Castile exhaust blower housing replacement woes !

[smalltown]

My exhaust motor seemed to be getting noisy so rather than wait I opted to buy a new one.
Anybody that has replaced or tried will find that replacing the exhaust motor is a pain in the derriere.

When purchased they included the exhaust motor already mounted to a new exhaust motor housing.
The big difference was that the new housing is tapped for and includes the threaded mounting screws. The screws are not the original sheet metal screws, but rather a small headed and threaded screw(s). The fact the screw heads are smaller means you can line up the motor so much easier when your upside down contorted sideways behind the stone in the corner. After an install of this new style housing, I can see that motor replacements will be so much easier.

Today I asked the dealer if after removing the 5 exhaust housing bolts would the housing just pull out. I was told should pull right out.
I figured I would need to somehow scrape away the red high temp rtv sealer and out it would come.

Well after removing the red rtv I see a screw facing the rear, and one harder to get to on the side facing the control box.
There seems to be another screw in the rear facing the front of the stove that I cannot imagine how to get at it. There must be a 4th screw on the side facing away from the controller, but I'll cross that bridge when I (if ever) I get the rear screw out.

So, my question is has anybody had the pleasure of replacing the housing that could give some needed advice?

Getting cool out there need to get back burning!

 

[johneh]

The only way I have replaced the combustion fan is by removing the 6 screws
pull the motor and fan out clean off the mount (any gasket material) install
new fan assembly and gasket.
I see no reason to replace the housing unless it is damaged

 

[smalltown]

Johneh I agree, but at this point I am trying to replace the exhaust motor housing. I was hoping somebody had already done this and could give me some info on doing the replacement.

 

[johneh]

What is the reason you are replacing the housing?
It is a major job and there is no easy way to do it without removing the stove.
I would have it on a bench so I'm not bent over

 

[smalltown]

Wanted to update the housing to the newer style. The old style has been a big pain for me. Unless all 6 of the sheet metal screws are lined up exactly you cannot get the motor on. The newer style would make it so much easier to replace motors in the future.
That said today I took another look where the housing connects to the exhaust pipe there are 4 screws (so much for the incorrect dealer info).
The rear and the side screws are (opposite the control box) are covered with a shield for the exhaust piping.
It looks like the only way to remove that shield is to drill out at least 2 pop rivets.

I don't think I want to go down that road.

 

[smalltown]

Wanted to update the housing to the newer style. The old style has been a big pain for me. Unless all 6 of the sheet metal screws are lined up exactly you cannot get the motor on. The newer style would make it so much easier to replace motors in the future.
That said today I took another look where the housing connects to the exhaust pipe there are 4 screws (so much for the incorrect dealer info).
The rear and the side screws are (opposite the control box) are covered with a shield for the exhaust piping.
It looks like the only way to remove that shield is to drill out at least 2 pop rivets.

I don't think I will go down that road.

Wanted to update the housing to the newer style. The old style has been a big pain for me. Unless all 6 of the sheet metal screws are lined up exactly you cannot get the motor on. The newer style would make it so much easier to replace motors in the future.
That said today I took another look where the housing connects to the exhaust pipe there are 4 screws (so much for the incorrect dealer info).
The rear and the side screws are (opposite the control box) are covered with a shield for the exhaust piping.
It looks like the only way to remove that shield is to drill out at least 2 pop rivets.

I don't think I want to go down that road.

Kind of surprised that nobody on here has replaced the blower housing.

 

[Fish On]

I had my stove for 13 years and replaced just about everything. was a insert and I never had a hard time with the screws. Kinda simple I’m confused why so hard? Not to be rude

 

[Fish On]

I actually have a pic when I removed to replace. If this helps you.

 

[smalltown]

Fish On your not being rude at all. When I bought my replacement motor from the dealer it came already attached to the new exhaust housing. As you can see from my profile picture the Castile is a corner. Not exactly easy to get to even to replace the exhaust motor.
For some reason my sheet metal screws never seem to line up enough to sit the motor on top of the gasket before I end up tearing the gasket. The new style blower housing seemed to be a better mousetrap, so I started down that route after saying a bunch of bad words!
That said if you read the previous posts all that remains to pull out the old housing is the removal of two screws. It's tantalizingly close. I was just hoping that somebody had gone down this route before me. It appears that the shield blocking the view of the 2 remaining screws holding the motor housing is held on by two pop rivets. I was hoping somebody would say yes drill those out and your good to go or these is still a lot to remove after that.

I may just decide to reapply the red RTV I bought to where I had removed some to get at two of the screws and fight again with the original housing.
P.S. I've had this Castile for 13 1/2 years served me well so far.
Also looking at your insert photo the exhaust housing is completely different from my free-standing model. Yours would be so much simpler for me.

 

[smalltown]

I stopped trying to replace the exhaust housing ! I've got it almost reassembled save for cleaning the convection blower tomorrow.
I have a favor to ask. I thought I had a photo of my wiring from the last time I replaced a motor but cannot locate it.

I connected the Blue/white wires to the combustion blower.
I connected the two black wires to the igniter.
I will connected the purple/white wires to the convection blower.

Does that sound correct for an older Castile Freestanding?

One last question. On the burn pot there is a slot for hot air from the igniter.
If you look at how the slot was molded, I can see that a small portion does not go all the way through I was thinking of putting a loose hacksaw blade in the to open up the slot. Of course, I would only do this after testing my stove from all the things I just put it through.
Has anybody ever checked the "igniter slot"

 

[johneh]

Your wiring is correct by the manual

 

[smalltown]

Thank you johneh. Company just left so all I need to do is clean the convection blower and fire it up.

 

[kappel15]

Ya, Quads new supplier of exhaust fans with housings, deemed it necessary to change the screw hole design. You are better off reaming out the holes to make the old housing work. kap

 

[smalltown]

I'm thinking that the supplied housing is a kind of generic housing that fits some models at least not the Castile where I found I apparently need to drill out the two rivets holding the exhaust transition shield.

Anyway, The Castile is all back together and heating. My Castile seems to like cold weather: when it's warmer say 58 deg. F. the stove doesn't reach the stage where it keeps going on its own. In cold weather it seems to work much better. I imagine it's because I have about 4' of vertical inside pipe then through the wall to an end piece, and the stove isn't getting enough draft?
I'll know for sure when it we get the cold temps. Maybe just a small increase in my pellet feed.

Going to upload a picture of my burn pot where I want to compare the igniter opening with other Castile owners.