englander 25pdvc exhaust fan noise rattle

the fan is making a rattle sound like the fan blades are hitting something and if i just tap the back of motor it stops for hours or even a day or so.
everything is clean fan is tight to motor shaft and no marks on fan blades like its hitting anything.
is motor going ? if so where can i get a cheap after market one

thanks

I had the same symptom with the pdvc that I rebuilt. The culprit was the bearing carriers on the motor. The bearings on mine are mounted to the end plates of the motor, and the end plates are each held in place by dimples in the motor sleeve. All I needed to do is use a nail-set and hammer to tighten the dimples on the end plates. There is still some vibration, but the rattle is gone.

what are end plates and where are they

The motor is a cylinder with an external metal sleeve and two metal disks at the ends of the cylinder. The bearings are at the centers of those disks, Those disks are the end plates. The photo below shows the location of the dimples. There are several spaced around the circumference.

ok great i will try that

thank you

Did this fix it for you? I have a similar problem with the rattle and the slightest pressure against the motor housing makes it stop, so I'm thinking it needs to be tightened. Funny thing is the sound on mine goes away after it's had a chance to run for a while.

Did you also try putting some oil in the bearings?

Motor rattle is caused by something moving colliding with something stationary. Sometimes it is caused by a rotor far enough off center that the vibration results in surrounding objects collide. More often the rotor gets far enough off center to collide with the stator. If you were to disassemble the motor and look at the rotor you would see scuff marks on it's circumference. In both cases it is more than oil can cure. Either the bearings (bushings) are worn beyond service or their carrier plate is loose.
Fix or replace (or just wait until you can't stand the noise anymore) before the motor stops entirely. Without the convection blower running the stove will overheat.