Auger motor isolators again.

[Timber]

Would somebody please explain to me exactly what the isolators do? Are they for vibration or motor alignment, non electrical conductivity?
Has anyone tried mounting the motor solid with spacers or stacked washers or such instead of the isolators? Sure would be grand if they were available by themselves instead of having to buy the whole motor kit.

Thanks Ted

 

[Like Smoke]

Hi Ted, welcome to the site. After looking around the web, I see that is a common complaint. Traeger doesn't want to sell the bushings even though they seem to be a common problem. I am not sure what purpose they serve, unless they are trying to make the auger a little quieter when its running. I would probably measure the the original length of both and replace it with one bolt with the same length and thread. I would also get a nut to tighten against the motor side of the auger holder to keep the bolts from loosening up during operation. The older models bolted tight against the auger housing without any rubber bushings and seem to work fine. One thing to check, I don't know if the bolts are std or metric. I know this is kind of a McGuiver fix, but it may be worth trying.

 

[Timber]

Hi Ted, welcome to the site. After looking around the web, I see that is a common complaint. Traeger doesn't want to sell the bushings even though they seem to be a common problem. I am not sure what purpose they serve, unless they are trying to make the auger a little quieter when its running. I would probably measure the the original length of both and replace it with one bolt with the same length and thread. I would also get a nut to tighten against the motor side of the auger holder to keep the bolts from loosening up during operation. The older models bolted tight against the auger housing without any rubber bushings and seem to work fine. One thing to check, I don't know if the bolts are std or metric. I know this is kind of a McGuiver fix, but it may be worth trying.

Thanks for your reply, yes when I searched it. it seemed to be a reoccurring theme. I sure don't see why some bushings the same size wouldn't work.

 

[RemE]

I suspect that the rubber isolators cushion the auger system a bit and allow some mechanical flexing should the auger slightly bind while pumping pellets. It also mitigates slight alignment issues between the motor and auger. I'm not happy with the fact that they are a common failure item, but not available individually. That said I bet you could get by without them.

When mine failed, I glued my broken isolators back together, then slid 3/4" heat shrink tubing over them overlapping the ends, shrunk it down, then reassembled. Still going strong weeks later.

 

[Timber]

I suspect that the rubber isolators cushion the auger system a bit and allow some mechanical flexing should the auger slightly bind while pumping pellets. It also mitigates slight alignment issues between the motor and auger. I'm not happy with the fact that they are a common failure item, but not available individually. That said I bet you could get by without them.

When mine failed, I glued my broken isolators back together, then slid 3/4" heat shrink tubing over them overlapping the ends, shrunk it down, then reassembled. Still going strong weeks later

Yes I saw your post earlier was curious how that worked out, I believe I'll try mounting solid and see how I get along