Help! Santa Fe's auger not turning!

[caseyclan]

Greetings!
I had a Santa Fe (freestanding) installed early November and it has run fairly flawlessly until today. Today was the day to clean all 3 stoves (I have 2 Classic Bay inserts upstairs and the Santa Fe downstairs). I gave the Santa Fe a thorough cleaning, plugged her back in, hit the reset but no pellets. Hmmm, I thought. So, make sure there were plenty of pellets (there were), hit the reset again, but nothing. So, I empty the hopper down to the point where I can see the auger. Each time I hit the reset, the auger does NOT turn. I reach down to see if there were any long pellets stuck in the auger, but none. It was obviously working fine earlier as my fingering the auger caused some pellets to drop down the chute into the firepot. The fire started fairly quickly soon after and burned until the pellets were consumed - but the auger never turned. It has never done this before. I read the manual, and it mentions snap disc #2 as a possible cause. it also mentions a red reset button associated with snap disc #2 but I have looked this stove up and down but there is NO red reset button inside the stove that I can find. Also, it states that there would be 2 orange wires going to the snap disc but the only thing that matches the diagram that highlights where the snap disc should be (1 and 2) has purple wires going to it. Obviously, the repair guy is out for the holidays and I would like to have some heat downstairs again, so any input would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

hopefully a fanta fe owner will be along to help, im just bumping you back to the top, but if you reach to the auger itself will it even wiggle slightly? or is it firmly unmoving when you try to do this, you could have a jam up in the front of the auger where you cannot reach it.

 

[caseyclan]

stoveguy2M
The auger wiggles freely without a problem. Very curious ... and frustrating. Merry Christmas (eve)!

 

[www_godzilla]

I'll be getting the same stove on the 9th of January. I hope I don't have the same issue. I'll be keeping my eye on this one. I hope you get it fixxed soon. I know how frustrating it can be. Good luck and Merry Christmas

 

[stoveguy2esw]

here is a trick you might try to see if you are getting power to the motor , no meter needed. but it would involve removal of the cover panel allowing access to the auger motor itself.

the auger motor assy consists of a gearbox with a small electric motor atached to it. the black part of the motor (usually called the "stack" ) is essentially a magnet when it is receiving power. to see if it is receiving power , use any piece of metal which would stick to the magnet turn the unit on as you normally would this should send power to the motor intermittantly to cycle the auger. during the time the auger should be running if the motor is receiving power it should magnetize noticably.

if the magnetism is present then the issue is in the motor or is a jam (though your wiggle in the auger kinda belies that possibility) if there is no magnetism , then the snapdisk that interrupts it is bad (to confirm , jump the two wires plugged to it together and see if the motor runs) if nothing else it would help get you up and running faster if you have confirmed what the issue is. if it turns out to be the motor , i know some tricks which may help you free it back up and get some use out of it at least maybe as long as it takes to get it replaced anyway. as for the interupt switch or snapdisk , i cant advise you to run with that disconnected or bypassed as i do not know what its total function or reason for existance is and i would hate to advocate somthing unsafe or that could damage your unit.


for a more detailed asisst you will need to hear from an owner or tech familiar with that particular stove line , i do not even have a manual for that stove to referrence so my suggestions are kinda "basic troubleshooting" and not from knowledge of that unit.
the red arrow in the attachment is pointing to the "stack' of a typical auger motor, this is what will magnetize stay clear of the wire connections though.
hope this helps ya

 

[caseyclan]

stoveguy2, thanks for the suggestions. I wish a Santa Fe owner would offer input on the location of the red reset button for the snap disc #2 - I cannot find it anywhere.

 

[firewarrior820]

i have a castile are they same set up as far as snap discs?Thermostat Override) 175t°F
Snap disc #2 is also located on the right side of the appliance
below snap disc #1 and has a red reset button. There are 2
orange wires connected to it. This snap disc will turn off the
feed system, which will turn off the appliance if an overfire
condition should occur or if the convection blower should fail

 

[peirhead]

No chance this is a lack of vacuum issue?...working before cleaning, not after...how about the vacuum sensor..maybe it got plugged? or maybe some pieces didn't get put back quite right and there is an air leak.

 

[caseyclan]

i have a castile are they same set up as far as snap discs?Thermostat Override) 175t°F
Snap disc #2 is also located on the right side of the appliance
below snap disc #1 and has a red reset button. There are 2
orange wires connected to it. This snap disc will turn off the
feed system, which will turn off the appliance if an overfire
condition should occur or if the convection blower should fail

It is my understanding that the Castile and the Santa Fe are the same stove (on the inside). In fact, my manual for the stove says exactly what you described: there should be 2 orange wires connecting to the snap disc #2 and there should be a red reset button, but I cannot find any red reset button anywhere, nor do I see orange wires.

Is there a way to determine if the vacuum is working correctly without having the auger running? Would a fire burn in the firbox xorrectly if there were a vacuum problem?

 

[peirhead]

according to the schematic in the manual the vacuum switch is in line with the snap disk #2 so it could be either but since the snap disk is thermal and the problem occured after cleaning (no heat) I would suspect a vacuum issue.

 

[marc_t]

I second what Peirhead said: Make sure everything got put back together correctly (especially the gasket around the door). This is probably a vacuum issue or the snap disk needs to be reset. The "red" reset button is misleading. This reset button is located on the snap disk directly, in between the two wire connectors - just push it in. I have a Castile and the manual also says that two orange wires come off of it, but in reality only one of the wires is orange.

If none of this clears it up and you're sure that the entire stove is cleaned (including the exhaust vents/pipes), the problem may be that the tube leading to the vacuum switch is clogged. On the Castile this tube connects directly to the auger. You can disconnect it and make sure its not clogged. And you may also want to stick the end of a paper clip in the hole that connects to the auger to make sure its also not clogged.

If all of the above fails, you'll have to debug it further with a volt and ohm meter.

/marc