Combustion fan engines

[cold front]

On average how long do combustion fans last before the bearings start to get a bit noisy or fail.

 

[jtakeman]

I think it depends on the heat they see. Breckwells were going in about 3 seasons average, But they were running very hot. Once they added a small cooling fan they started lasting longer. Where its located also has something to do with it. Heat is a killer of components.

Another reason is load (also has to do with heat). A stove that is under sized is worked harder and creates more heat. A stove that is over sized and run in the mid range seem to last longer. So if your running full boar most of the season your working the stove hard and expect things to fail faster than a stove thats duty cycle is much lower. IMHO anyway, So its why I try to have folks get slightly larger units than just enough!

 

[Delta-T]

I'd say a lot of it depends on how big a dust bunny is allowed to form on them ;-)

 

[jtakeman]

Good point delta T, I was assuming the fan was being properly maintained(cleaned). As dust builds up on the housing it will cut off the air flow to the motor. Creating more heat!

 

[Pellet-King]

Mines still going 13 yrs now, but is getting slower, i got a Fasco motor from a buddy, we used one on his Breckwell, works great, they are longer and i'm not afraid to adapt it, 3000 rpm motor
I bought a new one off ebay few years ago and it ran real slow, had to return it

 

[cold front]

I just replaced my Fasco motor got 3 years out of it. My stove heats the whole house and does work hard so what j says makes sense to me.

Also, I never thought that much about the dust bunny's on the motor vent other than how hard it was to clean them off..it does start to build quick so I probably was not very good at keeping it clean.

Do you think a 120mm computer fan would keep it cooler and would you blow the air on the motor from the outside or vent the hot air out?

 

[PerfectaDude]

I just replaced my Fasco motor got 3 years out of it. My stove heats the whole house and does work hard so what j says makes sense to me.

Also, I never thought that much about the dust bunny's on the motor vent other than how hard it was to clean them off..it does start to build quick so I probably was not very good at keeping it clean.

Do you think a 120mm computer fan would keep it cooler and would you blow the air on the motor from the outside or vent the hot air out?

Was the Fasco by any chance a sleeve bearing model (if it has oil holes then it is)?

I suspect the ball bearing motors are the ones lasting 13 or more years. The problem with the sleeve bearing motors is they have to be oiled every season, otherwise the bearings will wear out prematurely. Another big problem with using that type of motor in the confined spaces of a pellet stove is mounting location, sometimes it is a crazy amount of work to get to the motor to even oil it or even worse the way they have the motor mounted it can't be oiled without removing the motor entirely and rotating it so the oil holes face up.

3 years for a blower is a pretty short life especially when you consider the cost to obtain one and have it installed if you can't do it yourself.

 

[cold front]

I just replaced my Fasco motor got 3 years out of it. My stove heats the whole house and does work hard so what j says makes sense to me.

Also, I never thought that much about the dust bunny's on the motor vent other than how hard it was to clean them off..it does start to build quick so I probably was not very good at keeping it clean.

Do you think a 120mm computer fan would keep it cooler and would you blow the air on the motor from the outside or vent the hot air out?

Was the Fasco by any chance a sleeve bearing model (if it has oil holes then it is)?

I suspect the ball bearing motors are the ones lasting 13 or more years. The problem with the sleeve bearing motors is they have to be oiled every season, otherwise the bearings will wear out prematurely. Another big problem with using that type of motor in the confined spaces of a pellet stove is mounting location, sometimes it is a crazy amount of work to get to the motor to even oil it or even worse the way they have the motor mounted it can't be oiled without removing the motor entirely and rotating it so the oil holes face up.

3 years for a blower is a pretty short life especially when you consider the cost to obtain one and have it installed if you can't do it yourself.

I don't know enough to answer your question but I found this link here https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/48522 where some of the guys oiled the top of the fan shaft. My motor was still working but making a noise so I replaced it with fasco I got at the st croix dealer for $140 bucks. I think you can get this motor cheaper online for about $90 bucks but you may have to modify it a bit to fit with parts from the old motor. I replaced the motor myself, it took maybe 15 -10 mins. The stove is simple to work on it's like a model T ford.