Even though we keep our Accentra Insert kept pretty clean, our distribution motor called it quits. It's our main heat source for the house and really has gotten a workout for the past 7 years, not to mention 3 cats and 2 dogs worth of fur/fuzz sneaking in.
I bit the bullet and paid the $300 plus tax for the OEM distribution motor even though I saw some people get a nearly identical one for a lot less and you just have to cap some wires. But I figured since this is the first time I'm replacing this part I'll go for the real deal. Maybe next time, or for a backup, I'll get the less expensive one.
The replacement went pretty well, especially with my wife lending a hand. We pulled the insert out onto the 2 x 4 support I made a few years back. No big deal, do this once a month or so anyways to give it the good cleaning. It was a little tricky just because your lying on your back working on the bottom of the insert, but it's not that bad, and way better than dropping the entire insert to the floor, tipping it over, then lifting it back up. The one thing I was kind of surprised about was that the entire blower unit cannot be dropped since it's all welded in. So you just have to remove the three bolts that hold the motor, then disconnect the wires, and it drops right out. So, I paid over 300 bucks for the entire motor and blower housing when all I really needed was the motor. Don't know what to do with the brand new blower housing now, maybe get creative and make a snail out of it? So after taking the new motor out of the new housing we popped it in. Oh yeah that's the other thing, the new motor doesn't have any wire connectors so you can't just plug it back in to the wires coming from the insert, you have to figure out how you want to connect them. We just cut the plugs off the existing wires, stripped them, then used screw wire connectors to attach them to the new motor. We also re-used the old sleave that covered the wires, figured why not, and used a couple zip ties to make it all nice and tidy.
Overall it was pretty easy, especially if you have all your tools and stuff handy and someone else to help. The Accentra Insert stove runs like it's brand new again especially since we replaced the combustion blower just two years ago. Knock on wood still haven't had to mess with the auger, or replace the igniter or deal with the computer board. Definitely a great stove, we love it.
Thanks for reading, have a good one!
I bit the bullet and paid the $300 plus tax for the OEM distribution motor even though I saw some people get a nearly identical one for a lot less and you just have to cap some wires. But I figured since this is the first time I'm replacing this part I'll go for the real deal. Maybe next time, or for a backup, I'll get the less expensive one.
The replacement went pretty well, especially with my wife lending a hand. We pulled the insert out onto the 2 x 4 support I made a few years back. No big deal, do this once a month or so anyways to give it the good cleaning. It was a little tricky just because your lying on your back working on the bottom of the insert, but it's not that bad, and way better than dropping the entire insert to the floor, tipping it over, then lifting it back up. The one thing I was kind of surprised about was that the entire blower unit cannot be dropped since it's all welded in. So you just have to remove the three bolts that hold the motor, then disconnect the wires, and it drops right out. So, I paid over 300 bucks for the entire motor and blower housing when all I really needed was the motor. Don't know what to do with the brand new blower housing now, maybe get creative and make a snail out of it? So after taking the new motor out of the new housing we popped it in. Oh yeah that's the other thing, the new motor doesn't have any wire connectors so you can't just plug it back in to the wires coming from the insert, you have to figure out how you want to connect them. We just cut the plugs off the existing wires, stripped them, then used screw wire connectors to attach them to the new motor. We also re-used the old sleave that covered the wires, figured why not, and used a couple zip ties to make it all nice and tidy.
Overall it was pretty easy, especially if you have all your tools and stuff handy and someone else to help. The Accentra Insert stove runs like it's brand new again especially since we replaced the combustion blower just two years ago. Knock on wood still haven't had to mess with the auger, or replace the igniter or deal with the computer board. Definitely a great stove, we love it.
Thanks for reading, have a good one!
