1st Time EFM 520 Has Breakdown Good Experience

woke up yestday and checked on the 520 in the basement. It was humming away like normal, saving us lots of money.
Came home last night, 730 pm, and went down to the basement to empty the ashes and I could the stoker sounded different.
i looked in through the door and no fire. I put my hand it and it was cold to the touch, no remaining heat at all.

The stoker was running but no coal being pulled into the pot. Me not knowing exactly what was going on, I called my friend Leroy Schannauer at Schannauer Plumbing and Heating. He was out working on a service call for another stoker. He talked me through a couple things. He determind that either the auger or the coupling broke inside the tube.
He told me to empty the barrel and pull it away and take the sleeve bolts loose and slide the sleeve up the tube to see what was happening. Well the first 3 bolts came out but the last 1 snapped off. So I got a pipe wrench and worked the bottom feed pipe out of the sleeve and the huge section of auger just slid right out of the tube.
The auger broke right where it comes through the pot on the feed side of the boiler.
I called him back and he said he was finished with his other job and could be at my place in 20 min or so. In the meantime I got the remaining piece of auger disconnected and pulled out.
Leory looked at the auger where it goes through the bushing on the stoker side and said it shows some signs of wear, that will need repaired this summer.
We hooked up the 2 new sections of auger and put some coal in the barrel and it was off and running.
This whole process was quiet a learning process for me, as we have not had any problems since we installed the stoker.
It gave a chance to learn some trouble shooting and repair, which I was unsure of.
I think I will try to do the summer rebuild and maintanence( with some guidance of course) just for more knowledge and to build some confidence that I can repair the unit when it breaks down.
I am so thankful that Leroy lives close by and has 2 huge buildings filled with nothing but stoker parts for 520, 700, 900 ,1300 coal units.
He really knows his stuff. the wife and kids are happy we have heat and hot water again. I am actually glad for the whole experience.

Mitch

Are you using the correct shear pin? Usually a broken auger results from someone using a nail or cotter pin nstead of the proper shear pin.

Rob,

Yes i'm using the correct shear pin. no nails or bolts, etc. the auger was used when I got my unit, so who knows what it was put through before hand.
Leroy told me he has seen it many times over the years, so I don't think that I was or am doing anything wrong.

I am thinking I will put a list of spare parts together and keep handy after last night.

Mitch

Ok, I was just curious.

A spare pot auger, pot bushing, and a new motor w/ fan is a nice "kit" of spare parts.

I will look over the parts breakdown and make sure I add those pieces to my list.
I would love to be able to fix the stoker any time it is required, but sometimes time becomes a factor wtih projects and pros need to be called in.

Mitch