Harman Insert Whistles when Auger rotates

[Tom Pencil]

After searching as to why this should happen and reading that Just a good cleaning in the burn pot is the likely answer.
I cleaned my stove and barely any clinker to speek of in the pot, and looks pretty clean.
Gasket looks in good shape around the door except maybe where the seam of the ends meet.
A week ago our electric went out at night. First time in 10 years (maybe just luck) We do have a surge protector but not a battery back-up on the stove.
Would this have caused the problem with the auger to make it whistle?
Stove runs great otherwise, just this annoying high pitch whine only when the auger rotates.
Temps outside are now in the mid 70s so I will have to wait till cooler weather to see if the cleaning helped any.

Stove is a 2004 Harman Accentra Insert.

 

[Tom Pencil]

Emptied the hopper so I could watch the slide plate and auger turn on initial start up. The whistle only is present just before and durning when the slideplate moves back to drop the pellets. Moving forward to close or stop the dropping of pellets whistle or whine is not present. Auger turns constantly so it is not the auger but some other part? Maybe the UL Feeder Pusher Arm on their wesite.

(broken link removed to http://www.hearthnhome.com/downloads/serviceParts/Accentra_Insert.pdf)

 

[Lousyweather]

The whistle could be a few things......check the auger retainer bolts, and ensure they are tight.....check to hopper lid gasket as well...if its not toight, when the auger rotates, air could be sucked in that way, making a noise. You've already checked the door gasket, so, Im assuming thats good. Also check for auger tube wear and deposits INSIDE the auger tube. Also, pull out the slide plate and clean that area....sometimes the slide plate contacts the edge of the feeder as it slides and makes a whistle-like noise. If you see a "rub", gently file it down A BIT. Also, some deposits such as fines or gum near the slide plate can throw it off too, causing noise. For the heck of it, while you are in there, check the fines door gasket as well! Good luck!

 

[lecomte38]

I "reworked" my slider plate removing all sharp edges and potential drag points. Then I dry lubed it. no mote noises.

 

[mascoma]

Before you go "reworking" anything. Make sure you you pop off the cover on the side of the feeder/slider box thingy and vac out all the fines.

I just had this issue on my P61 and was surprised this simple cleaning took care of it.

 

[Lousyweather]

Before you go "reworking" anything. Make sure you you pop off the cover on the side of the feeder/slider box thingy and vac out all the fines.

I just had this issue on my P61 and was surprised this simple cleaning took care of it.

In order to even check the slide plate, he has to do this.

 

[Tom Pencil]

Pulled the insert today and took off the feeder box cover. Maybe one teaspoon of fines, and removed slider plate. Did notice one spot weld that was shiney so filed it down a little then took steel wool to the entire surface. Been burning for an hour now and no whistle or whine as before. Thanks for the responses. Gotta go shut it down as it is too warm to be burning right now.

 

[camdids]

Interesting. I had a brief encounter with a "Whistle" but it only lasted a couple of feed times. Went away and never thought anymore of it. Maybe when I sut it down for the season I'll check out the Plate.

 

[Tom Pencil]

Thought I had it solved. Whistle started back up again just before I shut it down last night. Need to look deeper into it now. Gives me something to do on next rainy day.

 

[camdids]

Start of a new season and some of last years problems come around. dont know ifanyone ever found an answer to the whistle issue. i had it briefly last year and it stopped without getting a chance to investigate. had the stove on a few times so far and tonight after about an hour of burning it happened again. Sounds absolutely as the auger runs nd stops when it does. went on for about15 minutes then stopped. Because it stops by itself Im at a loss to know what to check. everything seems ok.
Any ideas

 

[tonyd]

Run it out of pellets and run it in the test mode. It might help isolate the noise. Can be build up under the auger. It won't whine until a section of the auger rides over the buildup and causes the auger to scrape the top of the auger tube. I pulled mine and wire wheeled the auger to look like new. Seek and you shall find. HTHS

 

[summit]

where the pusher arm mounts to the feeder, it is held in place by 2 brass bushings. Sometimes they fit tight on the steel rod, and These can cause the sound you are describing. A little silver never-seize paste in these can take care of it for you.

 

[sandpipe]

I had the same problem last year and expect to have it again at some point this heating season. I resolved the issue with spray hi-temp graphite which I purchased in Home Depot. With the stove off I spray the graphite up into the auger area making sure to hit the surfaces where the outside of the auger makes contact with its sleeve. I wait about 30 minutes before starting the stove back up. So far it has ended the high pitched squealing sound every time. (Last year I used Rocky Mountain pellets. This year I'm using Cubex).

 

[Lousyweather]

yep....sometimes that "whistle" is actually a high pitched squeel

 

[sandpipe]

So far with the cubex there has been no squeal. If it doesn't come back then perhaps all the fines that were present in the Rocky Mountain pellets were to blame. Actually I still have 3/4 ton of Rocky Mtn's so I will probably be able to run them exclusively for awhile to see if the high pitched annoying noise returns. Right now I'm just enjoying the cubex too much to switch back.

 

[trogers]

I have experienced a whistle when the auger moves on my accentra insert. I tried a thorough cleaning, cleaned out the fines from the slide box. After letting the pellets run out I found that it was a little build up inside the auger tube that was rubbing against the auger. The buidup was located about 1-1.5 inches into the tube so it was hard to notice with pellets in the tube. Once I removed that buildup everything was ok again. Does your accentra have the burn pot with the row of holes right outside the auger tube? I found that these air holes caused the pellets to burn before leaving the auger tube, which caused the build up. I used hi-temp auto exhaust repair liquid to plug the holes and I have had no whistle issues since. This fix has also resulted in much fewer clinkers down near the auger.

Good luck!

 

[trylon]

See link below, I solved my squeal-maybe give it a try.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/37113/