PVDC Questions- NEW!

[breklaw]

My PDVC also dropped air output, and looking at the blower, it is dirty- has anybody come up with an easy way to clean it, without pulling the blower? I don't want to pull the stove, and can't work on it with me upside down. Neck issues. Had some luck using a vacuum on blow, blew a bunch of crap out into the room. Works better, but still dirty, though.

Also, have a question for you all- what do you think happens to the current draw when a fan is starved for air? You know, when you hold your hand over the vac hose and it sounds like it will explode, the motor revs up like it is working REAL hard, right? One of the more interesting things is that the speed rises, causing the louder sound, but the CURRENT DROPS! The fan(blower) is using less energy because it is not doing any work- it is moving the same air around in a circle, so all the air is moving very, very quickly, and the motor is not doing any work. Well, when you blow out or clean a blower, and it starts to do more work, because it is moving tons of air now, it actually uses more electrricity and draws more current, so very often cleaning a fan/blower will cause it to fail rather quickly. Is this room air blower a Grainger item? How about the combustion fan? (Mine is noisy until hot)

 

[stoveguy2esw]

when i clean mine out i actually unbolt it and take it out of the unit. then hit it with my compressor. if you do this it is very important to restrain the fan so the high pressure air doent spin the blades at high speed , this overrevs the bearings and could damage them. then after cleaning i rebolt it in , you may reuse the gasket on the blower in virtualy all cases as it is there more to dampen noise than to create a seal

 

[breklaw]

Thanks, Mike, I thought so, but as I said, I am having some neck issues from a prior injury, and hanging upside down working in the back is a problem. Why does the right side NOT have an access panel like the left? Do you see a problem with blowing the blower out while it is in the stove? I did get a bit of crap out of it aiming a can of spray air through the vent holes, which promptly blew out into the room! YEAH! I fix medical equipment, and have said for scores of years that anybody who designs stuff ought to be forced, by law, to service it in the field for a year! An access panel like the left side has would allow you to clean this fan in minutes! Anyway, you are 100% right about restraining a fan when blowing it out, as I have seen overzealous techs blow out PC's and other medical stuff and destroy the fans by overspeeding them with compressed air, and ruining the bearings/bushings. Anyway, I have learned my lesson on this one, and will be puling the stove during the off seasonn from here forward, and bringing it out into the yard for a thorough going over.
All this said, this stove I bought used has been a great friend. The issues that I have had have been simple, such as loose setscrews on the auger motors and such. A tip for those of us who have lots of tools- I keep a set of tools just for the stove- just what fits, period, next to my stove. A nutdiver for the sheetmetal screws, the allens for the augers, even the torx for the motors- if I use it once on the stove and it fits correctly, I find one and keep it in my stove kit. Less fumbling around, more heat! All te best to you pellet heads! Thanks for all your help and kind words.