Enviro Empress Blower Noise

[Philip]

About three days ago I noticed that one of the blowers (not sure which one) is making a whining sound that it wasn't making before. The whine increases as I increase the heat setting but that still doesn't tell me which blower is making the noise because the Empress doesn't have a separate control for either blower. I was going to pull the side panel and lubricate both blowers motors, but the owner's manual says "DO NOT lubricate the motors." It does say to turn the stove off and vacuum the dust out of both motors. Is that likely to solve the whining or is it more likely to be dust or ash in one of the blowers? I'm just trying to get an idea of where to start so I don't have to have the stove turned off for any longer than necessary. My wife is camped out in front of it right now so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to do any work on it, anyway.

 

[hearthtools]

It most likely is the ROOM air blower

This blower collects a lot of house dust.
Pulling it out and cleaning will help but we have had a few that start to make noise after a years use.
If your stove is less than a year old you might be able to get your dealer to change it under warrantee.

 

[Philip]

Thanks Rod. You're probably right about the source of the whine. Probably cat fur in the room air blower. It seems to get everywhere we don't want it, even inside our computers. I'll check it out tomorrow and let you know what I find.

 

[Philip]

I tried vacuuming the room air blower during the cool down cycle today and the whine was still there so I pulled the blower out of the stove. It looked clean as a whistle and turned easily, but I blew it out with compressed air anyway paying special attention to the area between the motor windings and the armature. I put the blower back in the stove and started it up and no whine - but then I noticed the blower wasn't turning either! After the start up sequence, the blower came on and still has the whine. It sure was hard to keep myself from grabbing the WD40 and letting it have it, but the manual says DO NOT so I didn't. The whine sounds like a bad bearing but the stove is only about two months old and the whine just started about two weeks ago. The dealer I bought the stove from is 2-1/2 hours away (closest pellet stove dealer) so I guess I'll call him on Monday and see what he says. It doesn't affect the way the stove performs, but I paid for a quiet stove, so I do want to get the blower replaced while it's under warranty.

 

[hearthtools]

It happens
I would call and ask him for a new one
it is under warnantee