I have a broken feed shaft on my old 520. I have the regular shaft that came with the unit and added the second longer shaft to get into the coal bin. The shafts screw together and I have the efm sleeve that slides over the two shaft tubes to hold them together. The shaft coming out of the furnance is in the blue efm sleeve. I used a piece of schedule 80 pvc of matching size. The coal bin is a large wood bin that holds about 4 ton if coal. The unit has functioned fine over the last 5 years with the exception of a rock that got stuck in the auger shaft.
Last years coal was really full of fines like powder. I switched coal brands this year much better quality. My shear pins broke last year and I used a cotter key most of the season. I Put in shear pins this year upon fire up. They broke in two days. I went back to cotter pins and next day shaft broke.
When I took things apart I expected to find another rock, but discovered nothing in tube.
I did try some coal next sixed up from rice mixed in with some rice. Could this have sheared the shaft? Any ideas?
Broken Feed Auger Shaft
- mooseman100
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- Rob R.
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Excessive fines causes feeding issues, and excessively large coal can as well. A mix of rice and buck should be fine, but are you sure that is what you have?
One thing about burning buck, the amount of auger you have extending past the end of the pipe is critical. More than 2-3 auger flights will cause grinding, and/or broken shear pins.
Corroded feed pipes can cause the auger to turn hard, and so can a gap between the pipes.
One thing about burning buck, the amount of auger you have extending past the end of the pipe is critical. More than 2-3 auger flights will cause grinding, and/or broken shear pins.
Corroded feed pipes can cause the auger to turn hard, and so can a gap between the pipes.
- mooseman100
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Yes Rob, it is buck from diernzo. The pvc pipe had a gap in it so I am thinking something might have got caught in there and locked up. I will try to replace with proper metal pipe and make sure no more than 2-3 flights extend out. If I remember right it was about 4" sticking out. Of course coal bin is full!! Yay
- Scottscoaled
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Yeah, the schedule 40 pipe makes a big difference with buck.
- mooseman100
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I guess the little extra space ID makes a difference. Will go woth that if I can not get metal
- CoalHeat
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Any gap between the auger pipe and the bin pipe inside the coupler will cause shear pins to break. The two pipes must be flush against each other. I had the same issue early on, have not broken a shear pin since I corrected the problem.
And never use cotter pins, for the obvious reason.
And never use cotter pins, for the obvious reason.
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Last Sept. I replaced my bin feed pipe and made sure the auger was exposed 2.5 flights. My unit is working perfect.
This is really critical.
The pipe was less than $12.00 !
This is really critical.
The pipe was less than $12.00 !