lifespan of blower motors?

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par0thead151

Feeling the Heat
Jul 26, 2009
494
south eastern wisconsin
i have a enviro venice 1700 insert
the motor failed on it after 2.5 seasons. i hope this is not the normal lifespan of these things, as enviro wants $450 for a new one.
thankfully i am competent enough to tear it apart and replace the motor myself, however i am a bit disgruntled at the fact i paid thousands for this stove and the motor is so cheap it can not last 3 seasons.

the motor failed because dirt was binding it up due to wear on the brass bushings allowing it to fit in between the spinning shaft and the brass bushing.
i am looking to get bearings instead of bushings on the next motor...

as far as maintenance of blowers, what is the recommended procedure? blowing them out every month? mine is buried deep inside my insert and required a almost complete tear-down of the stove to get at it
 
I have always done mine yearly (free standing stove) and had good luck, the one on my Nashua lasted 20 or so years before I changed it out, I did find out that using the best possible oil helped out a lot which turned out to be clock oil.
 
oldspark said:
I have always done mine yearly (free standing stove) and had good luck, the one on my Nashua lasted 20 or so years before I changed it out, I did find out that using the best possible oil helped out a lot which turned out to be clock oil.
Click to expand...

you oil the brass bushing? and shaft?
wouldn't the dirt just stick to the oil?

i am looking to source the motor elsewhere. however it has no markings on it whatsoever.
anyone know what type of motor is typically used? obviously some vary from model to model due to size restrictions based on where it is mounted. i just cant find anything as there are no identifying numbers on the motor.
 
par0thead151 said:
oldspark said:
I have always done mine yearly (free standing stove) and had good luck, the one on my Nashua lasted 20 or so years before I changed it out, I did find out that using the best possible oil helped out a lot which turned out to be clock oil.
Click to expand...

you oil the brass bushing? and shaft?
wouldn't the dirt just stick to the oil?

i am looking to source the motor elsewhere. however it has no markings on it whatsoever.
anyone know what type of motor is typically used? obviously some vary from model to model due to size restrictions based on where it is mounted. i just cant find anything as there are no identifying numbers on the motor.
Click to expand...
I had to oil the bushings as they would get noisy, there was oil holes on my motor, the clock oil lasted way longer than anything else I tried, you should be able take some measurements off the motor and find one the same size on the internet, I bought mine from Grainger maybe.
 
oldspark said:
par0thead151 said:
oldspark said:
I have always done mine yearly (free standing stove) and had good luck, the one on my Nashua lasted 20 or so years before I changed it out, I did find out that using the best possible oil helped out a lot which turned out to be clock oil.
Click to expand...

you oil the brass bushing? and shaft?
wouldn't the dirt just stick to the oil?

i am looking to source the motor elsewhere. however it has no markings on it whatsoever.
anyone know what type of motor is typically used? obviously some vary from model to model due to size restrictions based on where it is mounted. i just cant find anything as there are no identifying numbers on the motor.
Click to expand...
I had to oil the bushings as they would get noisy, there was oil holes on my motor, the clock oil lasted way longer than anything else I tried, you should be able take some measurements off the motor and find one the same size on the internet, I bought mine from Grainger maybe.
Click to expand...


due to heat, i am probably better off using bushings? bearings have a tenancy to seize up with fireplace heat?
 
Check around on the Internet, there are sites selling replacement stove blowers for less than the dealer charges.
I found one for my stove for $100.
 
If the blower motor up front in the insert, or low in open air on a freestanding stove, it is not going to see high heat. It intakes room air. Try to get a ball bearing vs a sleeve bearing motor that has oil ports. If it doesn't have any ports, drill them carefully over the area of the bearing felt. Oil it annually with a lightweight oil (3'N1 is fine) and oil the blower fan shaft bearings too after cleaning the blades.
 
I would think you would be better off with bearings, there are varibles but my blower motors did not get that hot, and there are both bushings and bearing rated for higher temps.
 
BeGreen said:
If the blower motor up front in the insert, or low in open air on a freestanding stove, it is not going to see high heat. It intakes room air. Try to get a ball bearing vs a sleeve bearing motor that has oil ports. If it doesn't have any ports, drill them carefully over the area of the bearing felt. Oil it annually with a lightweight oil (3'N1 is fine) and oil the blower fan shaft bearings too after cleaning the blades.
Click to expand...

the blower is on the front left side of the insert. it sits next to the stove but about 4" away from the frame of the stove.
my granger sales rep is here at work with me(stops in every monday) so if anyone knows the number or other identifier that would help. he is on his laptop looking for it now, but is coming up short so far....
 
par0thead151 said:
par0thead151 said:
oldspark said:
There isn't any numbers stamped on the motor?
Click to expand...

none. it is very strange.
Click to expand...

ok, found a item that may be a good fit. 230 cfm though, that seems a bit low
Click to expand...
I think my Summit fan is about that, do the inserts need more air movement.
 
oldspark said:
par0thead151 said:
par0thead151 said:
oldspark said:
There isn't any numbers stamped on the motor?
Click to expand...

none. it is very strange.
Click to expand...

ok, found a item that may be a good fit. 230 cfm though, that seems a bit low
Click to expand...
I think my Summit fan is about that, do the inserts need more air movement.
Click to expand...

after looking, 200-230CFM may be about right.
i was hoping to find a higher CFM unit as when my stove is really cooking it could be very beneficial.

looks like the one i am getting will be a bearing not a bushing style.
i will report back how it turns out...
 
My dad had a blower on an old englander and it lasted from 1978 until 2010 and was still working when I bought a new stove to replace the old one. Thats 32 years. we oiled it regularly with motor oil in the oil holes on the blower motor.
 
I think this is brought up every year. I always go by the fact that oiling will attract dust, so I haven't in three years. I clean them out once a year
 
mtcates said:
My dad had a blower on an old englander and it lasted from 1978 until 2010 and was still working when I bought a new stove to replace the old one. Thats 32 years. we oiled it regularly with motor oil in the oil holes on the blower motor.
Click to expand...

parts are not made to last these days, and if i had to bet this motor was made in china.
on the positive side, my grainger rep quoted me 79$ for the new motor and blower assy.
it should fit and be a higher rate of airflow than the old one.
 
My old insert was made in 1980, and the Fasco motor on that is still going strong, even though the insert is now gone. I am confident that in the 30 years before I disassembled and cleaned the motor and blower, nobody had ever even looked at it.

TE
 
I was at Lowes the other day and in the tool section they have a bunch of different light oils. Some are good for motors and have a dry film, which will attract less dust.
 
Do you have the Granger P/N? I have a Venice insert 1700 and haven't had problems yet but filing this away for future use :) also a report on how it works. I think the original was only a 180cfm fan (just looked up a quick spec) so 230 cfm is a step up :)
 
i correct that 135 cfm for venice, 180 cfm kodiak - would have thought they would have the same fan!
 
It wouldn't surprise me if they went with the lower cfm fan on the Venice for quieter operation. That's pretty important to many owners.
 
Funny this thread popped up. This is only my second season with my insert and the blower just started making a racket. I have cleaned it every other month with compressed air so dirt is not the problem. I did notice some play in the shaft but not much. The blower vibrates a lot so I used a couple pennys to shim the blower against the stove which reduced vibration/rattling for a while. When it acted up again I discovered the noise was coming from the wires going to the motor were rattling against the blower housing. Some zip ties took care of that. I will need to get a new motor at some point as it will only get worse as the bushings wear. I hate all this Chinese throw away crap. Hopefully I can find an affordable ball bearing motor somewhere.
 
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