Tips if either of your blowers stops working.

[checkthisout]

So I just got a used but new to me Avalon Newport to heat my shop. I already have one to heat the house.

Neither blower in the "new" stove worked, but from my experience with my own stove, I knew what to check for. This may apply to your stove if it has these style of blower(s). Almost all stoves have the same style of combustion blower. Convection blowers vary quite a bit.

1) Apply direct power to the motor (convection or combustion) leads or connections and see what happens. If the motor spins slowly with 120V applied then it can probably be "repaired". . Go to step 2

2) Spin the motor by hand. If it doesn't spin freely as in "coast" after you give it a flick, and, it takes some effort to turn, then this "repair" probably applies.

The following repairs should only be done by knowledgeable do it yourselfers. Worst case is that you mess the motor up during the process and have to buy a new one which you were going to buy anyway.....

Both assume you already have the motors removed.


Your objective here is to remove the contamination that has embedded itself in the shaft and bearings (bushings) thus leading to reduced bearing-to-bushing clearance which is causing excessive friction.

Combustion blower:

Please note that you have to epoxy the motor back together as you will destroy the crimps.

1) First try and lube the motor on either end. Take the rubber plug off and squirt WD40 in there. Then, try and get WD40 into the bearing on the other end. You'll need to sneak it under the cooling fan and work the shaft back and forth. If that doesn't free it up then:

2)Remove the set screw holding the fan blade on. You may need to apply heat to it with a torch.

3) You need to separate the housing from the nose of the motor. Manufactures generally crimp the black motor housing onto the mounting flange. Drill out these crimps



3) Lightly tap the mounting flange to separate it from the housing. The shaft will come out with and you'll have two pieces that look something like this:





4) You need to pull on the motor shaft and douse the area in front of the armature but behind the front bearing so the WD40 runs down the shaft into bearing. Work the shaft back and forth, spin it etc while doing this. You should feel the motor getting easier and easier to spin. Stick the two halves back together and ensure the bearing at the rear is free. (note: These aren't actual bearings but bronze bushings. Once you believe you have the bearings cleaned and freed, lube the bearings with some 3-in-1 oil or motor oil you might have

5) Reassemble. And test by applying power to motor to make sure it works.

6) If all is well, Apply a heat proof expoxy between mounting flange and housing to hold motor halves together. And reinstall in stove.

Convection blower:

1) Take it apart and do the same thing! On my original stove and my new stove, the convection blower bearing on the motor end gets contaminated which leads to the same thing. Repair is the same. Take it apart, lube it, spin it, lube it, spin.

Here is a picture of culprit on both of my Avalon's convection blowers. It can't be lube whiled installed because the oil won't run into it. There is a second bearing on the other side of the coil. The bearing on the far end is just a rubber bushing.

 

[Cedarjunki]

Using wd40 to clean and loosen the crud in the bushings works great but i wouldnt recommend using it as a lubricant. 3 in 1 oil is best for that.

 

[checkthisout]

Using wd40 to clean and loosen the crud in the bushings works great but i wouldnt recommend using it as a lubricant. 3 in 1 oil is best for that.

I completely agree and thanks for catching that I edited the post as such. In fact I used a daub of synthetic motor oil I had sitting around to lube the bearings after I had "cleaned" them with the WD40.