Feed Motor Longevity
Posted: Tue. Jan. 22, 2013 10:30 pm
Having just replaced my 2nd feed motor in 2 years here's some tips to keep them going a long time.Improper maintenance is my determination of cause for failure.Symptoms are turning coaltrol feed rate up,then up again,and again, and having the fire size slowly shrinking over days until you're at minimum burn on max feed rate=no real heat.The motor eventually seizes. Cure=empty hopper,remove feed motor,remove the feed plate that the motor moves back and forth,turn plate over and find rust and carbon buildup on bottom resulting in excessive friction overloading feed motor and destroying it.Steel wool and a file smooth everything out,take the sharp edges off the stamped metal too,check burn plate(one with the holes)for corrosion and pitting creating friction/binding,steel wool the chute at bottom of hopper to remove light rust,coat lightly with mobil1 fully synthetic and put it all back together,coaltrol mx feed rate setting is now 26 and giving a plate full of fire,works better than new.Hope my problem helps you avoid the same thing.