Pocono Coal Feeder Motor Problem & Question

vegeta_ban · Post by **vegeta_ban** » Thu. Dec. 06, 2012 11:10 pm

Hi all Leisure Line people. I have a Pocono bottom vent and I noticed the feeder motor didn't seem to feed during the 10 min start up of the fire all that well. I took the whole stoker/feeder/motor/blower unit out and just plugged in the feeder motor. It was having trouble spinning through out the full rotation. I had to tap it with my finger to get it to go. That's definitely a bad sign. I took the motor out of the stoker area to take it apart to check it out. In side the grease that is there is black as coal.

My question is should I buy a new motor or is it feasible to clean all the gears then re grease them and put the motor back together? I will if I have to buy a new motor attempt to reassemble the old motor. Can anyone tell me if that might be a bad idea?

Does anyone have a photo of the gears inside that motor so I put it back together correctly in case the new motor has a different gear system in side it?

Thank you everyone

coalnewbie · Post by **coalnewbie** » Fri. Dec. 07, 2012 2:53 am

The first thing to be considered is that nothing is wrong before you start ripping things apart. Do you have a coaltrol system?

vegeta_ban · Post by **vegeta_ban** » Fri. Dec. 07, 2012 11:08 am

coalnewbie wrote:The first thing to be considered is that nothing is wrong before you start ripping things apart. Do you have a coaltrol system?

Yes I do have a Coal-Trol. During the start up of the fire the manual tells you to feed coal for 10 min at a fast rate using the Coal-Trol and I did not hear the feeder running during that time.

coalnewbie · Post by **coalnewbie** » Fri. Dec. 07, 2012 11:54 am

If I look at page 5 of the manual that is not what it says and it is not how I light mine. Lighter bag/mouse/charcoal whatever rings your bell to get it started then switch on the stove and set the coal-trol at 2 degrees below room temp, it's even coalnewbie proof. I have never taken the motor apart so I can't comment. Motor filled with coal dust? How old is the stove? There is a setting on mine in keeping the thermostat depressed for a few seconds past setup and you get to a feed setting. You can set it at 10mins that is constant coal flow but that is not for lighting and a constant coal stream over a nascent fire will often swamp it. Perhaps I am missing something here.

vegeta_ban · Post by **vegeta_ban** » Fri. Dec. 07, 2012 12:07 pm

I'm thinking your if your a coalnewbie I don't know what to call myself because I only started this last weekend.

You can set it at 10mins that is constant coal flow but that is not for lighting and a constant coal stream over a nascent fire will often swamp it. {{{Well that is a good thing you pointed out because I misread that 10 minute thing.}}}

How old is the stove? {{{It's from 2008 or 2009 bought used, 13 tons of coal burned through it}}}

Let me do some more reading.

P.S. Thank you for the help.

coalnewbie · Post by **coalnewbie** » Fri. Dec. 07, 2012 12:19 pm

If you only started one week ago you are in the right place, all of us were newbies once. Put my little quote in the clipboard, then press the quote button and crtl V - the statement of the prior poster comes up as a quote. We are all here for you - don't struggle alone. The consolation prize today is that you have made brilliant fuel and stove choices so the rest is down hill. 13 tons is just breaking in territory so let's think this through b4 you start ripping things apart.

Simon

Matthaus · Post by **Matthaus** » Mon. Dec. 10, 2012 2:29 am

The grease is black or dark green, so I would just re-spread it back on the gears and re-install the cover. Be careful not to get a shaft out of the hole, you can tell this by the cover not going back into place. Patience and care will result in it going back together with no issues. Also the screws holding the end bearing cap can be loosened and the armature re centered in case the problem is due to drag on the motor.
Best of luck with the activity, if it were me I would buy a spare gear motor and have it ready to go, remember these things never quit on the warm days!