Squeak below gears on auger rod?

How do I fix a squeak below the auger rod gears in the blue cast iron piece that is mounted to the blower unit? More oil doesn't help. It squeaks on the down stroke. Sounds like this. eeerrrrccchhh eeerrrrcccchhh eeeerrrrrccchhh

Thanks,

Dave

How much play is there in the shaft when you wiggle it up or down, or side to side. It sounds like the bushing is worn out.
Look at the parts breakdown elsewhere on the forum and you can probably see where your problem is. It sounds like metal to metal and that can't be good for any of the adjacent components. It is hard to hear of an EFM grinding in any area, they are soooooo quiet, so you will fix this 'warning' noise quickly I trust.

My EFM makes that sound if there are a lot of fines in the auger tube.I just spin the auger backwards and pump the fines back to the bin and shovel a couple of scoops of fines out of the doghouse. Then give it a snout full of the clean rice and it'll sound like new

I'll try clearing the fines. I have to replace the feed pipe still too. If these don't work I'll look into replacing the bushing unit 9433763. Looks expensive.

I just spin the auger backwards

Just make sure you don't unscrew the coupling between the pot auger and the bin auger when you do that, you won't know until it separates and then you'll be shoveling out your bin to put it back together.

Aren't you the guy that had the bent auger that wore a hole in the feed tube? If so, replace you burner worm and tube before you go any farther.

If the noise is "below the auger gears" how about trying a little squirt of WD-40 at each end of the connecting rod? Obviously if there are bad parts they should be replaced, but I think sometimes the connecting rod can get a little squeaky without a serious underlying problem.

Mike

My auger sometimes screeches if it gets a piece of coal wedged just right.

Mike brings up a good point, are you lubicating both ends of the connecting rod and the oil port next to the feed control collar?

Hard to diagnosed if no one is sure where the noise is or what sound it makes. The feed tube noise will be more crunching of the coal, not a shrieking kind of metal on metal sound.

I found the noise! I took the everything apart. Wife is pissed there is no hot water. I believe the noise is coming from where the auger rod exists the burner pot. There seems to be a worm bushing? Picture below:



The auger edges are ground down so I'll have to replace it anyway. I can't figure out how to get the auger out of the pot. I disconnected it to the gear shaft, but it doesn't want to slide back and I don't want to force it. Any ideas how to get it out when I get a replacement auger?

This wet coal really eats up the metal pipes. I'll have to drill more holes in my bin to let water out. I found both the upper and lower pipes had holes in them.

Dave

The shaft could be hung up at the bushing in the pot. Have another person wiggle the exposed auger shaft while you are pulling the worm out. You won't hurt anything. Before you went through the trouble of removing the auger, I would have put oil at the point where the auger shaft goes through the base of the stoker, under the gear drive. The hole was enlarged to 5/8" because of that problem and that is where I would suspect the squeak is originating.

I wasn't able to get the auger out, and didn't want to break anything while replacing the top feed pipe and cleaning the pot. I did notice a lot of caked on coal dust (not sure what it was) where the auger leaves the bottom of the pot. I used compressed air to blow this out of the holes in the pot and around the auger bushing. I didn't hear the squeak running it after I got it going again. I'll be in the boiler room more to put in the hot water heater so will listen more.

Everything is breaking in my house. Had to replace the well pump over the weekend. It rusted in half... 400' of hose! I'll post a picture later.

Thanks.

Something isn't right if you can't get the auger out. Either the worm bushing is grooved and hung up in the pot bushing, or there is packed fines/coal holding it up. You might have to get mean, but get that auger out one way or another.

You won't hurt anything by forcing the auger out with a light sledge, appropriately applied. The worst that can happen is to damage or push out the pot bushing, which is a good idea anyway. You really need a second person. One with the sledge and the other to wiggle the shaft and try to get it centered in the bushing area.

I never figured this squeak out, but it did get much better (mostly gone) after using compressed air to blow out the fines around the rod.

So any recommendations on fall maintenance? What parts should I order for the winter's heating season?

Thanks!

Dave