Excessive Noise

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unclecolly
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Joined: Fri. Oct. 16, 2009 3:53 pm

Post by unclecolly » Fri. Oct. 16, 2009 4:08 pm

Hey all,

I just bought a house a couple weeks ago, and included with the purchase was an Alaska Kast Console II stoker stove. Being one to save money on anything under the sun, I've decided that I'm now a coal man.

I bought a bag of rice coal from a supplier in Southern Lancaster County to try it out, and yesterday I finally got it going. Awesome! Took me a good two days to get it lit with match light charcoal...I'm going to pick up some of this cowboy stuff everyone raves about. I don't think I dried everything out well enough, hence the problems I was having. I've found these forums to be very helpful!

My newest problem is the excessive noise coming from the stove. I apologize for my lack of proper terminology as needed - I'm still learning. There are two sources:

1. The distribution fan on top is just very squeaky. Seems to me like it just might be a lubrication issue.
2. The much louder sound seems to be coming from the stoker. The noise occurs immediately after the carpet has reached it's lowest point (the coal has just been fed) as the threaded bar travels up until it pushes the carpet back up. The noise then stops as the bar hits the red adjustment lobe. So basically, it appears that the noise is coming from the motor when it doesn't have a load. Does that make sense?

Any suggestions? Could this just be a matter of cleaning/lubrication?

Thanks!

 
Matthaus
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Joined: Mon. Oct. 02, 2006 8:59 am
Location: Berwick, PA and Ormand Beach FL

Post by Matthaus » Fri. Oct. 16, 2009 10:11 pm

Welcome to the forum, does your stove have a separate combustion fan or does the stoker shaft extend into a small plastic squirrel cage blower under the stoker? If you have the latter you can remove the assembly by unscrewing the wing nut/stoker rod nut and pulling the whole thing out. Once it is out you can remove the gear box and carefully pull the cover off and redistribute the grease, but chances are it might need replacing. If you have the new type (separate combustion fan), your stoker motor is most likely toast and the shaft that moves the paddle will need some service and cleaning.

The blower is most probably the style with rubber end caps, you can pry those off with a screw driver and put some 5W synthetic in the nylon end bearing and motor side bearing. This will sometimes cure the problem, if not you might need a new fan. The good news is that if there are no Alaska dealers handy you can also get those parts from Leisure Line.

For lighting the stove you can also use the starter bags or "mice" a search on the forum will reveal all kinds of great information. Hopefully this helped a little, others will chime in I'm sure, best of wishes in your new found avocation, you'll be an expert in no time! :)


 
unclecolly
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Joined: Fri. Oct. 16, 2009 3:53 pm

Post by unclecolly » Thu. Oct. 29, 2009 7:47 pm

Matthaus, thanks for the quick reply. When I initially read it, I wasn't sure if I would be able to answer the questions accurately until I thoroughly examined the stove, so I held off on responding. Then I totally forgot...we had a period of warm weather that I'm assuming is about to end.

So I turned up the reostat today to examine the problem again, and the stove was considerably quieter. The noise that was coming from the combustion fan had magically vanished,but the distribution fan was still squeaky.

I pryed off one of the rubber end caps and applied some 5w synthetic, which certainly helped. I was unable to figure out how to remove the distribution fan casing so that I could get to the bearing by the motor, and was running short on time. I sprayed some WD40 at it instead (I hope this isn't a no-no) The stove then shut up for a blissful 10 seconds. Then the noise came back.

This seems to me like it's just a lubrication issue, I hope. Any thoughts? Anyone know the best way to remove the distribution fan from it's casing? Do I have to unhinge it from the hopper? The stove is an Alaska Kast Console II.

 
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fishhunter
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Location: BROOKFIELD MA

Post by fishhunter » Thu. Oct. 29, 2009 7:54 pm

I had a squeaky motor before and tried all different types of lubricants to get rid of it but it always came back. I ended up just buying a new motor from my dealer, it was only $35. If you go that route make sure you tell your dealer you only want the motor or youll end up with the whole unit and a empty wallet. I believe when you have that condition it is mostly bearing failure and no matter what when it gets like that you cannot bring back to life.

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