I Have ANOTHER Annoying Question.

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Otis B Driftwood

Otis B Driftwood

Member
Mar 1, 2012
131
Central CT
Why, Mrs Driftwood is so steamed she's got ball valves hanging from her earlobes.

A while back, I started another annoying thread in regards to a failing insert blower.
It's still going, and I think it's the switch. However ...

Several folks who responded had intricate ideas to oil the bearings. I did more sniffing
around ( no blow ) and found a similar thread where that poster immersed his ENTIRE
blower engine assembly into an oil bath, allowed it to dry a day or two, with no issues
whatsoever. While some of us may frown on this practice, what oil should / can I buy
in such a quantity to do this? I'm thinkin' of drowning it in a Home Repo® pail. Oh, can
I make onion rings with it? Hold the dip.
 
I've saved several sleeve bearing motors without oil ports by drilling into the bearing felt. It works if you are careful. Have never heard about soaking the motor and would only be contributing to speculation. Call an electric motor shop and ask them.
 
Most small fans/blowers are now built with sealed bearings and if you can get a drop of oil in, you're lucky. Even then, it will extend the life only slightly in my experience.

Most fans for stoves are more likely to have a problem with dust & crud on the blades that will cause a lot of wear on the bearings. The best way to achieve longer life on you fan is to keep it clean.
 
All that oil will become a dust magnet. I have made small blower motors work by drilling into the felt or pulling them apart and relubricating, but only to keep them running long enough for a new part to come in.
 
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Oilite Bronze bushings- emerse bushing only in heated just below smoking 90-120 weight gear oil for a chunk of time , then let cool still immersed. the heat will cause the porous material to open up and the heavy weight gear lube to thin somewhat allowing the two to marry. Works for me get about 2 seasons before I have to redo which is time to clean the blower fins anyway. ( 2 seasons is about all the oem lasts anyway) there are better choices for bearings including the lube inside- but now we are getting into the realm of profit vs cost vs retail, a no win discussion area at best.
 
simple.serf said:
All that oil will become a dust magnet. I have made small blower motors work by drilling into the felt or pulling them apart and relubricating, but only to keep them running long enough for a new part to come in.
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I have an older cheap table fan and a box fan that I drilled several years ago. I oil them yearly. They are still running fine, long after its KMart brothers and sisters have seized up and headed for the landfill.
 
Final Question: Aside from my head, where should I bore the holes?
 
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