Before I purchase a new convection blower...

[ShaneR34]

This is for an Enviro EF3.

I was running the convection blower on its lowest setting last week when it started to make an awful noise. I wouldn't say grinding, really, but could very well be. On the highest setting, though, it worked and sounded fine. I immediately oiled it, as I haven't done my yearly maintenance yet, and it seemed to be moving well even before I oiled it (oiling didn't help).

So, my question...is is possible that this is related to power delivery somehow and not a failing motor? I think it has failed, but I'm not an expert....

Thanks!

 

[Washed-Up]

You need to properly oil the bearings, can you post a pic of your combustion blower and where you oiled?
Maybe a video of the noise as well, if it’s not the bearings, there wouldn’t be any noise coming from it, failing wise, could it be contacting the cage? If the windings in the motor we’re going, you’d smell it.

 

[Mt Bob]

Ever had a blower motor go bad in a vehicle? They can rattle,click,squeal at low speeds, but not on hi.
It may be just worn out. But,blower for your stove is cheep anyway.

 

[ShaneR34]

Thanks, guys.

@Washed-Up definitely oiled in the right spot...been maintaining this EF3 stove for 13 years. I'm great at normal replacement of parts/maintenance etc, but ask me how any motor works and I'm clueless. lol. I'll try to get a video later...no real place to host it, though. If it is contacting the cage, what's the fix (if any)?

@Mt Bob Not so cheap, really. I'm looking at around 250CAD give or take. But, yeah, I think it's shot too. It just failed differently than the last one that went bad (this is my second). The last one just eventually ceased up and there was no doubt.

 

[Washed-Up]

If it’s contacting the cage, figure out what’s bent out of position and try to bend it back gently.
Putting a video up here is way if you use your phone

 

[Mt Bob]

Thanks, guys.

@Washed-Up definitely oiled in the right spot...been maintaining this EF3 stove for 13 years. I'm great at normal replacement of parts/maintenance etc, but ask me how any motor works and I'm clueless. lol. I'll try to get a video later...no real place to host it, though. If it is contacting the cage, what's the fix (if any)?

@Mt Bob Not so cheap, really. I'm looking at around 250CAD give or take. But, yeah, I think it's shot too. It just failed differently than the last one that went bad (this is my second). The last one just eventually ceased up and there was no doubt.

Shipping is what may hurt, I see.
Aftermarket-

Enviro Convection Blower: EF-002

Replacement Enviro Convection Blower For EF2, EF3, Empress, & Meridian Pellet Stoves. Part Number EF-002 & EF-003. Stove & Grill Parts For Less Carries A Large Selection Of Ready To Ship Enviro Parts. Included Warranty & Technical Support!

pellet-stove-parts-4less.com

Factory-

Enviro Convection Blower By Fasco: EF-002-AMP

Replacement Distribution Blower 115V made by Fasco, fits many Enviro pellet stoves. The Convection Blower pulls the rooms cool air across the burn pot. Making the fire burn more evenly and quicker. Allowing the heat exchanger to blow clean warm air into your home, resulting in a warm toasty home...

pellet-stove-parts-4less.com

 

[ShaneR34]

Shipping is what may hurt, I see.
Aftermarket-

Enviro Convection Blower: EF-002

Replacement Enviro Convection Blower For EF2, EF3, Empress, & Meridian Pellet Stoves. Part Number EF-002 & EF-003. Stove & Grill Parts For Less Carries A Large Selection Of Ready To Ship Enviro Parts. Included Warranty & Technical Support!

pellet-stove-parts-4less.com

Factory-

Enviro Convection Blower By Fasco: EF-002-AMP

Replacement Distribution Blower 115V made by Fasco, fits many Enviro pellet stoves. The Convection Blower pulls the rooms cool air across the burn pot. Making the fire burn more evenly and quicker. Allowing the heat exchanger to blow clean warm air into your home, resulting in a warm toasty home...

pellet-stove-parts-4less.com

Yeah. I've looked at various online retailers. The ones in the US are going to cost me pretty much the same after shipping and duty. Waiting to hear back from my local shop, but based on past experience, they won't be any better.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I ship worldwide and Canada has to be the worst country to ship to by far, takes the longest transit time and Canadian customs postal inspectors have to open every package, never put anything back the way they found it and usually screw things up. I can ship to OZ in less time that Ca.

 

[ShaneR34]

Welp, my local shop never got back to me, so I ended up ordering online from Friendly Fires here in Canada. Oddly enough, my auger motor failed as well (which I was expecting and planned on getting one sometime this season as well), so that's coming too.

$500.00 I wasn't expecting to spend, but ah well. Should be good for a while and a good excuse to do some maintenance that I kinda felt like skipping this season.

If I take the existing blower out and I see an easy fix, I'll just keep it around for a backup. I didn't feel like messing around with it now and probably not succeeding...better to spend the money and keep my blood pressure low. LOL

Thanks, guys.

 

[Zeus]

Welp, my local shop never got back to me, so I ended up ordering online from Friendly Fires here in Canada. Oddly enough, my auger motor failed as well (which I was expecting and planned on getting one sometime this season as well), so that's coming too.

$500.00 I wasn't expecting to spend, but ah well. Should be good for a while and a good excuse to do some maintenance that I kinda felt like skipping this season.

If I take the existing blower out and I see an easy fix, I'll just keep it around for a backup. I didn't feel like messing around with it now and probably not succeeding...better to spend the money and keep my blood pressure low. LOL

Thanks, guys.

Wow $500 for two motors I’ve priced out all the fans on my stove the most expensive one is at or around $100 sorry just shocked price is so high

 

[ShaneR34]

Wow $500 for two motors I’ve priced out all the fans on my stove the most expensive one is at or around $100 sorry just shocked price is so high

Welcome to Canada. lol

About what I was expecting based on previous purchases. The auger motor was 160 and the blower 270. Plus taxes and shipping. I'm sure I could have found cheaper aftermarket (these are factory) if I looked hard enough...but I don't have the patience. lol

 

[SidecarFlip]

Don't toss the motors, they will last forever if properly lubed and maintained. Canadians pay out the wazoo for stuff, not that we don't.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Now you have a working set you can dissect the old ones at your leisure, clean them and lube the bearings and save them for an eventual rainy day... One never knows. I have spare parts in boxes from earlier times.. I don't throw anything away because every time I do, I wind up needing it. My issue is, half the time I cannot remember where I put stuff.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I haven't done my yearly maintenance yet,

Should have done that last spring, not now. It's very detrimental to any stove to let them sit filthy all summer. Fly ash is corrosive.

Being a farmer, I always service my equipment before I put it away, that way, it's ready to go when I need it again.

 

[Manly]

I ship worldwide and Canada has to be the worst country to ship to by far, takes the longest transit time and Canadian customs postal inspectors have to open every package, never put anything back the way they found it and usually screw things up. I can ship to OZ in less time that Ca.

Stop Canadian Hate 😟

 

[johneh]

I ship worldwide and Canada has to be the worst country to ship to by far, takes the longest transit time and Canadian customs postal inspectors have to open every package, never put anything back the way they found it and usually screw things up. I can ship to OZ in less time that Ca.

If you ship Customs Bonded Carrier
They zip through with no problem

 

[ShaneR34]

Alrighty...so, it turns out the old blower wasn't faulty.

I put the new one in and it appears there might be something off with the speed control. Is that something that can happen?

When the blower is on high, I'm fairly certain that it is, indeed, high. However, if I turn it down to the lowest speed, it's barely spinning (and I mean barely) and you can hear the decrease in power. It's like the controller has become super sensitive. On a scale of 1-10, if previously high was 10 and low was 5, low is now a 1.

We did have several quick power "flickers" (on/off) over a course of a couple of days shortly before this happened. Any chance that fried something? But, if I remember correctly, the issue didn't start immediately following one of those outages, though, it was at some point after....

 

[Mt Bob]

Alrighty...so, it turns out the old blower wasn't faulty.

I put the new one in and it appears there might be something off with the speed control. Is that something that can happen?

When the blower is on high, I'm fairly certain that it is, indeed, high. However, if I turn it down to the lowest speed, it's barely spinning (and I mean barely) and you can hear the decrease in power. It's like the controller has become super sensitive. On a scale of 1-10, if previously high was 10 and low was 5, low is now a 1.

We did have several quick power "flickers" (on/off) over a course of a couple of days shortly before this happened. Any chance that fried something? But, if I remember correctly, the issue didn't start immediately following one of those outages, though, it was at some point after....

Sounds like your board is toasted. You have probably heard this before-"are you using a surge protector"? Anyway, some boards are easily repairable. Don't know about yours.

 

[ShaneR34]

Sounds like your board is toasted. You have probably heard this before-"are you using a surge protector"? Anyway, some boards are easily repairable. Don't know about yours.

Would that be the speed controller? https://friendlyfires.ca/products/enviro-speed-control-ef2-3-4-5-solus-gas-ef-045/

Or are we talking something else?

Nope...no surge protector. My bad.

 

[Mt Bob]

Ah,my bad, you have an old stove. I really do not know your stove well, hopefully someone else here could help out. But,in my thinking, it could be that control,or the main control board, as they work together.

 

[johneh]

Would that be the speed controller? https://friendlyfires.ca/products/enviro-speed-control-ef2-3-4-5-solus-gas-ef-045/

That's the one that controls convection blower speed from nothing (off) to full speed
also called a rheostat

 

[ShaneR34]

That's the one that controls convection blower speed from nothing (off) to full speed
also called a rheostat

So, could that be related to my convection blower issue as described above? It has to be something power related. Not even sure if I "need" to fix it, as it's running on high fine. But, I'd like to figure out the problem....

 

[johneh]

If I read your post right you have noise at lower blower speeds correct?
Have you oiled the 2 D- holes in the motor?
Do not over oil 1 -2 drops is plenty.
If the noise is still their change the motor
That motor is variable speed DC motor that's why it costs so much
it will go from 0 to full speed by turning the dial that's the way it was designed
My fe3 turns 20 this year with little repair work just a combustion blower
a good work hoarse without all the fancy crap for use computer illiterate old
foggey's

 

[ShaneR34]

Read my latest post from today. That explains, as best as I can, what's going on after I installed a new motor:

Alrighty...so, it turns out the old blower wasn't faulty.

I put the new one in and it appears there might be something off with the speed control. Is that something that can happen?

When the blower is on high, I'm fairly certain that it is, indeed, high. However, if I turn it down to the lowest speed, it's barely spinning (and I mean barely) and you can hear the decrease in power. It's like the controller has become super sensitive. On a scale of 1-10, if previously high was 10 and low was 5, low is now a 1.

We did have several quick power "flickers" (on/off) over a course of a couple of days shortly before this happened. Any chance that fried something? But, if I remember correctly, the issue didn't start immediately following one of those outages, though, it was at some point after....

 

[johneh]

When the blower is on high, I'm fairly certain that it is, indeed, high. However, if I turn it down to the lowest speed, it's barely spinning (and I mean barely) and you can hear the decrease in power. It's like the controller has become super sensitive. On a scale of 1-10, if previously high was 10 and low was 5, low is now a 1.

That sounds like the way it works nothing to hi at the turn of a dial
Will also click off just like a normal manual switch