The two guys above were lucky. We got our yarbo in between seasons so by time we got to use it the 30 day return policy was long gone. We didn’t get to use it until June. Then we used it four times and that core stopped charging. They sent another core. Same thing. Now you think that they sent two cores as replacemetns which is great. Not at all. It took the whole summer to get them replaced. By time we got a working core, it was already end of summer. Winter came, first day we got cold weather .. minus 2 degrees celsius, the chute froze. We were told to bring it into a warm place to defrost it. Which worked. We had temperatures around the same.. until.. enter minus 10 and below. Chute freezes constantly. We bought a heat trace wire to wrap around it to keep it warm. Bought the yarbo snowblower module.. which is flawed also but that’s another story… and put it over to contain the heat from the heat trace. When we took it off this morning, the chute metal was actually warm.. but chute still seized. I took it inside… again.. to warm up and checked what could be freezing. We took towels to it and blew dry all the moisture out so there was nothign to freeze. Until we took the module off. And looked underneath it. The issue seems to be the metal inside and under the chute. It collects cold. ANd holds it. It’s that metal which most kids got their tongues stuck on during icy weather. It holds ice like no other. And that’s why. Because that cog that spins the chute freezes. The cog with the teeth that hooks to the connector plug inside the cord. You have to unscrew the cover to connect it. That has a cog attached to it that runs with the motor. But that cog freezes. Because it is exposed to cold weather. And the metal is what makes it more likely to freeze as that metal collects moisture even where there is none.
When you take off the module you can see snow and ice collecting on the metal under the module. Especially the cog that spins the chute. It’s completely exposed to cold and freezing.
Within minutes of bringing it inside to warm, the chute thaws and spins. We used to think it was the chute itself but its not.. its the gear that spins the chute underneath. With the teeth.
It needs a cover to protect it from the elements so it doesn’t collect ice and seize.
We couldn’t figure out how to wrap the heat trace wire underneath. Only wrapped it around the outside of the chute. And ti got warm so it works.
But doesn’t stop the gear/cog from freezing that spins it.
When you take the module off there is snow and ice built up so its definitely causnig the issue of the chute freezing.
My issue isn’t even with the machine.
If I’m given a solution to fix it, I’ll try it. Buy covers… etc … to work with it to make it work consistently.
The issue is support. Last time we had issues it took months to resolve.
But the chute freezing… that’ll just be what we have to deal with.
Our plan is simple.
A Yarbo Dog house.
Made of clear plastic sheeting so it doesn’t affect the signal. Allows the sun tow arm it up inside.. like a greenhouse.. maybe stick the heat trace wire inside so it becomes a source of heat. and hopefulyl that helps the chute from freezing.
I built a shed for my gas powered snowblower. So Yarbo deserves one on its own.
I recommended them building a yarbo dog house to offer that has connectivity so you’re not using the plastic pad your metal stubs on your tracks tear apart.
The dog house is the charging station.
Back to the snowblower module cover.
The issue is the auto auger movement feature snags it. And pulls it in. So what they should do is make a cover that leaves the auger exposed but allwos the rest of the machine to be covered. Even the chute. with a hole that is exposed for the chute. Plus that allow the camera to stay exposed while the cover is on.
Just some thoughts.
The issue comes when you wake up to go to work, turn on the yarbo.. and ti doesn’t work.
You just want tow ake up, yarbo works, and you go to work. Not fix the yarbo, defrost it. so it’ll work in cold weather.