Do snap disks wear out?

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jb6l6gc

Minister of Fire
Feb 26, 2015
820
Cayuga, Ontario, Canada
Just curious if snap disks wear out. My hotblast 1400 seems sluggish sometimes when kicking fan on, seems to hit temp and sometimes take longer than it should to send power to turn on the fan. Wondering if the snap disk is wearing out? Is the possible? If yes what should I replace it with and how would I wire it. Heard there are much better controllers than snap disks but don't know allot about it. Not exactly sure how snap disk works. Any advice would be great thanks
 
Anything man makes can wear out/break.
Easiest thing would be to just replace it with another snap switch. Just find out what temp it kicks on/off at and find one on ebay, (it will be a "close on rise" type switch) there are tons of them on there, $5-10
 
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They are a mechanical part and can of course wear out (and can go out of adjustment if they have a hair line fracture), for a replacement, check grainger or Mcmaster carr. yes you can get fancier, but the snap disc is what is there, and can be replaced for a few bucks. make sure the existing one is in its proper place with good contact to the steel below.
 
They are a mechanical part and can of course wear out (and can go out of adjustment if they have a hair line fracture), for a replacement, check grainger or Mcmaster carr. yes you can get fancier, but the snap disc is what is there, and can be replaced for a few bucks. make sure the existing one is in its proper place with good contact to the steel below.

Do snap discs always have their face in contact with metal or are they mounted with a gap to the hot thing?
 
Every application that I have seen has had the snap disc in contact with the metal.
 
They are a mechanical part and can of course wear out (and can go out of adjustment if they have a hair line fracture), for a replacement, check grainger or Mcmaster carr. yes you can get fancier, but the snap disc is what is there, and can be replaced for a few bucks. make sure the existing one is in its proper place with good contact to the steel below.
yes its in its proper place and in contact, it is the original oem one.
 
Do snap discs always have their face in contact with metal or are they mounted with a gap to the hot thing?
Every application that I have seen has had the snap disc in contact with the metal.
The snap disc (SD) that controls the blower (duct fan) on the Drolet Tundra furnace has about a 3/8" gap between the SD and the heat exchanger
 
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Ya pretty sure it's wearing out. Had to give her a love tap to get fans to turn on today. Should I order the us stove replacement or another brand. Us stove one seems quite pricey compared to others
 
I wouldn't buy the OEM one, up to you though. Myself, I would actually get an adjustable one off the feabay. They are about the same money, maybe a couple buck more than the non adj ones.
 
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I bought an adjustable one. It's like 90-130 on temp to use to engage the blowers on my NC30 stove. It's a big blower and if it comes on too soon or too late it can really kill the fire. They are on amazon too for a less ebay like experience.
 
Awsome thanks for the advice I will order it tonight. I like the idea of the adjustable though as I can really Dian it in perfect. I have a custom very large furnace fan on mine too as the oem blowers were absolute noisy Chinese junk.
 
trying to order one online problem is nobody wants to ship to friggin canada.
Found one site they want 30usd for snap disk and another 30usd for shipping plus exchange thats almost 100$ canadian for a stupid little snap disk

any ideas fellas?

Have to rethink this one. maybe talk to electrician at work and see if he can help me out, i dont know.. All i know is I'm not spending 100$ for a 5$ part
 
Wow, sounds like a real PITA!
Just FYI, I searched ebay for "adjustable snap disc" the first one that came up was an adjustable Nordyne brand, $15, with free shipping to USA, showed about $10 shipping to Canada, and also $5 import fee.
Maybe a good idea to check with the electrician
 
Don't suppose you could use a thermostat from a Cascade 40 water heater somehow? They are adjustable from about 100F up to 180F..... Might be a little large to fit in but last forever, just don't pick the manual reset high limit one....
 
Don't suppose you could use a thermostat from a Cascade 40 water heater somehow? They are adjustable from about 100F up to 180F..... Might be a little large to fit in but last forever, just don't pick the manual reset high limit one....
These are close on falling temp. Blower for the heat exchanger needs to have a close on rise thermostat.
 
The T'stat for the top element is a double throw unit so one side would be NC and the other NO. Just remove the hi limit from it....The lower element is a single throw.
 
The T'stat for the top element is a double throw unit so one side would be NC and the other NO. Just remove the hi limit from it....The lower element is a single throw.
You are correct. I have used the lower thermostats turned down all the way to control battery warmers in my truck. Wire it in series with the power and tuck it between the blanket heater and the battery.
Every chance I get I take them off of an old tank.
 
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