Cutting 2 of the 4 fan blades off auger motor

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miatawnt2b

Fire Starter
Original poster
Dec 30, 2014
68
28
So I constantly have issues with pellets getting hung up in the hopper. Since I'm limited on space, I really don't want to just add more hopper height. So I was thinking, why not cut two consecutive fan blades off of the auger motor in an attempt to significantly unbalance it and cause vibration every time it turns on? This may just be enough to shake the hopper just enough to unsettle the stuck pellets.

Any thoughts?
 
bad idea, it will cut the heat down and knock the bearing out pretty quick on the motor, the blades are balanced and no way to guess how much to cut. try some car wax in the box before you do any thing drastic
 
I agree that it can pre-maturely wear bearings, but the auger motors run at well under duty cycle, so I'm not too concerned with bearing wear being an issue. I could also use some adhesive lead weight on one of the blades to get the same result.

I will however try waxing the inside of the hopper first though. That's a fantastic idea that I hadn't considered.
 
Maybe you could attach something that vibrates , such as a small sander to the hopper? Silly I know but had to throw it out there.
 
Harbor freight orbital sander... I had the same idea of attaching something to the hopper that "shakes" but you should have seen the type of vibrating things my searches returned. :emoji_wink:
 
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Harbor freight orbital sander... I had the same idea of attaching something to the hopper that "shakes" but you should have seen the type of vibrating things my searches returned. :emoji_wink:

Too funny, my daughter had a project on breast cancer... All joking aside I do like the idea of attaching something that vibrates should the car wax not work out.
 
Well a trip to a xxx shop for something battery powered, if it didn't work well on the pellets you might get some other type of use out of it lol
 
You can make a vibrating motor out of a small electric motor with an unbalanced weight attached to the shaft and attach that to your hopper
 
Harbor freight orbital sander... I had the same idea of attaching something to the hopper that "shakes" but you should have seen the type of vibrating things my searches returned. :emoji_wink:
Those would work. You jest, but I reload and people buy small personal vibrators to attach to the powder thrower when they have consistency issues.

Anyways, cutting off fan blades is a terrible idea, don't do it. What grill and what pellets? First thing I would try is different brand of pellets. If you've tried that, then I'd keep looking for other solutions. Then maybe try a vibrator strapped to the auger. And if you're dead set on creating vibration, you're far better off epoxying something like a dime to the fan blade than destroying it by cutting.
 
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