# Auger Jam....Mt Vernon AE.....Need Help



## LMPS (Oct 5, 2013)

Hi All, 
Need some help.  I fired the stove up for the first time today and had a fire going then  the stove through an error message- Auger Jam.  I did use a bag of pellets that were damaged in shipping and had some larger pellets, I thought I had gotten them all out but must not have.  Anyways, I have cleaned out the hopper twice and there is no jam with the Auger in that area.  I used the vacuum and stuck the hose up the drop tube to try and get at it that way.  No luck

On start up when the auger trays to start I am hearing some popping/cracking and it is not dropping pellets.

So, anyone know how to clear an Auger Jam?  Any help would be appreciated, I leave Monday for a week on business and really want the stove running for the wife while I am gone. Thank you


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## john193 (Oct 5, 2013)

Try a metal clothes hanger? Or a long handled screwdriver into the drop tube.


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## stoveguy13 (Oct 5, 2013)

take off the right side panel (sheet metal part) looking at the stove you will be able to see the feed motor it is held in with two screws top and bottom remove the screws and you will be able to move the auger in and out a bit dont take it out to far, because it is still attached to the board. if this doesnt work follow the wires back  towards the left side of the stove and there will be a connection that you can separate so you can take the auger ass. all the way out.


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## LMPS (Oct 5, 2013)

Much appreciated.  Tried the coat hanger and got some out but much be more of a jam as it did the same thing when I restarted it.

I will try taking the screws out tomorrow........want to watch the Red Sox game.......don't need the stove tonight....wife can keep me warm  tonight 

Thanks for the quick replies


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## LMPS (Oct 6, 2013)

I undid the screw holding the auger motor in and moved in all around, up down, sideways, tapped it off the sides of the drop tube.  
Started it back up and same thing happened.  Before I go to the extend of tracing the wires and removing it completely I was wondering if anything else could be causing this besides a jam?  Just seems to me that  after moving the auger around like I did that any jam would have been resolved.
Any other thoughts on this?  Thank you


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## smwilliamson (Oct 6, 2013)

You most likely need a new rotation sensor. Top of the the auger assembly there is a proximity sensor that counts voids I a round metal plate and therefore knows  the auger is spinning. $52 dollar part that should t be there to begin with. Welcome to the world of mt Vernon sensor failure.


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## smwilliamson (Oct 6, 2013)

Your auger motor could also be spinning backwards. If you are hearing a clicker noise that could very well be it. The spring should be spinning CCW looking at the motor shaft


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## LMPS (Oct 6, 2013)

smwilliamson said:


> Your auger motor could also be spinning backwards. If you are hearing a clicker noise that could very well be it. The spring should be spinning CCW looking at the motor shaft



This sounds more like it, as after the motor clicks on, and the auger seems like it is trying to spin and I hear a clicker noise.  
Any suggestion on how to fix this?


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## stoveguy13 (Oct 6, 2013)

Replace the sensor as scott said also may need to replace the motor if you have a dealer near that can come plug in and test the motor it will be  the fast's way to get to the bottom of it.


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## LMPS (Oct 6, 2013)

Ok we took out the auger and as suspected no jam.  Seems the motor is fine as the auger is spinning fine.  So seems to the sensor.

Is there any way to jump/bypass the sensor to test it?


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## john193 (Oct 6, 2013)

Have you tried cleaning the optical sensor? Sometimes the dust build up over time is what does it in. There were a few users here who have had success with a cleaning. Here is what got on a quick search. 

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/mt-vernon-optical-eye.64845/page-2

The iburncorn forums also have some info about this.


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## LMPS (Oct 6, 2013)

john193 said:


> Have you tried cleaning the optical sensor? Sometimes the dust build up over time is what does it in. There were a few users here who have had success with a cleaning. Here is what got on a quick search.
> 
> https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/mt-vernon-optical-eye.64845/page-2
> 
> The iburncorn forums also have some info about this.



Thank you.  Yes, we took it off and cleaned it, no luck.  Thanks for the suggestion and information


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## LMPS (Oct 6, 2013)

Any suggestions on where I can buy a rotation sensor?


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## stoveguy13 (Oct 6, 2013)

Try Buy the Fire Oxford ME or you can also try stove world.com


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## LMPS (Oct 6, 2013)

Ok I have tried these.  Any other suggestions on were to fine this part?  What is the exact name of it?  Sorry, for all the questions


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## stoveguy13 (Oct 6, 2013)

i think they call it an optical sensor.


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## MountainSean (Oct 7, 2013)

LMPS said:


> Ok I have tried these.  Any other suggestions on were to fine this part?  What is the exact name of it?  Sorry, for all the questions


You can google the part number,  7034-038 and that should get you some results.


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## slls (Oct 7, 2013)

Coastal Maine covers lots of real estate. Quad dealers I know of.

207-622-6040  augusta
207-846-9030 yarmouth
207-947-7072 bangor


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## serveprotect (Oct 8, 2013)

What year is your stove?  My brand new mt Vernon had a bad optical sensor last year.  I spoke with a rep from quad and it sounded like they have had a few issues with the sensors.  Luckily its a cheap and easy fix but there must have been a bad batch or defective line of them.  I replaced mine and it fixed the issue immediately.  The faulty sensor I replaced was clean.  I had only put 1 ton through the stove.


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## smwilliamson (Oct 8, 2013)

slls said:


> Coastal Maine covers lots of real estate. Quad dealers I know of.
> 
> 207-622-6040  augusta
> 207-846-9030 yarmouth
> 207-947-7072 bangor


3500 miles of coastline!


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## LMPS (Oct 13, 2013)

I all sorry for the delayed response I have been away on business for a week.  I got the new sensor on Friday and put it in.  FIXED! Got Fire now!  Thank you so much for all your help, much appreciated.
The stove is a 2008 MT Vernon AE and its the first time this part has gone.
Again appreciate all the help.


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## Peter Martin (Jan 1, 2014)

I've got a weird problem.  My Mt. Vernon AE works fine for a week or two and then I get the auger jam message.  If I take the auger out and clear the hopper, the stove then works again for a couple of weeks before the auger jam happens again.  My pellets are fine (I have a Castille that eats the same pellets and never gives me any issues).  I can't believe I accumulate that many fines in a couple of weeks.  I can usually get the stove to start if I reset it (unplug it) a couple of times, but I'm just wondering why I get the message so frequently.  I've had the stove for 3 years now and this problem has just developed in the last couple of months.  One more thing.  The problem seems to happen after the stove has been off for awhile and is turned back on after not running for at least a day.  When I come back from being gone, and turn on the stove, that's when the jams seem to happen.  Once I get the thing running again, it seems to stay running, even after the autoclean cycle.

Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks,


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## LMPS (Jan 2, 2014)

Peter,  might suggest starting a new thread you might get a better response.


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## Madcodger (Jan 2, 2014)

Peter,

If you don't get some decent ideas in the next day or so, I think I would call Quad or a local dealer.  I'm no expert on the AE despite owning one as well, and other than a bad / misaligned auger the only thing I can think of is that the fines are sort of gluing together from sitting for so long (and that's admittedly a stretch).

It seems the two variables that correlate are time stove is inactive (supporting something with pellets / fines adhering to each other) and temperature (doesn't happen once you get the stove going).  I wonder what would happen if, when you next return, you did a manual start of the stove (handful of pellets added to pot with a little fire gel and a match)?  That would warm it just a little to start.


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## hearthtools (Dec 30, 2014)

I had a customer with the same problem this week. first time working on one of these way over done on sesors stoves.. he kept getting auger jam messages so when I ran the stove I seen the auger turned one way for the first then rotate the other way.. the motor stayed on for a few minutes but no pellets feeding.. I pulled the optical sensor off and it was clean. put back on and same thing but after a few cycles the stove started feeding but I did not note the rotation of auger.. 
Is it normal for it to rotate one way then the other way on start up?  

the stove worked ok for a few days then auger jam code again. then he got it to work again. and has been working for a day

do we need a Optical sensor or the control board giving wrong direction
also when I was there the thermostat board kept going to some weird info screen that I cant find in the manual


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## kappel15 (Dec 30, 2014)

The AE will try and reverse if it senses it is jammed, to try and clear it. Lots of times the gears go bad in the auger assy. kap


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## john193 (Dec 31, 2014)

kappel15 said:


> The AE will try and reverse if it senses it is jammed, to try and clear it. Lots of times the gears go bad in the auger assy. kap



Kappel15, lately my feed motor has been making the clicking sound when running. Seems to happen when the stove is running on a lower setting and I know it's the feed motor because the noise ceases when I lift the hopper lid. I did a search and it seems to be a compliant of the MVAE but I couldn't find a resolution. A few enteries I read suggested that this is how it is on some of these motors. Any thoughts? Thanks.


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## kappel15 (Dec 31, 2014)

That is exactly what it is.  Been that way from the beginning. Makes that noise on low speeds, like  on start up till it hits ssmed. Been  a frustration to a lot of us. kap


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## Mikebar22 (Dec 29, 2015)

kappel15 said:


> The AE will try and reverse if it senses it is jammed, to try and clear it. Lots of times the gears go bad in the auger assy. kap


I've been fighting this same issue with my AE insert. I've cleaned auger and tube, replaced optical sensor, checked wiring etc. Still getting an auger jam error...auger is spinning fine. Aargh! Any other suggestions? Stove is 2007, never had any issues.


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## kappel15 (Dec 29, 2015)

What rev control board do you have? White sticker on it has #. Should be an SRV7000- something. Let us know, and then we can go from there. kap


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## Wilbur Feral (Dec 30, 2015)

Hi Kap,

I don't want to hijack the thread as Mikebar22's jammed auger is more serious than my problem, but since the two problems are similar, I'll ask:  Is the clicking feed motor at low speeds a sign of on impending failure, or just a nuisance that is peculiar to the MVAE?  Ours has done it for quite some time (multiple seasons) but the warm temps this year have us running at low settings often, so I think we notice it more.  And if it's just a nuisance, is there a fix?  Wondering if I need to replace it, or just accept that this is a MVAE quirk.  Thanks in advance.


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## kappel15 (Dec 30, 2015)

The clicking motor is standard operating procedure, much to most peoples annoyance(me included). The way these motors were built, leads to the noise on low settings, or until you reach ssmed. on higher settings. Wish there was a fix as it is sad with all the other advances they did to make this one of the quietest running stoves, that they didn't address this. kap


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## Wilbur Feral (Dec 31, 2015)

kappel15 said:


> The clicking motor is standard operating procedure, much to most peoples annoyance(me included). The way these motors were built, leads to the noise on low settings, or until you reach ssmed. on higher settings. Wish there was a fix as it is sad with all the other advances they did to make this one of the quietest running stoves, that they didn't address this. kap


Got it.  Thank you.  And, yep, it's the most annoying thing about the MVAE.


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## hooter04 (Dec 31, 2015)

Auger motor is weak possibly need new one.Did same to me.


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## Wilbur Feral (Jan 1, 2016)

hooter04 said:


> Auger motor is weak possibly need new one.Did same to me.


On MVAE, or another stove?


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## smwilliamson (Jan 9, 2016)

kappel15 said:


> The clicking motor is standard operating procedure, much to most peoples annoyance(me included). The way these motors were built, leads to the noise on low settings, or until you reach ssmed. on higher settings. Wish there was a fix as it is sad with all the other advances they did to make this one of the quietest running stoves, that they didn't address this. kap


<b>Preface:I don't recommend doing this unless you have a spare motor or just want to tinker</b>
The clicking you hear in the motor is a misnaleinment of the primary and secondary gear in the motor itself. If you were to take this motor apart, do so by removing the motor and auger so you just the motor on a bench. Additional note: there were two motor styles and I'm speaking to the most recent motor that is black with a silver screwed on casing, this one needs to be taken apart. The older motor was silver and white and has a compression clip over the top of it. If the old style is clicking try applying a c clamp on the motors from the base and tightening down with just a wee little bit of pressure. Clicking should subside, the expose metal compression clip that holds the two motors together loses its force as the motor feels stress from use. Stress goes away and the clip gets stretched. Mount it back with the c clamp attached.

Back to the newer style motor....

Once you get it on a bench you need to flip it over and remove the 3 Phillips screws. Very very gently you need to pull the motor away until you can see the gears inside the black casing. At the very bottom, under the primary and secondary gear you will see a triangular piece of metal that is convex kinda like a bolen washer. Actually, it's a round washer-like spring but has three tabs equidistant that props the gear up off the motor base. It's brass. Under pressure from the feed system the gears ride down and this spring can get mushed down into the grease and then it either gets flattened or the grease hold it down via suction. When this happens the primary and secondary gears clip each other and that is the ticking you hear. In 1 of 3 motors I inspected I was able to replace the spring washers (there are actually two, one under the primary and one between the primary and secondary gear) with a very very thin metal washer that I bent slightly with pliers to suspend the gears.

The trick is putting this all back together. Truthfully I've had more success with a Rubics Cube, but there you go, that's the issue.


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## hooter04 (Jan 9, 2016)

I kept old motor which is the black with silver casing with spring clip.I will try tho if it works I will have a spare.


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## Wilbur Feral (Jan 10, 2016)

Well, I'll try a lot of things, but that may be beyond what I want to do until at least the end of the season (especially with a 1:3 success rate by a pro).  I find that if I just run the stove on Manual Medium it goes away.  It's when we run in auto and it runs at speeds below Medium (which auto tends to do, especially in warmer weather) that we hear the clicking. We would prefer to run it on auto, but the clicking is incredibly annoying, so manual it is.  Eats through more pellets when temps are over 35 or so, but at least I'm not ready to smack the stove all the time.

This is a manufacturing / design defect, but one that tends to show up after year 1.  Buyers of MVAEs out of warranty should be aware of this.  Heck, I guess buyers of ANY of these over-complicated stoves should be aware of it.  Live and learn...  Great stove, but with some definite flaws.  This is another of them.

Thanks for the info, Steve.  Greatly appreciated.


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## smwilliamson (Jan 10, 2016)

Wilbur Feral said:


> Well, I'll try a lot of things, but that may be beyond what I want to do until at least the end of the season (especially with a 1:3 success rate by a pro).  I find that if I just run the stove on Manual Medium it goes away.  It's when we run in auto and it runs at speeds below Medium (which auto tends to do, especially in warmer weather) that we hear the clicking. We would prefer to run it on auto, but the clicking is incredibly annoying, so manual it is.  Eats through more pellets when temps are over 35 or so, but at least I'm not ready to smack the stove all the time.
> 
> This is a manufacturing / design defect, but one that tends to show up after year 1.  Buyers of MVAEs out of warranty should be aware of this.  Heck, I guess buyers of ANY of these over-complicated stoves should be aware of it.  Live and learn...  Great stove, but with some definite flaws.  This is another of them.
> 
> Thanks for the info, Steve.  Greatly appreciated.


No problem Richard


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