Problem with Reading LeHigh not feeding coal

First time posting in the forum and so hopeful someone can point us in the right direction with our feeding problem. We have a Reading LeHigh and it appears that there is a problem with the coal feeding to the grate.

Coal is not being fed correctly. It will run for awhile and then stop. We have been having this problem for a couple of months, putting oil on the bushing every 3 or 4 days helped at first but it is getting worse by the day.

We also had a problem with air flow, the flame was orange, not much heat coming from the stove, etc. Today we took off the old air flow wheel and replaced it with a blower. We have better air flow but now it will feed coal a couple of minutes and then stop. We have oiled the bushing again, without success. We also replaced the feed motor with a re-built motor and that has not helped.

Any idea's on what might be wrong? Thanks.

is the stoker mechanism plugged directly into an outlet ?
when you say it runs for a while and stops, does the motor shut down totally ? or do you hear the motor going but no feed ?
when it stops, does it stop feeding coal but continue to feed air ?
is the carpet/slider free to move by hand, or is it hard to move ?
any of the above can happen , but for different reasons

Also, empty the hopper of coal, and clean out the bottom opening where the feeder is supposed to pick up the fresh coal..
Make sure there isn't a large piece of coal that keeps jamming the feeder, or a piece of wood in the coal or a lot of fines..

With all the electrical components acting up, is there a different outlet you could plug the stove into?? maybe with an extension cord?

I've had bad outlets that didnt' conduct electricity properly, and caused dim lights or stalled motors..

Just thinkin'

Greg L

CoalUserWannabe wrote:is the stoker mechanism plugged directly into an outlet ?
when you say it runs for a while and stops, does the motor shut down totally ? or do you hear the motor going but no feed ?
when it stops, does it stop feeding coal but continue to feed air ?
is the carpet/slider free to move by hand, or is it hard to move ?
any of the above can happen , but for different reasons

Thank you for your response. The stoker mechanism is not plugged directly into an outlet, it is plugged into a rheostat. When it stops feeding it shuts down completely, we no longer have the air wheel since we converted this part of the stove to a blower.

The carpet is sliding freely and it is not hard to move.

This morning we made a horizontal support for the shaft that the air wheel used to be attached too. We did this by cutting an inch by six inch support from a soda can. We placed this support in the area where the air wheel used to be. It seems to be working good since it has been feeding coal for the past 2 hours without stopping.

I wonder if we need to purchase a new AC Power Pack/Stoker from Reading. Any idea's. Thanks.

LsFarm wrote:Also, empty the hopper of coal, and clean out the bottom opening where the feeder is supposed to pick up the fresh coal..
Make sure there isn't a large piece of coal that keeps jamming the feeder, or a piece of wood in the coal or a lot of fines..

With all the electrical components acting up, is there a different outlet you could plug the stove into?? maybe with an extension cord?

I've had bad outlets that didnt' conduct electricity properly, and caused dim lights or stalled motors..

Just thinkin'

Greg L

Thanks for the help Greg. We will clean the bottom of the hopper when the coal in the hopper gets low. We had the electric updated in the room the stove is in a couple of years ago and the power vent is plugged into the same outlet, no problems with the power vent thank goodness.

We appreciate any other idea's or suggestions you can think of.

joe and mindy wrote:

CoalUserWannabe wrote:is the stoker mechanism plugged directly into an outlet ?
when you say it runs for a while and stops, does the motor shut down totally ? or do you hear the motor going but no feed ?
when it stops, does it stop feeding coal but continue to feed air ?
is the carpet/slider free to move by hand, or is it hard to move ?
any of the above can happen , but for different reasons

Thank you for your response. The stoker mechanism is not plugged directly into an outlet, it is plugged into a rheostat. When it stops feeding it shuts down completely, we no longer have the air wheel since we converted this part of the stove to a blower.

The carpet is sliding freely and it is not hard to move.

This morning we made a horizontal support for the shaft that the air wheel used to be attached too. We did this by cutting an inch by six inch support from a soda can. We placed this support in the area where the air wheel used to be. It seems to be working good since it has been feeding coal for the past 2 hours without stopping.

I wonder if we need to purchase a new AC Power Pack/Stoker from Reading. Any idea's. Thanks.

Rheostat...does it look like this?




How It Works

Idle Feed rate dial with thermostat connection sets minimum fuel feed rate.
The unit manages the amount of heat produced by controlling the auger motor on/off cycle. The feed rate is
determined by the length of time the auger feeds fuel into the fire during a specified time period.
Dial settings allow the user to choose the amount of time the auger is on as a percentage of the time cycle.
When thermostat kicks in, feed is constant until set temperature is reached. Upon reaching thermostat
setting, drops to Idle Feed rate.
Indicator Light provides visual indication when auger is on.



Do you use a wall thermostat?

I may have missed how old this unit is....but the oiling frequently can be an issue in itself. That is a small motor and we all know dust can get everywhere.....have you gotten a spare yet? It seems that you have identified electrical current, free movement of the carpet, and by now you have emptied the hopper and taken the grate apart an cleaned it up.......not much other than the motor and possibly a rheostat malfunctioning. The off timer can have some effect, but it seems that you are zeroing in on the source of the problem. Good luck.

Our rheostat looks nothing like the picture. It has a spin dial on it and is very basic. We do not have a thermostat.

We think the problem may be excess friction on the bushing where the shaft, that use to hold the air wheel, goes through. We are still getting vibration at the bushing but putting grease on it seems to help. This is the only thing that seems to help.

We are looking into replacing the tri-burner motor and also looking into buying a coal-trol.

The coal stove is four or five years old.