Alaska Channing 111 Combustion Motor

I had replaced the combustion motor and plastic combustion wheel Jan. 2015. today when I was doing a little clean up before starting it up for the season I noticed something strange. When I removed the airmotor tray to clean the motor and plastic wheel I saw that the plastic wheel had begun to melt in one spot. This is the same thing that happened last January. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem, I'm going to call Alaska on Monday and see what they have to say. It really is a pain trying to replace the plastic combustion wheel, last year I ended up replacing the whole tray because the motor was shot.

I have not pulled mine on the channing yet the kast same stoker unit is fine and has been for 12 years, the channing I bought used its 3 years old, last year no sign of that. If the fire was burning to far up the grate, a weak strongback gasket,fines accumulated under the grate are the only things I can think of that would cause that. These things could let excess heat build in the area and warp the plastic wheel. Let us know what alaska has to say

I spoke to Alaska today and this is what they had to say. The combustion wheel is made out of plastic for safety reasons. If there was a serious problem with the draft the wheel would melt and shut down the stove. If the stove is shut down incorrectly the heat could move from the stove back to the plastic wheel and cause it to melt in one spot. When I shut down my stove I move the burning coal from the grate to the ash pan and let the stove continue to run for 15 minutes. I would think if you had a power failure if could cause the wheel to melt. Well anyway I will be making another trip to my dealer, a 50 minute trip to pick up a new wheel. Alaska also said not to run the stove with the wheel melted because it will be out of balance and could cause the combustion motor to fail.

So has anyone been able to find a better Combustion blower motor then the Oem Bay Motor ? Mine started making a noise again so today I took it all apart and put some 3 in 1 Oil in upper and lower caps and noise is gone but not sure for how long because the noise started 3 seasons ago and I've been just taking it apart 1 time per season and lubing it but today I had lube it again so its the 2nd time this season so I need to start looking for a new one and if there is 1 better then this oem I'd like to get it , this one is oem so 8 years old this season , bought stove 2015 so winter 2015 was my 1st year using this stove. It runs from Mid September to Late May every season.

You don't need a better one, mine is 16 years old, keep the paddle wheel clean and oil the shaft and over all clean the unit once a year. Mine runs 5 ton thru it per year from Oct till may

Correction ,,,, mine is more like 19 years old,

I do keep a spare just in case

Ok so even though every once in a while motor gets a little noiser it will last a bit longer ? That's crazy yours is that old and working yet .

Maybe my manufacturing was a bit better who knows why some things last longer. This I know, Alaskan does not cut corners never have the parts are top notch but it's always a good idea to keep spare parts