Background: Purchased stove in Sept 2008, started burning in Nov. and have gone through about 35 bags. About 2 weeks ago, the fire started to die, so I checked the hopper and there was that usual open funnel directly over the auger, you know, when the pellets get low and they don't sift down the sides. So I manually pushed them over to get the feed started again, but since it was late, and it looked like I'd need to restart to get the fire back, I just put it into shutdown and went to bed.
Next morning, about 5:30, I filled the hopper, started it up again and went back to bed. When I got up a couple hours later, the panel had an 'E-2' error, so I checked the burn pot and it looked like no fire due to no pellets. So, I removed the back panel and tried another startup, noticing that the lower auger motor was turning, and waited for the upper one to start. It never did, and the stove again went into error mode.
Next, I removed all the pellets from the hopper, and noticed that there was a lot of fine dust mixed with the pellets in the visible part of the upper auger. I shop-vacuumed all of this out, and tried to move the auger by reaching in from the hopper opening. It wouldn't turn at all clockwise, and turning it counter-clockwise (from the front), and releasing it, you could hear the motor drop down onto it's shelf (this sounded like the occasional 'clunking' I'd heard since new). I figured that this wasn't a good test anyway, since I would've been fighting the gear reduction on the motor by trying to turn the auger still connected. I reversed the leads to the motors, pushed the 'on' button, and saw that the upper one wasn't turning. After unplugging the stove, I then put my finger into the space on the motors between the armature and gearbox, and noticed that the lower one could easily be spun, but the upper was jammed solid.
Out came the DVD and I removed the motor from the stove and took it into the shop, thinking that there must be something inside the gearbox broken or stuck. Before disassembling, I used a small screwdriver and pushed gently on the edge of the armature, and lo and behold, the armature now spun freely. I made up a test lead and ran it from the wall socket for about 10 minutes, ran just fine. I put a couple of drops of light oil on the bushings, holding the motor assembly so it would drain into them, then put everything back together.
It's been running great ever since. I called tech support today to document this, and to ask if he thought there might have been a problem inside the gearbox, which to me, would justify a warranty replacement, so I can rest assured that I won't be out of heat if it goes bad again for good. He felt very sure that the problem was due to a particle of something lodged in the motor armature/core, and I probably dislodged it with the screwdriver. I didn't notice anything fall out on the bench, but accepted this as a valid explanation. He also said I could have tried this with the motor still on the stove, so I'll pass that tidbit along. I was afraid to break something inside the gearbox, but he didn't seem to be concerned about that possibility.
Bottom line is that Englander feel that these motors are quite well built and reliable, and most problems with them are not involved with the gearbox internals. Basically, if the gearbox fails, it would not be salvageable by turning the armature manually, it just wouldn't turn the output shaft at all when the input shaft is turned.
I'd like to know if anyone here has opened up one of these gearboxes, ideally with pictures showing how the motor shaft is connected to the first gear, and what is in there that could be repaired if necessary, since I consider myself capable of doing these types of repairs and would have to if the need arose. Even just temporarily waiting for a replacement motor.....and does this analysis sound right? Could something in there fail and then work again just by pushing on the armature? Like I said, I think I would have noticed a particle of pellet or whatever falling out right there on the bench if there was one.
Next morning, about 5:30, I filled the hopper, started it up again and went back to bed. When I got up a couple hours later, the panel had an 'E-2' error, so I checked the burn pot and it looked like no fire due to no pellets. So, I removed the back panel and tried another startup, noticing that the lower auger motor was turning, and waited for the upper one to start. It never did, and the stove again went into error mode.
Next, I removed all the pellets from the hopper, and noticed that there was a lot of fine dust mixed with the pellets in the visible part of the upper auger. I shop-vacuumed all of this out, and tried to move the auger by reaching in from the hopper opening. It wouldn't turn at all clockwise, and turning it counter-clockwise (from the front), and releasing it, you could hear the motor drop down onto it's shelf (this sounded like the occasional 'clunking' I'd heard since new). I figured that this wasn't a good test anyway, since I would've been fighting the gear reduction on the motor by trying to turn the auger still connected. I reversed the leads to the motors, pushed the 'on' button, and saw that the upper one wasn't turning. After unplugging the stove, I then put my finger into the space on the motors between the armature and gearbox, and noticed that the lower one could easily be spun, but the upper was jammed solid.
Out came the DVD and I removed the motor from the stove and took it into the shop, thinking that there must be something inside the gearbox broken or stuck. Before disassembling, I used a small screwdriver and pushed gently on the edge of the armature, and lo and behold, the armature now spun freely. I made up a test lead and ran it from the wall socket for about 10 minutes, ran just fine. I put a couple of drops of light oil on the bushings, holding the motor assembly so it would drain into them, then put everything back together.
It's been running great ever since. I called tech support today to document this, and to ask if he thought there might have been a problem inside the gearbox, which to me, would justify a warranty replacement, so I can rest assured that I won't be out of heat if it goes bad again for good. He felt very sure that the problem was due to a particle of something lodged in the motor armature/core, and I probably dislodged it with the screwdriver. I didn't notice anything fall out on the bench, but accepted this as a valid explanation. He also said I could have tried this with the motor still on the stove, so I'll pass that tidbit along. I was afraid to break something inside the gearbox, but he didn't seem to be concerned about that possibility.
Bottom line is that Englander feel that these motors are quite well built and reliable, and most problems with them are not involved with the gearbox internals. Basically, if the gearbox fails, it would not be salvageable by turning the armature manually, it just wouldn't turn the output shaft at all when the input shaft is turned.
I'd like to know if anyone here has opened up one of these gearboxes, ideally with pictures showing how the motor shaft is connected to the first gear, and what is in there that could be repaired if necessary, since I consider myself capable of doing these types of repairs and would have to if the need arose. Even just temporarily waiting for a replacement motor.....and does this analysis sound right? Could something in there fail and then work again just by pushing on the armature? Like I said, I think I would have noticed a particle of pellet or whatever falling out right there on the bench if there was one.
![[Hearth.com] Englander 25-PDVC upper auger motor problem](/talk/data/attachments/15/15500-026a2309b0cf4f49a4952fc0b4de1957.jpg?hash=fcCTX_b4ND)
