Replacing fan in Arrow fireplace insert

[McFarnell]

Hi all,

I have an Arrow Fireplace insert, probably from the 70's or 80's, as my house was built in 1976. It says model 203408 on it. I guess maybe Arrow changed names to Abbey Fireplaces? It was made in Tualatin, Oregon.

Anyway, the draft-inducing fan on it went out about a month ago. It was a heatilator fan, part number 7063-6596. I looked it up online, and ordered this one: (broken link removed to http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemVersion&item=182360490246&view=all&tid=1595987418008)

I pulled out the stove, took out the fan, put the new one in. It was kind of a pain, but not that bad.

Thought all was well, but when we started the stove up there was a bit of a paint/plastic smell when we ran the fan. I assumed it was the paint on the fan getting warmed up for the first time. However, after running the fireplace 3 or 4 times, the fan started popping and blew out a bunch of plastic-smelling smoke. The fan would kind of run on one speed for a bit longer, then gave up completely.

I'm assuming the wiring in the motor got too hot, melted, and then shorted out. However, we did not have excessively hot fires those few burns. And the old fan lasted years with no problem.

I contacted the guy where I bought it, and he said it might be a factory error in this fan. He will send me a new one or give me my money back.

I called an electrician, and he said he doesn't fix things like this. I called a Stove / Hot Tub repair place, and they weren't sure what to do either. They said they will talk to their technicians and see if anyone has an idea.

I'm kind of out of ideas. The insert has been great for the 4 years we've lived here, and I really would like to fix it, but I'm stuck. What would you guys recommend I do at this point?

Thank you.

Cold in Washington (it's been 19 degrees at night lately)
--Matthew

 

[begreen]

Sounds like it will need to be pulled again to investigate and replace. Seems like a bad place for a plastic fan blade. Maybe compare to the old fan and make sure the new blade is not slightly larger and maybe binding or touching where it shouldn't?

In the bigger question, is this fan in the flue path and actually inducing draft? Or is it used to convect heat from the insert into the room? Given the age of the old fellow it may be time to replace with a modern burner for better heat.

 

[McFarnell]

Thanks for your comments. I don't think the fan blade is plastic. I think what maybe melted was the pastic insulation on the wires of the motor. Pretty sure the fan blade is steel. The fan has a case that keeps the blade from touching anything it shouldn't - it is all self-contained like this: (broken link removed to http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemVersion&item=182360490246&view=all&tid=1595987418008)

The fan is not in the flue path. It circulates air around the firebox and then out into the room. There's kind of two steel boxes - one where the fire burns, and then one that surrounds that, where the fan circulates air to heat up and then out into the room.

If I were to look for a new fireplace insert, how/where should I start? It seems a pity to get rid of the one I have, since it heats VERY well and burns quite efficiently. I just need to get the fan working again.

 

[Lloyd the redneck]

that's my arrow , where is your fan located ?

 

[begreen]

Ah ok, that is helpful info. The ebay link is no longer pointing to the fan, but I get the picture now. The fan is does not induce draft, it is a convection fan. Could this be a case of the wiring not being routed correctly and it came in contact with the hot side of the firebox? Inspection will show what happened.

I have not visual reference for this old insert. When looking for a replacement one needs the full dimensions for the firebox, front and rear width and height plus top and bottom depths. Then size the replacement according to what fits and the heating requirement of the area. being heated.

 

[begreen]

View attachment 192214 that's my arrow , where is your fan located ?

Whoa, that is a beast, nice pup too. Where is the hearth protection for the wood floor?

 

[McFarnell]

There is a picture of my insert. The small red arrow shows where the fan is. Here is another link to a picture of the fan I got: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BULTKE/?tag=hearthamazon-20

The larger red arrow shows the path that the blower pushes the air through. The warm air comes out of a vent at the end of that large red arrow.

The fan says it is thermally protected, but I can't explain the melting plastic smell and how it popped and then quit. Unless I assume the wires melted and shorted out. Thanks all for your help.

 

[begreen]

To get by for now I'm wondering if you could pull the cover on the left side where the fan is and point a table fan at the opening to get some heat circulating? Is that possible?

 

[Lloyd the redneck]

Whoa, that is a beast, nice pup too. Where is the hearth protection for the wood floor?

The nice little black fan... I have a nice stone at home. I just have to get real motivated and put it in. My rottie lab loves the heat my border collie German Shepard stays away she's always hot

 

[McFarnell]

Something like that might be possible. But there is a square flange where the fan blows air downward. So I would probably have to rig up some makeshift ducting or something to get the air to go into that hole. We do have a heat pump, just hate to pay for so much electricity and would like to get this fixed.

 

[begreen]

The nice little black fan... I have a nice stone at home. I just have to get real motivated and put it in. My rottie lab loves the heat my border collie German Shepard stays away she's always hot

There is supposed to be 16" hearth protection on the floor in front of the stove door. Seeing this is a raised hearth a simple ember protection board should suffice.

 

[begreen]

Something like that might be possible. But there is a square flange where the fan blows air downward. So I would probably have to rig up some makeshift ducting or something to get the air to go into that hole. We do have a heat pump, just hate to pay for so much electricity and would like to get this fixed.

Got it. Odd that they are using a draft inducing fan for convection, but if that matched the OEM unit then so be it.

 

[Lloyd the redneck]

There is supposed to be 16" hearth protection on the floor in front of the stove door. Seeing this is a raised hearth a simple ember protection board should suffice.

I'm going to put nice stone in. Just need to do it. I'm also going to weld some more metal on the top to cover the rest of the opening. It's just a utilitairian device now !

 

[McFarnell]

Is it possible that this stove has the fan too close to the firebox, and therefore the fan gets too hot from the wood fire and wiring melts? So an engineering error? Or are these fans good even at hi temps? Thanks for your comments everyone.

 

[McFarnell]

Any thoughts?