Channing III Hopper Concern

Hello. I noticed last night while cleaning around the stove that their is a small gap where the main Hopper housing connects to the part that goes into the burner. Their is gasket that goes all along the seam but then their is this gap where you can see the coal and it's the exact same on both sides of the part. The gap is a quarter inch max and it's present on both sides of the part and in the exact location. I'm just wondering if it's supposed to be like this or is this something I should worry about? I have a carbon monoxide detector and I've always registered at 0. I'm a worrier so any help will be appreciated. Thanks

Probalby not, if it's just the hopper not sealing, it could be out of square and just not sitting flush onto the stoker unit,

you could push some rope gasket material in there, or so silicone sealer if you are concerned.

It is not a concern. Even if the seal was in complete contact the shovel / pusher /carpet (what ever you want to call it) is not sealed in any way. So the stove will still have access to the atmosphere. I think the seal is more for vibration noise dampening.

I had the same thing happen to my channing also while moving it around on the back of the truck when I picked it up from my dealer I lifted on the hopper and pluued it out of where the hopper seats to the stoker. I just unbolted it and set the hopper back into place there are two bolts between the hopper and the stove. Just remove tehm and you'll be able to seat the hopper back in to place. ( careful there are spacers around the bolts between the hopper and stove)

I noticed the same thing with mine and ended up pulling off the hopper and put down some 500* silicon sealant on top of the rope gasket and then realigning it to sit flush.

Something to look for...
While taking out the 2 bolts that hold the hopper on to the stove and after reading the manual on assembling the stove I noticed that the washers and spacers were installed wrong and was not allowing the hopper to fully seat to the top of the feeder. Once reinstalled correctly, it ended up lining up just right.

The two washers on each bolt should never touch the stove. Only one washer on the inside hopper and the other one on the outside of the hopper then slip on the spacer on to the remaining threads and adjust hopper and tighten bolt in to the stove. This allows the most room for adjustment to allow you to seat the hopper properly.

I think that stuffing rope gasket would have been easier and is a great solution and also you wont have to scoop out the all that coal.

Good luck !

Hello. I took the hopper off today and squared everything up and re-installed the hopper. The only thing that has me concerned is that their weren't any spacers on the bolts as the instructions and others from this site have stated should be there. Is it a big deal if the spacers are not on the bolts?

Without spacers, doesn't it pull the top of the hopper towards the stove?
Make some spacers or use 3/4' nuts as spacers or something to space the top away from the stove to make it sit level on the stoker.
I would think that you want an air space between the hopper and the stove to keep the hopper a little cooler.

Yes, the hopper is now up tight against the stove and much hotter then usual. I'm also noticing a strong smell that was never present before. Is their a safety risk to installing without the spacers? Could a hopper fire result from the hopper housing getting to hot? Sorry for all the questions but I'm new to this and it's just my luck that the spacers wouldn't have been attached like they should have been.

For now you could loosen up the hopper bolts to let your hopper come away from the stove but keep them in place so the hopper can't fall off of the stove.
The smell issue has me concerned. Even with the hopper issue you should have enough draft that you should not smell anything. Do you have a manometer? How warm is it outside where you are at?

I doubt you'll get a hopper fire, but I'd still do something for spacers. Not sure how yours is setup, but for me, a lot of the air that gets warmed passes between the hopper and the rear of the stove before being blown over the top of the stove. Not having spacers would reduce my airflow dramatically. Again, not sure how your stove works.

Regardless, getting the hopper that hot seems like a bad idea long term.

Also, can you describe the smell? Could it be that exhaust gases are escaping somehow?

I don't have a manometer and it's about 47 degree's here. Is it possible that the smell could be the hopper curing since it's never been this hot before? I turned the fire down quite a bit and the odor has lessened.

It is possible. Also maybe getting your coal that hot may produce a smell especially if the coal is wet or damp.

Just get a wrench and loosen those bolts to let the hopper come away from the stove.