# Auger Working, but stops feeding pellets



## kl74374 (Dec 21, 2014)

I recently had a St. Croix Afton Bay pellet stove installed.  For approximately 2 weeks everything worked fine, now pellets stop feeding.

The stove starts up fine, burns fine for a while but after approximately 30 minutes the auger stops automatically feeding the pellets.  I've tested the stove as much as I could to pinpoint the problem, but have run into a dead end.  

The auger stops feeding the pellets automatically, but when the manual feed button is pressed the auger turns and feeds the pellets like normal, however it will not feed pellets automatically.  Does anyone know what the issue could be?


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## Bioburner (Dec 21, 2014)

Proof of fire is shutting the stove down after the initial startup because its not either working or ashed  up and not getting warm enough to complete the circuit.
Welcome to the site. I think the problem is explained in your owners manual too. I just got done tearing apart and putting back together and test firing a Auburn a bit ago.


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## kl74374 (Dec 21, 2014)

Bioburner said:


> Proof of fire is shutting the stove down after the initial startup because its not either working or ashed  up and not getting warm enough to complete the circuit.
> Welcome to the site. I think the problem is explained in your owners manual too. I just got done tearing apart and putting back together and test firing a Auburn a bit ago.



Thanks a bunch for the reply, this is the first pellet stove that I've had and I am getting used to it.  Some clarification, the stove doesn't actually turn off, it stays on but no pellets drop so the fire goes out.

I've flipped through the owner's manual that I received with it and it does not reference a "Proof of Fire," does this happen to go by any other name?


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## Bioburner (Dec 21, 2014)

Page 9 of the online manual tells of its operation in starting the stove. Page 26 shows the switch, part #34, Page 27 gives part numbers  description etc


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## bogieb (Dec 22, 2014)

kl74374 said:


> Thanks a bunch for the reply, this is the first pellet stove that I've had and I am getting used to it.  Some clarification, the stove doesn't actually turn off, it stays on but no pellets drop so the fire goes out.
> 
> I've flipped through the owner's manual that I received with it and it does not reference a "Proof of Fire," does this happen to go by any other name?



There may be some confusion in the language being used (or maybe I'm mis-reading your post here), but the stove shutting down is not the same as the stove turning off. The shutdown sequence is that it 1) the stove stops feeding pellets, 2) the fire goes until all pellets are consumed, 3) the fan continues blowing until the stove is cool, 4) then it shuts off.

If the stove just turned off without going thru all the above steps, that would be a bad thing.


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## dr1492 (Oct 26, 2015)

kl74374 said:


> I recently had a St. Croix Afton Bay pellet stove installed.  For approximately 2 weeks everything worked fine, now pellets stop feeding.
> 
> The stove starts up fine, burns fine for a while but after approximately 30 minutes the auger stops automatically feeding the pellets.  I've tested the stove as much as I could to pinpoint the problem, but have run into a dead end.
> 
> The auger stops feeding the pellets automatically, but when the manual feed button is pressed the auger turns and feeds the pellets like normal, however it will not feed pellets automatically.  Does anyone know what the issue could be?


I'm having same issues with my stove, were you able to fix the issue with your stove. Had it serviced 3 times and still have not repaired my stove. Becoming very frustrated. Thx


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## Bioburner (Oct 26, 2015)

Did you by chance read the entire short thread? The stoves are pretty simple and straight forward.


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## dr1492 (Oct 27, 2015)

Replaced proof of fire switch. Still not working correctly. Put new control board in same issues. Luckily they let me return it.Will run fine for 10 minutes auger fills grate weldment at start but then auger light comes on but auger doesn't turn. Try manually and sometimes auger spins and drops pellets intermittent. Think need new auger motor.


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## stoveguy2esw (Oct 28, 2015)

is there a "door switch" in the system (usually a vacuum switch) if the board is sending the "command" but the auger is not turning , a switch inline with the auger circuit from the board could be interrupting. a faulty vacuum switch could be opening once the stove heats up due to the lowere pressure present in a hot stove versus that of a cold stove.

air temp and vacuum pressure at the same velocity are kinda "inversely proportional" so in the above scenario the stove feeds when cold due to the pressure for the switch being higher, but as the stove warms up (and the air moving through it does as well) the amount of generated vacuum pressure decreases as this air becomes less dense due to temperature. at some point the air becomes light enough that it does not pull enough vacuum to keep the switch satisfied and the switch opens cutting the auger circuit
if the switch does not recover quickly enough the stove could read the drop in temp as "out of fuel" and just go into a shutdown.


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## score6687 (Feb 9, 2016)

stoveguy2esw said:


> is there a "door switch" in the system (usually a vacuum switch) if the board is sending the "command" but the auger is not turning , a switch inline with the auger circuit from the board could be interrupting. a faulty vacuum switch could be opening once the stove heats up due to the lowere pressure present in a hot stove versus that of a cold stove.
> 
> air temp and vacuum pressure at the same velocity are kinda "inversely proportional" so in the above scenario the stove feeds when cold due to the pressure for the switch being higher, but as the stove warms up (and the air moving through it does as well) the amount of generated vacuum pressure decreases as this air becomes less dense due to temperature. at some point the air becomes light enough that it does not pull enough vacuum to keep the switch satisfied and the switch opens cutting the auger circuit
> if the switch does not recover quickly enough the stove could read the drop in temp as "out of fuel" and just go into a shutdown.




2006 st crap Afton bay doing this i jumped all the switches no good. Replaced board still no good. Cleaned out with high pressure air and leaf blower still same issue. Dealer says the auger motor is getting pretty hot when they looked at it and it may be quiting on me. That's next for me to replace. If not that then the 10 year old exhaust fan isn't spinning fast enough any more.


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## Gerry B (Feb 23, 2018)

I think i just figured out why after 10 minutes mine would shut down. After seeing someone mention exhaust i checked my stack to find the clean out was very full. Cleaned it throughly early season but now full. After cleaning we are back to peak performance.
I tried everything, proof of fire, all the usuals but never expected my chimney full so quickly. 
Good luck hope it helps


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## Bioburner (Feb 24, 2018)

Good to hear.  So many times the issue is that the poor stove is just constipated. 
Did you change pellet brand that may be a bit more ash? Most stoves need a minimum of the venting cleaning every ton.


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## Gerry B (Feb 25, 2018)

I did try a different brand, good heat but excessive ash then went back to my standby brand. I could see the difference in ash from the 2 brands in my chimney. Such an easy fix though. Figures its the last place I would think to check. Usually once a year but Ill keep that in mind. Sometimes it pays to hear ideas thrown out there. Thanks


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## Marsha Cook (Feb 27, 2018)

If I may jump in with a personal note. Harman  p61a. Auger quit but everything looked fine. I worked over the phone with my repair guy and did all the checks. He had me empty all the Pellets and we found the problem. Several lumps of Pellets! Somehow they got wet and formed solid balls. I hand checked all the Pellets, took out the pellet balls and have been fine ever since.

I should note that I have gone through two pallets since with no further problem,


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## bogieb (Mar 3, 2018)

Marsha Cook said:


> If I may jump in with a personal note. Harman  p61a. Auger quit but everything looked fine. I worked over the phone with my repair guy and did all the checks. He had me empty all the Pellets and we found the problem. Several lumps of Pellets! Somehow they got wet and formed solid balls. I hand checked all the Pellets, took out the pellet balls and have been fine ever since.
> 
> I should note that I have gone through two pallets since with no further problem,



I had that happen once with my P61a - naturally right after I filled the hopper (and extension).


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