Lopi Pioneer Convection Blower Failing

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scagger

Member
Oct 4, 2008
72
Central MA
My 3yr old Lopi Pioneer convection blower is acting strange. For a while it doesn't appear to have spinning at high speed. I did notice a few weeks back that the fan blades were somehow not able to spin freely. I gave it a nudge when the stove was off and then it worked fine. That worked for a short while and now it runs only on low speeds. Every once it a while on start-up, it will slowly gain more speed and go up to the high setting. That only works for a few hours and then goes back to its low setting. I checked the voltage and everything appears to be fine from that aspect so I know it's just the fan motor at this point. I called the dealer from which I purchased the stove and convection blowers are out of stock and on backorder from the manufacturer. Ugh.. Does anyone have the same issue or have an solution on how to fix the motor? I've looked everywhere online and cannot find any place that sells these convection blowers.
 
I would start with some lube. They have oil ports to add some 20w oil in them. Use the 3 in 1 inthe blue can for electric motors. I sometimes put just a bit of WD40 to clean the crud up in the bearings(I don't run the motor just spin it by hand). Then add the proper oil to it.

Best to remove it and clean the blower wheel too! The oil ports maybe on the bottom of the motor and have yellow plugs in them.

Keep us posted!
 
sounds like the motor is on its way out.... If its a priority, ask him for the fan unit from any lopi dv freestanding gas unit (berkshire, sturbridge, northfield, heritage). he should have those in stock.. the fans are the same for those gas units and your pioneer, just the bracket is different (and the bracket is held on w/ small sheet metal screws, so its easy to remove/add). He can keep the housing for the gas unit and put the new fan back in the box when it comes in, and it'll keep you from having to wait a week or so for a fan to arrive from washington state. I've done this for several folks who have had problems with fans from any of these units, its not unreasonable to ask.
 
Yesterday, I gave it a quick shot of dry graphite spray around what moving parts I could see. It may have helped a little bit but it's still not working to its full capacity and I only ran it for an hour this morning on low before it started to annoy me. Do you have any recommendations as to what the best method is to remove the convection assembly from the stove? I looked like I will have to get at it from the right side and the back to loosen the nuts on the brackets.
 
scagger said:
....Do you have any recommendations as to what the best method is to remove the convection assembly from the stove? I looked like I will have to get at it from the right side and the back to loosen the nuts on the brackets.

That is correct....open/remove whatever panels you can to make it easier. If it's the same as the Astoria I had, there are 4 bolts holding it to the bottom of the stove.....if you remove the 2 closest to the right side, and then just loosen the other 2, you should be able to slide the motor & bracket toward the side, and then up & out.

Once out, check for the lube points as Jay mentioned above, and also squirt some directly on the motor shaft where it exits the motor case next to the fan.

I would spin by hand a little, and then hook-up the power leads to an old lamp cord to see if it will run at high speed.

If it doesn't loosen up & increase in speed (they run pretty fast on full 120v), them most likely the motor is on the way out. Hard to believe (but not impossible) that a 3 yr. old motor is already shot...unless it's never been serviced (cleaned & lubed) before.
 
imacman said:
scagger said:
....Do you have any recommendations as to what the best method is to remove the convection assembly from the stove? I looked like I will have to get at it from the right side and the back to loosen the nuts on the brackets.

That is correct....open/remove whatever panels you can to make it easier. If it's the same as the Astoria I had, there are 4 bolts holding it to the bottom of the stove.....if you remove the 2 closest to the right side, and then just loosen the other 2, you should be able to slide the motor & bracket toward the side, and then up & out.

Once out, check for the lube points as Jay mentioned above, and also squirt some directly on the motor shaft where it exits the motor case next to the fan.

I would spin by hand a little, and then hook-up the power leads to an old lamp cord to see if it will run at high speed.

If it doesn't loosen up & increase in speed (they run pretty fast on full 120v), them most likely the motor is on the way out. Hard to believe (but not impossible) that a 3 yr. old motor is already shot...unless it's never been serviced (cleaned & lubed) before.

Kind of sounds like this be the first time its ever been removed. The are supposed to be lubed every 6 months. But I do it every cleaning at the 1 ton mark. Makes them last much longer too! :cheese:
 
I think scragger is referring to the motor that blows air through the heat exchanger out into the room. It has three speeds. I should not really need to be cleaned, unless there is dust bunnies collected on it. It can be accessed through the right panel and the rear panel. You can reach in and spin the cylindrical fan. I am not sure if it has oil ports.

The motor that vents the exhaust has only one speed, (at least on my Lopi Pioneer) and it does need to be cleaned after a ton or so. It is accessed through the left panel. To access the fan, the unit must be removed.
 
DMZX is correct. I am referring to the convection blower that blows the warm air into the room, not the exhaust blower.
 
So was I please remove and clean it then lube it. Its pretty simple and most will agree it needs to be done right along with the combustion blower! Any crap that sticks to the blower wheel will either impeed flow or throw it out of balance.
 
Congrats Jay!!! On your 5000th post! :)
 
j-takeman said:
Wi Thundercat said:
Congrats Jay!!! On your 5000th post! :)

Thank you. I now I yak to much! hehe :)

Keep yakin! We have all learned so much! Thanks ;-)
 
scagger said:
DMZX is correct. I am referring to the convection blower that blows the warm air into the room, not the exhaust blower.

Yes, we understood that from scaggers first post "My 3yr old Lopi Pioneer convection blower is acting strange".

And IIRC, the Pioneer (like the Astoria since they both use the same control board) has 6 heat and 6 fan speeds.
 
I took another very good look at the motor and found no oil ports or passages as mentioned above. I blew it off with compressed air and it's free of any dust or debris. It's still not functioning properly as I hooked up an old lamp cord to the terminals and it didn't run any faster. Maybe I can just find another motor somewhere with the whole fan blade assembly.
 
scagger said:
I took another very good look at the motor and found no oil ports or passages as mentioned above......

Take a look at the first pic in this thread....these are the "oil ports" that you need to look for....they don't really look like ports, but they are. They may be covered by yellow or black plastic "caps" that can be pried out. Also, there have been reports that some motors may have been installed with the oil ports on the underside instead of being on the top.

www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/58577/#665973
 
I looked at that thread, my motor looks nothing like that. It is an exposed electromagnetic coil without a housing. I will take a pic tomorrow.
 
scagger said:
I looked at that thread, my motor looks nothing like that. It is an exposed electromagnetic coil without a housing. I will take a pic tomorrow.

I have burned about a ton of pellets, so...

I pulled both the convection motor and the exhaust motor on my Lopi Pioneer today. Neither one has any oil ports.

The convection motor and fan were clean, except for some dust that had collected on the motor. And you are right, the convection motor is a small coil without a sheet metal housing. I was temped to put a drop of oil on the shaft, but decided to wait until end of season maintenance.

The exhaust motor's fan had a light coat of soot and ash, which I wiped off. I was surprised it was as clean as it was.

You best bet on another motor/fan that fits will be a local Lopi dealer. Probably looking at something over $100.
 
DMZX said:
You best bet on another motor/fan that fits will be a local Lopi dealer. Probably looking at something over $100.

If the OP or you post pics and/or the info that you see listed on the motor label(?), our resident pellet tester/motor cross referencer jay Takeman might be able to come up with another place to find a replacement cheaper than the dealer.

here's a couple of places you can look:

www.cshincorporated.com/index.php/cPath/110

www.grainger.com/Grainger/hvac-motors/motors/ecatalog/N-9xz
 
imacman said:
DMZX said:
You best bet on another motor/fan that fits will be a local Lopi dealer. Probably looking at something over $100.

If the OP or you post pics and/or the info that you see listed on the motor label(?), our resident pellet tester/motor cross referencer jay Takeman might be able to come up with another place to find a replacement cheaper than the dealer.

here's a couple of places you can look:

www.cshincorporated.com/index.php/cPath/110

www.grainger.com/Grainger/hvac-motors/motors/ecatalog/N-9xz

That first link has some units (fireplace blowers) that look just like the motor/blower the OP needs. Good prices too. BTW, the blower motor on mine is an Ebmpabst.
 
Well the dealer called me mid-week and told me that the part had come in. I picked up it up yesterday and it took me about 2 hours to install. It was a little tricky trying to align the rubber grommet holes on the mounts, but I eventually got it. I also cleaned the combustion blower and replaced the gasket that goes between the blower housing and the motor. It feels good to hear the nice whirring sound of my new convection blower. :) The old convection blower fan could barely spin once I took it out. At some point, I may take it apart to see exactly what the point of failure was. It's definitely not a motor that can easily be lubricated. Anyhow, if anyone needs any tips on how to install a convection blower in a Lopi Pioneer, I will gladly give you some tips.
 
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