotate the paddle. With the set screws loose the paddle should be able to come right out. The housing for the shaft should have a grease zerk on the left hand side of the stove when looking from the front or opposite the gear motor. Most likely fines have gotten down inside the bronze bushing because the shaft hasn't has the proper amont of grease inserted to help keep the fines out. I give mine a pump of grease 2-3 times per season. In the Alaska manual they recommend removing the shft very year to clean the shaft and the bushing. It may make it easier to work on the paddle if you remove the hopper.

Is this problem making anyone else really thirsty?