# Dreaded Harman Auger Squeal.



## TheMightyMoe (Nov 3, 2012)

So the lady calls me, says it's whistling so loud, she has to turn it off.

Come home turn it to test, sure enough, loud whistling. I would not wish this on anyone...

Checked the auger tip / surrounding area for build-up - Clean.

Opened up the fine box, and it was PACKED. I have not even been through a ton. Burning Blazers.

Vacuumed fine box, there were lot's of what appeared to be pellet ends in the box as well.

Put some 3-1 on a couple spots, but did not affect squeal at all..

Ill be calling my dealer tomorrow.

I do have a video but YouTube video up-loader is down for maintenance.

The sound only happens when the auger is turning. 

It is not coming from the pusher arm assembly.


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## gfreek (Nov 3, 2012)

Sorry you are having the "squeal" problem.  My Harman had the "squeal", warranty replacement of auger motor took care of it.. Service tech from dealer stocked them on his truck.... Good luck..


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## Delta-T (Nov 3, 2012)

95%+ of the time the squeel is a carbon mass at the mouth of the auger tube right where the burnpot mounts....carbon will build up in the lower corner of the burnpot and the auger rubs against it every time around...sounds like fingernails on chalkboard...I likes to use a flat headed screwdriver to knock that outta there.


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## mepellet (Nov 3, 2012)

TheMightyMoe said:


> So the lady calls me, says it's whistling so loud, she has to turn it off.
> 
> Come home turn it to test, sure enough, loud whistling. I would not wish this on anyone...
> 
> ...


Is the picture of the fines box what it looked like when you opened it up? Mine looks looked that after about 35 bags or so. I also get lots of the sort pellets in there liked you noticed.


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## TheMightyMoe (Nov 3, 2012)

Delta-T said:


> 95%+ of the time the squeel is a carbon mass at the mouth of the auger tube right where the burnpot mounts....carbon will build up in the lower corner of the burnpot and the auger rubs against it every time around...sounds like fingernails on chalkboard...I likes to use a flat headed screwdriver to knock that outta there.


 
I did a extensive cleaning there, but it was really clean. The squealing was coming from the back of the unit.

I called my dealer, asked if I could pull it apart, he said do it. Pulled the auger motor off, then the auger, cleaned it up, re-inserted it. I ran the motor alone, just to see what it sound's like, and it's pretty creaky. The auger being hand turned, is quiet (Other then pellets) 

The grease from the sealed auger bearing is leaking out a bit as well.

The unit is running quieter now.

Talking to dealer about replacement parts / if I need them.


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## TheMightyMoe (Nov 3, 2012)

Yes that's what fell out of fine box.


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## Delta-T (Nov 3, 2012)

you may also want to check the slide plate in the feeder body weldment (flat steel plate inside that box that catches the sawdust in your pic). Sometimes sawdust works it way under it and pushes it up against the roof of the feeder...it can also make a dreadful squeek, though its usually a very short sound, not a long kind of squeel.


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## TheMightyMoe (Nov 3, 2012)

It was mostly make the sound when not contacting the feeder pusher arm.

Video uploading now =)


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## TheMightyMoe (Nov 3, 2012)

Make sure your volume is maxed out, for realism.


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## camdids (Nov 3, 2012)

I had the Squeal Last year. I spent Two Hours and Three attempts cleaning around the Auger. Thought each time There was nothing left to clean. went in once more and really did a job all around the Blades of the Auger. Put it in Test Mode to turn the Auger, then Cleaned again. The Squeal Stopped. There can be enough hidden build up on The Auger Blades to rub against the Surround. Its hard to see anything so just scrape where you havent scraped.


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## gfreek (Nov 3, 2012)

Auger motor had to be under load for mine to squeal.  Tech put finger pressure on it and it squealed..


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## TheMightyMoe (Nov 3, 2012)

*Shrug* It's gone now, I did nothing to clean creosote, as the chute was clean. I do scrape the burn pot daily.

Pulled motor, and auger, cleaned auger, had a lot of fines/sawdust @ sealed bushing. (Possible cause) Vacuumed through the front of the chute to the back.

To pull the motor and auger, it is only 2 cover plates, and 2 bolts. I might make that part of my regular cleanings (Which by the amount of fines I had will be around every 30 bags)

I am very glad I did not do the minimal install with heat shields!


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## lessoil (Nov 4, 2012)

When we had a squeal problem, I found the source also in the fines box area. As I remember, there are a couple of bronze bushings which support the auger shaft. Lubricated the bushing area and squeal stopped. Going by memory on this one. Probably did this about 2 years ago.


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## gfreek (Nov 4, 2012)

lessoil said:


> As I remember, there are a couple of bronze bushings which support the auger shaft. Lubricated the bushing area and squeal stopped.


 Won't the lubrication attract fines??


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## Hoot23 (Nov 4, 2012)

Mine Squealed like that last spring when it burned with a low flame for a long period of time. It's the carbon at the end of the auger. Try turning it up the heat to 80 and let it blast. Goes away in about 10 minutes.


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## TheMightyMoe (Nov 4, 2012)

The bushing is sealed on the shaft so I didn't lube that, just cleaned it. I lubed 2 points inside the fine box, with literally 2 drops each.

Hoot- I did high fire it first, but that did nothing.

I'm positive it is NOT carbon at the end of the auger, as mentioned before. I pulled the whole auger, and there was no build up at the end of the auger or chute.


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## exoilburner (Nov 5, 2012)

Delta-T said:


> you may also want to check the slide plate in the feeder body weldment (flat steel plate inside that box that catches the sawdust in your pic). Sometimes sawdust works it way under it and pushes it up against the roof of the feeder...it can also make a dreadful squeek, though its usually a very short sound, not a long kind of squeel.


 
That is what fixed mine.  When my Harman starts this I empty the pellets out of the hopper, turn it to test and vacuum around the slide plate as it cycles with the shop vac.  So far that has fixed it every time.


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## John Hartshorn (Dec 1, 2013)

My P38++ is starting it's fifth season and has burned 18 tons to date. I had the notorious squeal from the auger with increasing frequency the last two years and managed to get rid of it for shorter and shorter intervals by mixing about a quarter teaspoon of powdered graphite (can buy in bulk at an art supply place much cheaper than the little tubes at the hardware store) with a cup or so of pellets and feeding in through. This year the problem became intractable so I did a long web search and saw half a dozen solutions ranging from basic cleaning to machining the auger or welding vibration dampers to it. Decided to start with something simple and discovered the fines box beside the auger was packed full. After cleaning this out the sound has gone away and I've burned about 20 bags since. My advice: start with the simple stuff. If you haven't cleaned the fines box this may be all you need to do. Keep warm!


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## fmsm (Dec 1, 2013)

I had the squeal for the first time Friday night. It happened when I cranked the stove up for about an hour to compensate for the overnight drop and heat the house up. I had flipped it to stove setting at about 5 or 6 setting and she was throwing out some serious heat! After an hour my wife starts with the stove is making a funny noise, turned it down(as it was warm) and returned the settings to normal haven't heard a peep since.


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## Lousyweather (Dec 1, 2013)

Delta-T said:


> 95%+ of the time the squeel is a carbon mass at the mouth of the auger tube right where the burnpot mounts....carbon will build up in the lower corner of the burnpot and the auger rubs against it every time around...sounds like fingernails on chalkboard...I likes to use a flat headed screwdriver to knock that outta there.



and 3-1/2% of the time its a pellet caught in the REAR flight of the auger, crammed against the bearing....if you unhook the feed motor, try and turn the auger by hand in both directions....night dislodge it...otherwise, pull the auger, check for a pellet jammed between the helix and the bearing.


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## TheMightyMoe (Dec 5, 2013)

I haven't had the problem since I went through my stove, see my signature for my resolution.


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## silverfox103 (Dec 5, 2013)

I can't put my fingers on it right now, but I remember there's a member who had the same problem and it turned out to be a harmonic noise.  He cured it by adding a couple of spot welds between the auger and the shaft.  That cured the problem.  Maybe someone will have the link.

Tom C.


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## The Grintch (Dec 5, 2013)

My worst nightmare.  Getting woken up at 4:00 am to my stove SQUEALING!!


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## mikkeeh (Dec 5, 2013)

This is a good read.    https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/harman-xxv-squeal-finally-solved-no-really.114271/

Makes perfect sense to me.


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## bmanMA (Dec 30, 2014)

Ran into the squeal on my p61A, figured I'd add my findings to this thread. 
Been having a squeal that was intermittent and progressively worsened to the point that I had to shut it down as it became constant as in the video.

So, thanks to @TheMightyMoe I got up the courage to pull the auger out.  The bottom 20% or so of the tube had some high spots dispersed here and there, top and bottom.  Used a wire wheel brush and a 11" flexible bit holder I got from HD to clean it down smooth.  Also cleaned up the auger, but didn't remove any material.  Must say, the high spots were pronounced.  Not sure how Harman can claim it's a cleanliness problem as it's not serviceable without pulling the auger.  Also unsure if there's anything that can be done to prevent it.

Anyhow, so far so good, knock on wood, etc.


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## TheMightyMoe (Dec 31, 2014)

Glad I could help, so far so good for a lot of people. 

Never let your stove run out if pellets.

Don't forget to empty your fine box monthly.


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## bmanMA (Dec 31, 2014)

Yes, thanks and so far, so good, still (coming up on 18 hours of continual usage since I got it back together and running).

Wondering  if auto mode usage during this warmer than usual shoulder season could also have some impact on this...
That is, is the [heat->cool->off->heat...] cycling worsening the accumulation of carbon in the lower portion of the tube (where it would see the largest temp swings)?

In any case it seems to me that I need to add the auger-pull maneuver to my season-ending cleaning.


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## bmanMA (Feb 11, 2015)

And it's back.  Grrr.


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## Bioburner (Feb 11, 2015)

Couple members have had success in getting rid of the squeal by adding some graphite to a couple cups of pellets and running through.


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## bmanMA (Feb 11, 2015)

Thanks, shall give it a whirl.

Thinking ahead for my next major cleaning, does anyone have a link handy for a wire wheel that fits snugly in the tube?
Last time I cleaned the tube I had an undersized wheel on a flex shaft on my drill - worked OK but would prefer a snugger fit.  
Also will pay more attention to the flutes as I didnt do anything to them.  What are people using to clean up the flutes?

There were def. carbon high spots in the tube last time I did this.  I'll hope the graphite buys me some more time.


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## TheMightyMoe (Feb 12, 2015)

I haven't had the problem since, wish I could offer more help.

I scrape everyday with the Harman tool, and every 2-3 weeks I let the pellets run out and get any other build up real good with a screwdriver.

I have currently went around 3 tons without a real cleaning, I did empty the fines box twice. It is getting time though, ash can getting full.


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## gfreek (Feb 12, 2015)

Been using powder graphite and when cleaning I spray creosote remover on the auger and in tube..


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## bmanMA (May 23, 2015)

Got away with using graphite powder (still using on cold mornings) in about every other load.  A few times I could hear it coming on and the graphite silenced it.


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## Funnydirt14 (May 28, 2015)

bmanMA said:


> Got away with using graphite powder (still using on cold mornings) in about every other load.  A few times I could hear it coming on and the graphite silenced it.


How much graphite were you using each time?


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## Bioburner (May 29, 2015)

I would try using a couple tablespoons to a couple cups of pellets and let them run through a empty hopper. The graphite  can be  dirty so wear disposable gloves and carefully pour into the feed mechanism. It keeps the Bixby biscuit cutter system nice and quiet and running smoothly and the corn from sticking to the bottom burn plate.


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## fedtime (May 29, 2015)

Others have said that running the stove on low temps can cause the squeal - my experience is that this is correct.  I've tried all of the corrective measures - graphite (works well, but dirty and only lasts a short time); scrape the auger tube (works, but you have to be thorough); clean the fines box (rarely a factor in my case).

But I've also found that the pellets I burn is a factor.  For example, Eastern Embers seem to cause the squealing problem (especially at low temps), while Trebios don't seem to cause squealing at any temp, high or low. 

Bottom line: my experience suggests changing up pellet brand to see if that helps.


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## bmanMA (Jul 12, 2015)

Funnydirt14 said:


> How much graphite were you using each time?


A couple of squirts from the bottle every /every other load.  I'd just let the pellets run down low (a few cups left I'd guess) and mix it in with the top of the graphite bottle right at the bottom of the hopper, then pile another bag on top. I'd guess less than a teaspoon, not really sure.  Figured I'd rather do a smaller dose more often than a larger dose less often.  Worked out well.... that being said I just pulled my auger yesterday and will clean out the tube and wire brush the first few turns of the auger blade which does have some 'sote on it.


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## TheMightyMoe (Jul 23, 2015)

This post is constantly resurrected and I get messages about it. Anyways just a reminder:

Here is the link for my resolution (Also in my signature)

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...queal-pulling-auger-motor.93917/#post-1236509

May your home be empty of squeals this coming season!


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