I cleaned the stove, now the combustion blower makes more noise...

[buggs_moran]

Last time I posted it was to ferret out a problem with the electrical. Turned out my ignitor had died. Fair enough and fixed. While everything was apart I cleaned the blades on my combustion motor with a toothbrush. I've done it before without problems. Not exactly ever since, but close enough to make me think the cleaning was the culprit, the motor started sounding a bit more noisy. Yesterday the power went out, so the stove must have restarted. Now the motor sounds like it has bad bearings. It's only a year old, I just replaced the last one after 4 years of operation. Is there anything I can do to the motor to help it? I can't believe bearings would go bad after a season...

Thanks,
Chris

 

[heat seeker]

Did you bend a blade and throw it out of balance? Or knock a balance weight off? Is it a vibration you're hearing?

 

[buggs_moran]

No, I was very gentle with it. It definitely doesn't sound like a vibration.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Did you also clean between the impeller and the mounting plate?

It is possible to get a crud stuck between the plate and the motor shaft and not notice it until you put things back together and power up the stove only to hear some rubbing.

If you didn't get all of the crud out of the cavity it is possible that the impeller got a load dumped on one of the blades shortly after you reinstall it and it will make varying sounds one of which is a moan, another is like a helicopter.

 

[woodsman23]

Place a few drops of WD40 on top of the motor and allow to spin see if this helps....

 

[breklaw]

I would never use WD40 for a LUBE, but I would use it to see if a bearing needed lube or to clean one out- IMHO, the best lube you can buy, and also flood the bearings with to clean them, even some bearings that LOOK sealed, is TuffOil, or a similar TEFLON lube, in a pen oiler. It has a small syringe like applicator, and you are paying 5 bucks for about ten cents of oil, but it makes it very precise, and you want to actually SEE the bearings absorb the oil, by letting it puddle on them and spinning by hand. Takes hours. Not even kidding. It takes hours of taking the blowers apart, cleaning everything, flooding the bearings and spinning slowly, cleaning up the excess lube. Saves HUNDREDS. I have the original room air blower off my 2003 unit on my bench as we speak. It needs a bearing, and I have ordered some, but am now looking at a way to remove and replace small bearings. As usual, we will improvise... UNLESS, someone has already done the research and would share how to ...

 

[buggs_moran]

I took the fan/motor out of the blower assembly to inspect it. I installed it into another housing I had and hooked it up to a test cord. It's definitely making noise at the bearings which is ridiculous after only a year. After taking an old motor apart to see how everything fits together, I realized that I was never going to get the blades off this one without totally screwing up the blades. The set screw is tightened so far down that it deforms the post and you can't get the blades off without some serious twisting and turning. To boot, the external blades (cooling? impeller?) seems fused to the post so I can't imagine how I'd replace the other set of bearings (which is where I think the noise is coming from)... I guess Breckwell gets another $200.

 

[buggs_moran]

Did you also clean between the impeller and the mounting plate?

It is possible to get a crud stuck between the plate and the motor shaft and not notice it until you put things back together and power up the stove only to hear some rubbing.

If you didn't get all of the crud out of the cavity it is possible that the impeller got a load dumped on one of the blades shortly after you reinstall it and it will make varying sounds one of which is a moan, another is like a helicopter.

Definitely getting in there with a brush, but it's pretty clean...

 

[woodsman23]

but I would use it to see if a bearing needed lube or to clean one out- IMHO

thats what i'm saying if the noise goes away then back it up with some good oil............................... I have removed the smal bearing by tapping it off and opened the bearing guards using a tile knife and prying them off gently. then lubed and reinstalled, worked great.

 

[PoolGuyinCT]

Yank it out and hit it with a blow gun, I have never looked back since the first time I cleaned mine with air