1980 EFM 520 Worm/Auger Is Jammed

Gman · Post by **Gman** » Sun. Oct. 11, 2015 1:19 pm

Need some major help from you guys. Went to my mom's house to put the heat on (my Dad handled all this and he died last year). Turned on the unit to let the pot fill up with some coal and immediately broke a cotter pin in the clutch shaft coupling . Tried putting the hand crank on the shaft and reversing it, but it will not budge in either direction. I heat with natural gas and forced hot air. Need detailed advice of how to correct this or maybe just make the determination that I am over my head.............

H.B.DeLaRue · Post by **H.B.DeLaRue** » Sun. Oct. 11, 2015 4:28 pm

Welcome to the forum Gman and HANG IN THERE!! I would suggest doing a search using EFM 520 worm/auger in the forum, if you haven't already, and see what you come up with. I'm sure others have posted about similar issues so you might find the answer....
Stay Safe!
Barry

coal stoker · Post by **coal stoker** » Sun. Oct. 11, 2015 5:58 pm

Is there a coupling in the auger tube, or is it just a feed auger which would be a short auger maybe into a barrel?
Be patient, you will get it.
CS

Gman · Post by **Gman** » Sun. Oct. 11, 2015 6:22 pm

Its just a feed auger coming from the barrel into the unit.

coal stoker · Post by **coal stoker** » Sun. Oct. 11, 2015 6:51 pm

If you can separate the drive coupling the worm should slide out towards the barrel.
Check the end of the auger tube at the barrel make sure you do not have it binding up the worm, the aluminum auger tube can bind up on the worm sometimes.
The worm is driven by the gear box and rides on a bushing in the bottom of the pot, and then extends out into the barrel.

This link will show you the gooseneck which is where the bushing is and this is what the worm rides in.
This link brings you to the beginning of the pictorial.
Lot's of good info here.
CS

coal stoker · Post by **coal stoker** » Sun. Oct. 11, 2015 6:52 pm

Sorry this is the link for the beginning of the pictorial.
Pictorial: the Burner Pot Assembly W/Part Numbers
CS

Post by **StokerDon** » Sun. Oct. 11, 2015 10:19 pm

Welcome to the forum,

It is very likely you have a rock or some other piece of debris stuck in the pipe. you are lucky, all you have to do is empty the barrel down to the worm and pull out whatever is jamming it up. If you had the worm stuck into the bin, well that would be a lot of digging.

-Don

McGiever · Post by **McGiever** » Mon. Oct. 12, 2015 9:40 am

Seems odd that a rock or whatever was sitting there exactly at last season's shut down and then happened to jam things up now at start up.

Might be a bit crusty in the bottom of that firepot...ash attracts moisture and then you have corrosive mix to attack iron.
We do not know the enviroment of where this stoker is residing, but perhaps Dad knew to always remove the contents of the firepot at seasons end in order to have a fresh start next season.

None the less, as was mentioned, you now must dig down to see what you might find below.

Gman · Post by **Gman** » Mon. Oct. 12, 2015 10:48 am

CS thank you for all the input and pics. McGiever you make some great points. The unit was simply shut down at the end of last season and left to sit. Nothing was cleaned. In addition, there was a good amount of fines build up from the lever not being pulled as required. I did remove the coal from the barrel and nothing was obstructing the auguer that was in sight view. Do this new info change your approach CS?

Post by **StokerDon** » Mon. Oct. 12, 2015 11:58 am

Is the worm still jammed? If so, the obstruction may have worked it's way into the feed pipe. Try hand cranking it backwards again until it spits it out.

-Don

McGiever · Post by **McGiever** » Mon. Oct. 12, 2015 12:45 pm

Or.................WHACK .......that auger end in the barrel with the biggest hammer you can get your hands on.
NO, seriously, Try some gentile blows with a hammer and see if you can break some of that cementaceous crud loose from around the tight spot(s) were it might be binding.
Keep on tapping and then wiggling the handle back and forth, and little by little it may worry itself free.

Scottscoaled · Post by **Scottscoaled** » Mon. Oct. 12, 2015 5:56 pm

Where are you located? We can't come and fix it if we don't know where you are.

Post by **Rob R.** » Mon. Oct. 12, 2015 5:59 pm

It is very unusual for a cotter pin to break unless the shear pin was previously replaced with something incorrect...like a nail.

coal stoker · Post by **coal stoker** » Mon. Oct. 12, 2015 7:03 pm

There are a lot of guys on this forum that are very familiar with these stokers and now it looks like you have there attention,
have you been able to try anything as far as freeing up the worm goes. Take some pics and post them that may help your cause, and possibly expedite a solution.
If you are not jammed on either end of the auger meaning at the barrel or where the auger leaves the feed tube and goes through the gooseneck and continues to the drive coupling, then there is a good chance your problem lies inside the feed tube which is all that is left.
Maybe time to get dirty and start looking a little closer and really get familiar with this 520.
Best of Luck
CS

Post by **Richard S.** » Mon. Oct. 12, 2015 9:16 pm

Rob R. wrote:It is very unusual for a cotter pin to break unless the shear pin was previously replaced with something incorrect...like a nail.

Gman, it may not be the cause of your issue but this is the first thing to investigate. There is a shear pin that is designed to break so you are not breaking very expensive parts.

McGiever wrote:Seems odd that a rock or whatever was sitting there exactly at last season's shut down and then happened to jam things up now at start up.

I mentioned in other thread that with the Van Wert if it sits for summer you usually need to give the stoker mechanism a crank with a wrench. The Van Wert, at least the 1200, has those fingers with a gear and I suspect that is where it gets froze. No idea if same thing can or does occur with an EFM. I suppose the ash might harden slightly and "lock" the worm in the bottom of the pot.