Vermont Castings Montpelier Fan Kit

[KaptJaq]

Welcome to a new season, time to make sure everything is ready.

In the spring I cleaned up my stoves and basically forgot about them for the summer. Today I started making sure I was ready for a new season. Last season the fan on my VC Montpelier was a little noisy and required some oil about every 150 hours. I decided to see if anything could be done to keep it quiet a little longer this season. Pulled the unit apart to find two permanently lubed sleeve bearings. The problem was that the fiber that should have been soaked with oil was bone dry. It looked like it left the factory that way. The only oil on it was right near the shaft where I had been putting the occasional drop of 30 weight.

That said I have a couple of questions:

The fan unit is a 3,000 rpm FASCO centrifugal blower. Has anybody else seen one of these shipped with dry bearings? Vermont Castings has not returned my call yet.

Second question, has anybody replaced the OEM fan with the FASCO A212 or the similar Dayton unit? Both look like they will fit with a little sheet metal work. The shaft on my current unit is badly scored so I doubt I will ever get it to run quiet and I would prefer to try something different...

Thanx for any help or advice,
KaptJaq

 

[raybonz]

Welcome to a new season, time to make sure everything is ready.

In the spring I cleaned up my stoves and basically forgot about them for the summer. Today I started making sure I was ready for a new season. Last season the fan on my VC Montpelier was a little noisy and required some oil about every 150 hours. I decided to see if anything could be done to keep it quiet a little longer this season. Pulled the unit apart to find two permanently lubed sleeve bearings. The problem was that the fiber that should have been soaked with oil was bone dry. It looked like it left the factory that way. The only oil on it was right near the shaft where I had been putting the occasional drop of 30 weight.

That said I have a couple of questions:

The fan unit is a 3,000 rpm FASCO centrifugal blower. Has anybody else seen one of these shipped with dry bearings? Vermont Castings has not returned my call yet.

Second question, has anybody replaced the OEM fan with the FASCO A212 or the similar Dayton unit? Both look like they will fit with a little sheet metal work. The shaft on my current unit is badly scored so I doubt I will ever get it to run quiet and I would prefer to try something different...

Thanx for any help or advice,
KaptJaq

Have you tried this site?

http://www.electricmotorwarehouse.com/

Ray

 

[KaptJaq]

Hi Raybonz,

Thanx for the lead. Electric Motor Warehouse did not have a direct plug-in replacement unit but did recommend a couple of units that should fit with minimal effort.

In the meantime I heard from Tech Services at MHSC, the company that owns Vermont Castings. They will replace the fan unit under warranty so I will try that for this season.

KaptJaq

 

[raybonz]

Hi Raybonz,

Thanx for the lead. Electric Motor Warehouse did not have a direct plug-in replacement unit but did recommend a couple of units that should fit with minimal effort.

In the meantime I heard from Tech Services at MHSC, the company that owns Vermont Castings. They will replace the fan unit under warranty so I will try that for this season.

KaptJaq

You're welcome and even better you'll fix it for free.. That link is worth keeping for possible future use.. I recommend cleaning your fan at least once a year and adding a drop or 2 of Straight 10-W motor oil to the motor bushings/bearings..

Ray

 

[Tech Dude]

I would suggest contacting MHSC at [email protected] and give them your date of purchase as the blower carries a 2 year warranty and the blower has recently been redesigned. They have proved helpful in the past for me.