Help!

My Hottop B drum stops turning. I can hear the motor still trying to turn it but now it is creating a whining noise. This happened before, I cleared out some debris at the back of the chaff tray. Today that was all clear. When the machine started it was turning fine. I charged with 220 gm of beans and 1 1/2 minutes into the drying phase it stalled like this again. Does anyone have any idea what can be broken here?

I've installed extra probes but they don't hit the drum. When I try and turn it by hand at first it feels stuck and then it turns easily.

Very glad I built myself a HG/BM.

I had a similar issue with one of my drums rubbing against the front "bearing" support piece that holds the drum. Pull it off (4 screws) & see if there are scrapes from where the drum is hitting it. I ended up shimming mine out some by placing thin washers between the support piece & HT end cap where the screws go through. Hopefully the plastic gear in the gearbox didn't strip a tooth when it locked up.

If the motor sounds fairly normal then it could be a failed gearcase (part of the motor assembly).
If the motor is laboring when the drum stops, then something is hampering the drum's movement or the motor is failing and lacks torque.

Contact Michael at Hottop USA now.

Randy G. wrote:Contact Michael at Hottop USA now.

Thanks to both of you for your ideas. I'll also follow Randy's advice before trying to use the Hottop again.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I contacted Michael at Hottop and he diagnosed the problem. To get at it I provided him with a photo and a movie clip. The drum was rubbing against the front plate, so I need to realign that. This stripped the gearbox in the motor. The only fix for that is to replace the motor, so I've ordered one. For others' reference here are my photo and movie clip so you can identify this issue.

Exactly what I thought was going on but how did Michael suggest you realign the plate?

Hi John:

Check my link above. It wasn't there when I first posted.