Why does the startup fan on my stove ramp up slowly?

[JKoss]

After 12 years of good service, I hit start in the morning and my fan started very slowly. After turning the power on and off a few times it did finally start but went to startup speed after about 10 seconds. Do these fan motors have capacitors to assist with motor startup or is this a function of the control board?
Whitfield Heritage stove, purchased new and cleaned faithfully.

 

[begreen]

Could be dry or failing bearings. Has the fan motor been lubricated?

 

[JKoss]

Not sure where I would lubricate the bearings for the fan(s). I have had this serviced in the past just not recently. Are there holes or a reservoir for oil?

 

[Ssyko]

The best way is to remove the blower and blow out the windings and impeller then get a drop or 2 of 3 in1 oil in each end on the armature shaft. There may be holes on each end for oil you will have to check they will look similar to this
https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/blower-lube-ports-jpg.58470/

 

[JKoss]

The manual is in the file cabinet, I cleaned it well before the season (September). You have given me a few things to look into.
Thank you for the assistance.

 

[BackDoc]

I had this issue as well. I read on another post about a weep hole on the motors. Some of them have them and you can put a drop or two of oil in the weep hole. I accidentally shorted my motor out and had to buy a new one so it fixed my issue. I wouldn't recommend my method.....it gets expensive.

 

[Ssyko]

September? Thats a long time between cleanings. I would schedule one very soon.

 

[Stovensen]

Hello JKoss, and welcome to the forum
This seems to be one of the weeks where the bypass relays on the Whits tend to "go south". We've seen this issue many times before on this forum.
You can read about the troubleshooting and how to address this issue here:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/whitfield-advantage-hard-to-start.166329/

Whitfield Heritage stove

Over here, we've never heard about this model. If it's possible for you to post a picture of it here in this thread, I'd be very grateful.

I have made a list of all the Whitfield stoves manufactured through the years. This list will not be complete without the Heritage.

Here you can see my list of the Whitfield stoves so far:

Legend (WP1)
MODEL YEAR: 1984 - 1987 (Serial #1001 - 6177)

Advantage I
Pellet, Freestanding & Insert, WP2
MODEL YEARS: 1985 - 1989 (Serial # 1001 - 7400)

Frontiersman (WF2) / Explorer (WF1)
MODEL YEAR: 1989 - 1990 (Serial #1001 & Up)

Advantage II
Pellet, Freestanding & Insert, WP2
MODEL YEARS: 1989 - 1990 (Serial # 7401 - 18144)

Advantage II-T & III
Pellet, Freestanding & Insert, WP2
ADVANTAGE II-T MODEL YEARS: 1990 - 2000 (Serial # 18145 & up)
ADVANTAGE III MODEL YEARS: 1991 - 1996 (Serial # 18145 & up)

Advantage Plus WP7
Pellet, Freestanding and INSERT, WP7
MODEL YEARS: 1996 - 2000

Advantage II-T Classic
Pellet, Freestanding & Insert, WP2
MODEL YEARS: 2002 + (Serial # 75864 & up)

QUEST
Pellet, Freestanding and Insert, WP4
MODEL YEARS: 1994 - 2000

QUEST PLUS
Pellet, Freestanding, WP4
Free standing MODEL YEARS: 1998 - 2000
Insert MODEL YEARS: 1998 - 1999

Profile 30 FS (up to Serial #11904) and Profile 30 FS-2 (Serial #11905 and up)
Pellet, Freestanding, P10
MODEL YEARS: 2000 - 2002

Profile 30 INS (up to Serial #11904) and Profile 30 INS-2 (serial #11905 and up)
Pellet, Insert P10
MODEL YEARS: 2000 - 2002

Profile 20 FS (up to Serial# 7494)and Profile 20 FS-2 (Serial #7495 and up)
Pellet, Freestanding, P9
MODEL YEARS: 2000 - 2002

Whitfield/Earthstove Traditions T300P Series
Whitfield Feed System (T300P/T301P/T305P/T308P)
MODEL YEARS: 1999 - 2007

Earth stove Traditions TP300 Series
Earth Stove CUP two auger Feed System (TP300/TP301/TP305/TP308)
MODEL YEARS: 1998 - 2000

Models Advantage Optima 2 FS, Optima 3 FS & Optima 3 INS
Freestanding and Insert Pellet Stoves
MODEL YEARS: 2002 - 2007

Cascade
Pellet, Freestanding, WP5
MODEL YEARS: 1995 - 2006

Prodigy I & II WP3
Pellet, Freestanding, WP3
MODEL YEARS: 1990 - 1994 (Serial # 1001 & up)

Renaissance
Pellet, Freestanding, WW1
MODEL YEAR: 1990 - 1994 (Serial #1001 & Up)