by eernest4

Please read it all as many topics are covered quickly but presicely. I am trying to write to the level of some one who has never done any electrical hook ups at all, so please bare with me. If it seems that you can’t understand anything I am talking about, go to the bottom of the page for a list of books you can read to learn more or free internet searches on the subject.

AND DONT FEEL BAD, AFTER 60 YEARS,I STILL DON’T KNOW HOW TO REBUILD AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION ON MY CAR. I always wanted to learn that. !:^)

This test also works for pellet stove combustion fan motors, auger drive motors and room blower motors.
WHEN DEALING WITH PELLET STOVES, BE VERY SURE BY CHECKING THE MOTOR RATING PLATE THAT THE MOTOR IS INDEED 120 VOLT AC AND NOT 12 VOLTS DC (12VDC) because pellet stoves with battery back up or for mobile homes ,rv’s & motor coaches may have all 12 volt dc motors. 120volts ac will fry a 12 volt dc motor, so read the motor label carefully before attempting to test it. Many times the label is stamped into the sheet metal of the motor while other times it is on a sticky label. ********************************************************************************************
www.grainger.com sells blower motors, both 120 volts ac & 12 volts dc & may be a lot cheaper(1/2 price) than
buying the motor from the mfg. or dealer, if you can determine which motor you need to buy.
BRING YOUR BAD MOTOR TO GRANGERS WITH YOU TO HAVE IT MATCHED UP TO THE PROPER REPLACEMENT.
you will need to match shaft length,shaft diameter & shaft rotation, as well as motor’s mechanical mounting
horse power,wattage,voltage and rpm speed and current in amps.Also match or exceed, but not by much,the cubic feet of air delevered per minute if it is a combustion fan motor of a pellet stove. For combustion fan motors ,cu ft/min is critical because it will change the burning characteristics of your pellet stove if you have too much or too little air delevered.
It is not very critical at all, if it is only a room air blower as anywheres in the ball park will do.

That is why graingers stocks or can order in quickly,hundreds of motors. ************************************************************************************************
NOW:

This is a reply to a post complaining about a fan motor that would not run. It is instructions on how to make a test
cord with a fuse & an off/on switch to test the motor directly,bypassing all suspected bad or faulty controls that may or may not be in the stove. This will test any 120 volt ac motor, whatever its function ,be it in a wood stove or pellet stove or washing machine or refrigerator, sewing machine , whatever appliance. It applies equally to any type of 120 volt ac motor.even an oil burner motor. ********************************************************************************************
FREEING THE MOTOR FROM A BOUND UP LOAD BEFORE TESTING

some motors that are mechanically attached to a load, your should uncouple the motor shaft from the load in case it is the load that is bound up & wont turn. examples are a bound up water pump in a washer or a bound up oil pump in an oil burner or a bound up auger assembly in a pellet stove. they motor could be ok but the unit the motor is trying to turn may refuse to turn, even by hand.

The bound up mechanical load that the motor was trying to turn may have caused the motor to burn out. This is not the motor’s fault ,the problem lies in what ever is jamming the load. Usually a bad bearing or worn out shaft, but not always. a foriegn object could be jamming a part that is susposed to be free to move.

Like dropping a nail into your pellet auger & wondering why the auger motor burned out. The nail freezes the auger which freezes the
auger motor shaft which causes the motor to draw too much current and burn out. ********************************************************************************************
BEFORE WORKING ON ANY MOTOR,MAKE SURE THE APPLIANCE IS UNPLUGGED SO THAT YOU CAN’T SHOCK YOURSELF.

please read this ,THOSE OF YOU WITH unworking FAN MOTORS.

A fan motor is not bad until it has been connected direct to the wall power & still refuses to run.

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INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO hook your fan motor direct to the wall power,thus bypassing all control switches in the stove that might/could/maybe bad and any bad wiring connections that may or may not exist.

First I will say that i am not an expert on the lopi leyden, I dont own one & never even saw one, but i do know a little about electricity & wiring from running a major appliance repair shop for 20 years.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Therefore, first, UNPLUG your stove for safety & look with a good flashlight & magnifing glasses or reading glasses to see if your fan motor is rated for 120 volts ac (vac)
& if it is ,disconnect the two wires leading to the fan motor & tape the female terminals at the end of the wiring harness that you just removed from the fan motor. MAKE SURE THAT THE TAPED WIRES CANNOT TOUCH ANYTHING THAT MOVES OR GETS HOT. USE TWISTER SEALS IF YOU NEED TO, TO KEEP THE WIRES OUT OF HARMS WAY.

Take a 120 vac lamp cord with a 3 way plug & install on the end of its two wires, (black & white wires, we wont be using the green ground wire) the same type of terminals that were used to connect the original wires that you removed. The green wire can be folded back along the cord & taped out of the way. The black wire will carry the ac,{alternating current}( hot) 120 volts , the white wire is the neutral return wire & the green ground wire we wont be using.

Now ,you could, at this point, plug the fan motor in question into the wall socket or an extension cord to see if it runs. BUT PLEASE DONT, BECAUSE I HAVE A SAFER & BETTER SET UP, described BELOW.

If the motor does run, then the motor is ok & a switch or reostate somewheres else in the appliance is at fault. ######################################################################## THE BETTER SET UP:

When I do this, I like to make up a line cord with a off/on switch with a duplex recepticle, so that I can plug in the test wire to the motor into the recepticle with the power off & just snap the switch to on ,to see if the motor will run.
The electrical store will sell you,little plastic boxes to mount both the off/on switch & the female power receptical in,
so that the screw terminals of the switch & receptical are insulated by the plastic box & you dont have to worry about touching them & getting shocked. they also have a plastic box for the fuse holder.
>>>>>>>>>>>
IF YOU WANT TO TAKE THE EASY WAY OUT,JUST BUY A POWER STRIP WITH A SWITCH & A FUSE, BUT NOT THE ONE WITH THE SURGE PROTECTOR,AS THE MOTOR CURRENT WILL, VERY LIKELY, FRY THE SURGE PROTECTOR.
IF YOU DO THIS,ALL YOU NEED TO MAKE IS JUST THE CORD THAT CONNECTS THE MOTOR BEING TESTED TO THE POWER STRIP RECEPTICAL. Be forewarned that the switch of the power strip is very highly prone to easy breakage, I can’t seem to keep one without breaking the switch in it for more that 1 year,if that & so I make up my own that last for 20 years or longer.
>>>>>>>>>::::continued from above::::

The switch is placed in series in the black wire, as is the fuse. you cut the black wire & connect one cut end to one side of the switch & the other end of the cut wire to the other side of the switch. THE INSULATION MUST BE STRIPPED OFF THE ENDS OF THE WIRES SO THAT A PROPER ELECTRICAL CONNECTION CAN BE MADE.
Only strip off the length of plastic insulation that you require to make the connection so that you wont have a bunch of bare wires looking to make a short circuit.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% hardware stores sell diagonal cutters, wire strippers & crimping tools as well as the connectors that you need to connect the test wire to the motor in question. THE SALESMAN AT THE ELECTRICAL COUNTER CAN GIVE YOU QUITE A LOT OF HELP, IF YOU ASK NICELY.
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The black wire is cut once more for the fuse, & one end of the cut wire hooks to one side of the fuse while the other end of the cut black wire hooks to the other side of the fuse.

a series path means that all the current must pass through the switch to get to the fuse & must pass thru the fuse to get to the female plug in recepticale(same type of recepticle as what is in your house wall ). you buy at hardware store. The black wire hooks to the brass screw terminal of the receptical & the white wire hooks to the silver terminal screw of the receptical.

If you see sparks or smoke or hear funny noises from the motor,you can snap the switch off a lot faster than you can unplug a cord from the wall or an extension cord.

If the motor runs ok ,you can run it at full speed, without a reostat to get the disbursial of heat that you need from the fan motor. it will be ok until a repairman comes.

If you are the worry wart type you can put a 5 amp or 10 amp fuse in series with the switch that supplies the receptical that your fan (or other) motor is plugged into.

You must use a 3 prong plug on both the test cord to the motor & for the switch & fuse cord so that the polatities of the stove & the polarities of the independent fan motor circuit remain the same
in regards to each other.

The motor should have a full load amperage rating stamped into the sheet metal of the motor or on a sticky lable on the motor. This is the same place where you looked to see the 120 vac rating. the amperage rating will then you what size fuse to put in the switchable cord.
amps or just (A)
GETTING A BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF HOUSEHOLD ELECTRICAL.
I hope this helps. If you want to learn more get the book, basics of wiring, or abc’s of electrical wiring at lowes or home depot in the electric dept or http://www.ask.com & search for basics of electrical wiring. also, http://www.ehow.com & search for basics of electrical wiring for the home or for appliances. !:^)
Each day, I understand better, how dumb I used to be!
wood stove primary heat 12.0cu.ft.FB- 1/4 plate steel,1970’s. 150k-btu.DIY converted to secondary burn technology,by me!
cut my fuel usage by 60% !!!
NEW-just buy summersheat M#50-snc30lc @ lowes 1/2 price sale,$476.oo-2000 sq ft,3.5 ft FB sec.air ,sit on pallet in basement,4 now .Please check out http://www.elglanderstove.com Great stoves are there.
Pellet stove secondary heat, pel-pro 50kbtu pelletstove.—2hp,4ton elect spliter,22 ton huskee splitter.Chain saws 4 gas ,4 electric.4“x8” trailer,3 woodsheds.free wood scrounger