Hillside Wood Heat mailed me a warranty auger last week. Install was a quick 1/2 hour. The tip of my old auger was worn paper thin and bent all different ways from the fire in the tube for the first year of operation. There is some wear on the walls of the tube itself but not enough for me to worry about. I can see how the tube failures mentioned in other posts could happen if the fire is burning in the tube long enough. BLOCK THE 5 HOLES IF YOU HAVE THEM.