HELP: Problem With My Boiler

Hi All,

I have a very bizaare problem with my stoker (efm 520). No coal is being pulled into the pot!? The auger is turning and I can hear the coal crunching sound in the pipe that goes from the boiler into the bin. That makes me believe that the blockage is near the pot and not (God forbid) in the coal bin.

Any thoughts?

Leo

Is there any possibility that the coal could have formed a vacant area directly at the auger pickup zone in the bin? Possibly the crunching you hear is coal already in the auger tube just being churned in place by the auger. Just my thought,good luck. Mike

Hey Leo, if you have a hand crank stick it on the square end of the ratchet drive and try to crank some coal up, if you don't have a crank clip on a pair of vice grips on and try turning the worm to feed coal. If it feels hard turning lift off the two dogs and crank it backwards if theres no fire in the pot. It could be blocked in the bin as stove pipe Mike said or you can have a problem with the worm, flights have been known to come off the shaft and cause feed problems.

R.Y

The worm broke!

It snapped right where the one part screws into the other. What's this going to cost me?

New starter worm,coupling and bin feedworm around $400.00

RY

Oh no. I can't afford this with Christmas next month. The bin feed worm snapped in the coupling. I can't back that piece out. If I can unscrew the coupling out of the starter worm, then I only need to replace the bin feed worm and coupling.

I've only had the boiler 2years. This shouldn't happen. I bought it from Lutz. I hope he has a warranty on this (doubtful). Or he can give me a break on my next order of coal.

I'm really upset.

The coupling is a left hand thread.

Hi Stoker-Man,

What's efm cost for the bin worm?

I have no idea why the shear pin didn't break first? I have extra ones. Should I replace the shear pin too? Thanks

Leo

You'll have to contact Lutz about the worm. Is yours a used unit with new worms?

It is a used unit. I do not know if they replaced the worms? Is this a warranty item????

No warranty on worms . Check with your dealer.Something is wrong,worms don't wear out that fast.

RY

I had this happen to me once, the welded grooves on the worm buckled all together in one spot.

I have a short feed reverse worm, and it costs $190.00 I watched the repair man put it in and it is not that hard, as long as you clean everything out

"I have a short feed reverse worm, and it costs $190.00 I watched the repair man put it in and it is not that hard, as long as you clean everything out"

What is a reverse worm,never heard of that.

RY

Probably means the reverse flight bushing on the burner worm.

The bin feed worm and coupler cost me $202. It was pretty easy removing the broken one and installing the new one. The first year I didn't build a dog house. Richard Lutz pointed out my error and I built the dog house after I ran out of coal. Thank God for that! I would 've had to shovel out 3.5tons of coal if I didn't have the dog house.

I'm also thankful I plumbed in a dual fuel system. Coal and natural gas. I can switch between the two in seconds. The wife and kids had heat for a few days until I had time to get around to this job. My wife would have my head on a stick if we didn't have heat for a few days.