Coalpail.com Forum

I recently bought a home in Hazleton Pa, so this is my first winter with coal heat.

I've only just found this forum, so I pretty much stumbled through the operation of my EFM stoker on my own.

I woke up this morning to a cold house, a result of a no feed situation. My stoker, which I can only assume is an EFM 520 (?) seems to have snapped the auger in half. After removing all the coal from a 55 gallon drum, I pulled 3/4 of the broken auger out, and removed the remaining section by taking out a cotter pin by the gear mechanism and pushing it through the tube, away from the gear. I apologize if I don't know the normal terminology.

I tried calling around to local heating supply places, and it seems no one has an auger ... and some didnt even know what I was talking about. I called my coal man, who gave me a local plumber to call, but I have not received a call back, as I was not able to get hold of anyone and had to leave a message,

My house is currently 41 degrees, and It's fair to say I'm getting pretty effing nervous without heat. I'll be lucky to afford just the auger, definitely cant afford to replace any pipes.

I'm hoping someone can steer me in the right direction here. I'm completely clueless as to where I can get an auger on a saturday afternoon, and I'm afraid if I can't find one today, I'll be SOL on a sunday, and stuck with frozen/burst pipes by tomorrow night.

If you can't find an auger, you might be able to get the auger repaired.
You have both halves. Find a small shop that can sleeve and weld it.
That might hold you for a while. Make sure the shear pin is not a harden bolt.
There are lots of EFM guys on the forum, but just may not be online.

I'm not even sure what the shear pin is. I've moved here from arizona, and honestly have never even had to worry about heating a home before now.

I;m not sure of the model furnace, and I don't have any type of owners manual, guide, or even a friend to ask. i'm not even sure what type of shop could repair this, so I'm pretty much screwed, I think.

here's a few pics of what I have ... as you can see the shaft snapped about the second turn, closest to the gear mechanism.

Most EFM owners have a "stash" of augers hanging around. Check up in the
basement rafters. Your in the heart of coal country. Check at a local old
hardware store. They may be able to point you to some help.
See if EFM has a hot line to call.
Tel: 610-965-9041

Go to efmheating.com and look at the dealer list.

Try Schmid equipment, Anczarski Enterprises, Jack Ryan, Carpinet, Steve Wilhelm Furnace

http://www.efmheating.com/dealers.html

what;s an average price for these auger/worms ?

If you cant get the part don't panic!

Ask around or go buy a kerosene heater and a 5 gal can to get the kerosene with. If you have to buy it you will want to fill it with kerosene and let the wick soak for a little while before lighting it. these things have saved me and other family members a few times when the power went out or the furnace broke and are well worth having if you don't have a back up system.
Also some of the heating/plumbing places can loan you electric heaters if you let them work on your system or in some cases just buy the parts threw them. Our local oil delivery place will even loan out a dual electric heater if you need one.
If you decide to buy an electric one for a back up rather than kerosene don't be fooled by the fancy sales pitches or wording look at a convection heater with a fan, Lowes carries a few good ones for a fair price.

paulfun wrote:If you cant get the part don't panic!

Ask around or go buy a kerosene heater and a 5 gal can to get the kerosene with

I have painted rooms where kero heaters were used. They make a film on the walls, water based paint don't cover without using a stain blocking primer first. Not to say for emergency use, just not alot.

shear pin is the pin/bolt that holds the auger on If it's hardened--the auger will break before the pin/bolt--w/ the proper pin--it will break before the auger--Welcome to the FORUM my young friend--If you can get that sleeved & welded by someone that knows what their doing--it'll last forever or make a good back up if ever needed after you get a new/used one Whoops,just looked again--no sleeving there

I wouldnt want to use one on a regular basis myself, but in an emergency they do fine as a back up and will keep the pipes from freezing.

I do keep one here along with 5 gal of kero just in case. 3 days with no power means no heat wich could be costly with the plumbing its cheep insurance to have just keep them clean or have the means to blow them clean with compressed air or something before you fire one thats been sitting unused for long periods of time like mine has.

Coalberner in Pottsville or Scrapper_23jr in Pine Grove would know to find a spare part also...
Get something hooked up in the house to keep it from freezing...
When The Iron House burned down it was middle of the winter...
All the propane heaters were sold out...
But they had Patio Heaters on sale for cheap...
Bought 2 and hooked them up to 20# bottles to make a warm place for a few days...
Then the big heaters came...
Rent a Propane heater for a few days...

after calling around all day long - these things are fairly expensive. I've ordered one, but wont have it until monday. I wont complain about a few hundred bucks, given the price of oil and /or gas heat.

I believe I've found the reason for the failure though. I'm no plumber, or mechanic .... but at least the navy has taught me several simple tricks when it comes to last ditch engineering with no tools or proper replacement parts.

I noticed a wear groove on the auger shaft, at the point where it passes through the plate that bolts to the side of the unit ... on the gear/blower side. this is barely noticeable in the first photo I posted of the broken shaft. Running a string line through the tube, I've estimated almost an 1/8 of an inch difference in height, where the auger would pin together with the driveshaft. The connecting collar, which was held in place with two coter pins, is egged out enough to confirm a discrepancy in angles between the two shafts.

sorry if i'm rambling, bu helplessness is not my strong suit.

A little jb weld goes a long way .... at least enought to secure the broken auger. I checked for trueness, and fed it back through the tube, and sure enough, the angle is off by almost an 1/8 inch, where the two shafts pin together.

I'm assuming it's been this way for quite a while, perhaps several years
Seems like 4 bolts hold the entire blower assembly to the stoker, but it doesnt appear there is any room for adjustment. if there is indeed no way to adjust this angle, is it safe to file the hole a little larger so I don't break another auger?

I appreciate all the help and suggestions - i'm a bit of a stranger in a new town, and you folks are alot more helpful than I would have expected.

We all live in the same town.

Coal berner listed the prices for replacement as follows:

Square Viewing Door 250.00
Baffle Plate 130.00
Optional Covers / Jackets 620.00
Broken Coil studs Drilled out re threaded New studs installed 100.00
Coil area cover plate if a coil will not be used 65.00
New coil if one wants to use one 5GPM 300.00 7GPM 380.00

Unknown Parts that may need replacing with New ones

Pot Bushing 23.00*********************** ***These parts are needed right now by the sounds.
Auger Bushing 23.00******************** DO NOT replace the auger without replacing these, also.
New Pot Auger 175.00******************
Pot Auger tube 85.00
Bin Auger 207.00
Bin Auger Tube 87.00
Auger coupling 20.00
Auger tube coupler 140.00
New Motor 115.00
Pot Grates 30.00 each
PSI & Temp Gauge 20.00

The wear groove you mention occurred because the bushings were worn out completely and did not support the auger as it passes through the housing. If you ordered a new auger, probably they asked if you needed these parts,
if not, you will have to add them.

You could PM scrapper or coal berner and go pick up an auger tomorrow if it worked out for them, but understand, you cannot change the bushing in the housing without a special means of installing the sleeve safely without damaging either piece.

figures. the guy never even asked about any bushings. just kind of pay me now, and ill have your part monday.

is there any where I can find an exploded diagram of the entire assembly to see what i'm up against ?

I honestly doubt I can afford to replace all those parts you mentioned, at least not until I can get my tax return. I might have to settle for toasting an auger. If I can get another month or so out of the new one. I've been in this house since november, and with moving costs, down payment on the home itself, and my new/used vehicle ... i'm pretty tapped out right now.