If not a shear pin then....

Morning folks,

I've been running good for a while now burn low and slow for my domestic hot water for the summer but not I've hit a problem. I heard that it wasn't running under load yesterday morning so I figured I snapped a shear pin. I pull the fines level every day with it running but I sooner or later I'm bound to get a piece of crap in that snaps a pin. I didn't deal with it yesterday because I was taking advantage of the nice weather and I figured I'd just reboot this morning for showers.

However, when I went down to check it out it's not the shear pin. The pin is fine and with the hand crank it will move some coal but under the stoker it's just like the pin is broken. I only got to look at it a minute so far, the only thing i've noticed is that I can pull the "rod" back away from the unit and the collar that has the two years to engage it into the gear aren't together. I see there is a small hole that I believe runs through the two of them. Is there a pin in there that could have snapped and that is why the stoker will run but it won't engage with the gears?

Thanks for the help!!

~Jeremy

Just to clarify my thought where there could be a problem is where there is a shear pin on the left of the clutch shaft. My model doesn't have a shear pin there and the clutch shaft and the shear collar aren't attached to one another in any way. The picture from the parts pictorial is linked below.

http://nepacrossroads.com/download/file ... &mode=view

Jeremy, it sure sounds like you have sheared a pin. The hand crank will turn the auger without the shear pin installed, but the drum gear needs the shear pin installed or the collar will just rotate on the shaft. The small hole you observed is for the shear pin, if you use the hand crank you should be able to get things lined back up.

This might be a good time to change the oil in the oil pan, your broken shear pin pieces are probably laying in the bottom.

Rob,

Thanks for the reply. I will have to check it closer. The hole in the collar on mine is very small, too small for a standard shear pin. But you are right if the shear pin connecting the shaft to the augur is fine it is likely to be there.

Thanks!

~Jeremy

Jeremy, can you take some pictures of your stoker?

Rob,

I think taking a picture was worth a thousand words just as much as the picture itself. Yes a shear pin does fit exactly where you said. When I went to line up to two pieces to take the pic it sure looked like it would fit and I tried it. That one has never been replaced since I owned it so maybe it was time. I guess I just had an oh #)(%* moment when I realized it wasn't the shear pin I thought it was that broke. Made me worry that something really broke this time. Thanks for putting up with my morning ramblings. Haven't had caffeine yet!!

~Jeremy

What part exactly are you talking about when you say "That one has never been replaced since I owned it" ?

Well I think I learned that what I was talking about is where the shear pin SHOULD be all along. I'm guessing there was one there because that's where it broke. However, when I bought the house 1 of the 2 cotter pins was missing and I wrongly assumed this is where a shear pin went. Since the previous owners had nothing there I assumed a shear broke that they never replaced. I'm not sure if that would make shear pins break more often or less but now I correctly have 2 cotter pins in the coupler and 1 hear pin on the outside by where the crank attaches.