Blower Motor Hot

syazz · Post by **syazz** » Fri. Nov. 13, 2009 3:38 pm

Hello everyone,

Just fired up my Hyfire II today. So far so good, but have a question.

My convection blower motors are running pretty hot. I have them ducted to cold air return via 7" pipe, sealed tight to the intake. Is this normal?

Thanks again for your help .

If this has already been answered somewhere, I apologize. I didn't find it anywhere.

Thanks,

Steve

WNY · Post by **WNY** » Fri. Nov. 13, 2009 5:52 pm

Are you running with the coaltrol, if they are not running 100% (which the coaltrol normally doesn't run unless running full burn), they may run warm to the touch at slower speeds, I know mine do. Have you oiled them? May need to.

Maybe go into the CoalTrol Setup and turn them on 99% and check them to see if they cool down or not.

syazz · Post by **syazz** » Fri. Nov. 13, 2009 9:54 pm

Hi Dave- Thanks- tried oiling them- one motor cooled a little bit- the other ( on the left facing the rear, motor toward the stovepipe) didn't seem to cool at all. Tried what you suggested with the coal trol, but was unable to find a way to monitor the motors- looked at the manual, watched the video again, but couldn't figure it out. I can only hold my hand on the hottest motor maybe 5-10 seconds before it's too hot. A little longer on the cooler one. I don't know what's normal with these.

Once again, I really appreciate your help. You helped me earlier in identifying the Hyfire II vs the Hyfire I, etc. I bought the unit, cleaned it up, re-painted it, replaced all the gaskets, ducted it direct to my hot air plenum with 14" off the hot air jacket and a duct fan, two 7" cold air returns hooked directly to the convection blowers ( similar to the set-up you display on your unit) I had the cold air returns tied tight to the convection blower intake, but loosened the one that was hottest hoping that would help. It looks like you have yours a little distance away. Anyway, didn't help cool it off any. Other than my concern with the motors, it's working great all day. House is holding steady at set point of 68 degrees. The one thing I didn't do when I had it all apart was any maintenence on the motors, like cleaning the squirrel cage, oiling, etc. Can't believe I forgot about that.

JLF53 · Post by **JLF53** » Fri. Nov. 13, 2009 10:38 pm

Both my motors are hot on Leisure Line Pocono new model with 200 lb hopper. I have not tried to oil them or play with the coaltrol at 99. Just hooked it up and burning since Monday. Since mine is bottom vent the motors are proximate to the stove pipe, but this does not seem to be the source of the heat. I have the stove power vented. The thermometer is on the pipe between the motors and it is just slightly above 100 degrees. So the hot motors seem to be from their own source, not the stove or pipe as source. I wait to see what is said here for best way to reduce the heat, if possible.

syazz · Post by **syazz** » Fri. Nov. 13, 2009 10:53 pm

Hi JLF53 - our systems sound identical except I have a HyfireII- I also have a powervent, stovepipe around 120 degrees, bottom vent for pipe- maybe that's just the way they work- people here are very helpful- I'm sure we'll get some good advice

WNY · Post by **WNY** » Sat. Nov. 14, 2009 7:26 am

Depends on wich CoalTrol Version, if you just just Tap Menu button, it should go into FSA (Fan Speed AUTO) and then press the UP Arrow and hold down to 99, it will change to FSM (Fan SPeed Manual). Just remember to put it back to 0.

Post by **pvolcko** » Sat. Nov. 14, 2009 11:16 am

Or a setting of 100. Either 0 or 100 will put it back into automatic/FSA mode.

Freddy · Post by **Freddy** » Sat. Nov. 14, 2009 3:02 pm

Do you have an ammeter? Can you check how many amps the motors are drawing? If they are drawing the amps it says on the tag, they're probably OK. If the tag says .28 amps & it's drawing considerably more.... you have a motor that's near death.

Dann757 · Post by **Dann757** » Sat. Nov. 14, 2009 3:10 pm

This doesn't exactly relate to your particular device, but I've got a Mr. Heater natural gas heater, and I've always worried about the blower motor running hot. It does get hot to the touch, I gave up trying to do anything about it. I don't think it will ever run cool, must be within design parameters.

Matthaus · Post by **Matthaus** » Sat. Nov. 14, 2009 4:50 pm

These shaded pole motors tend to run hot and don't seem to mind it. When you say "pretty hot" does that mean you can't touch the motor case? If you can rest your hand on the motor casing without burning your hand that is pretty much normal behavior. As has been suggested checking the amperage is useful for used motors, if it is a new one you have a one year warranty and we replace very few fans under warranty.

You can always plug each fan into an outlet directly for a period of time and observe any change in temperature to rule out any issues with the Coal-Trol Speed Controller, but there again almost no failures and you have a three year warranty on that.

JLF53, the fans do tend to run kind of hot, if you want to cool the fans off you can place a small fan in the back of the stove and direct it on them, although one of the issues with that is dust being blown onto the fan and requiring some extra cleaning. All things being equal it is a good idea to blow all the dust out and lube the motors at least once per season, also remember that on some of the fans one of the oil holes is inside the electrical junction box on the fan.

One thing to remember is that the fan is bolted to the stove and does pick up some heat, they are made to run at in excess of 200*F so unless you are burning yourself on the motor, there is really no need to worry. Having said that make sure you perform regular maint., if the fan is running hotter than normal you can almost be assured that it needs cleaing and oiling,the real question is what is normal!?

syazz · Post by **syazz** » Sat. Nov. 14, 2009 9:19 pm

Thanks everyone- I do not have an ammeter, but will get one. One motor was hotter than the other one, but could put my hand on each for 5-10 seconds before I had to take it off. I have another situation now- I was gone all day- when I left this morning the stove was running fine- just got home about 8PM, and the furnace had shut down. It must have quit soon after I left as the coal in the hopper doesn't look like it went down at all. The temp on the coal trol is showing the house is one degree hotter than what I had set. The combustion fans were running, but stove cold, no fire, stoker motors and convection fans stopped. Plugged each stoker motor and convection fan into direct power and all took off. FR was obviously showing 0. I am assuming (hoping) it was just too warm today and not a problem with the Coal trol, etc. I am going to leave alone for the night, tomorrow AM I will clean the squirrel cages on the motors, oil the combustion motors, and hope it's alittle cooler and fire up again. Thanks again for all your help

JLF53 · Post by **JLF53** » Sun. Nov. 15, 2009 7:36 pm

Motors seem fine now. Perhaps it was just a start up issue.

JLF53 · Post by **JLF53** » Sun. Nov. 15, 2009 7:39 pm

Matthaus wrote:These shaded pole motors tend to run hot and don't seem to mind it. When you say "pretty hot" does that mean you can't touch the motor case? If you can rest your hand on the motor casing without burning your hand that is pretty much normal behavior. As has been suggested checking the amperage is useful for used motors, if it is a new one you have a one year warranty and we replace very few fans under warranty.

You can always plug each fan into an outlet directly for a period of time and observe any change in temperature to rule out any issues with the Coal-Trol Speed Controller, but there again almost no failures and you have a three year warranty on that.

JLF53, the fans do tend to run kind of hot, if you want to cool the fans off you can place a small fan in the back of the stove and direct it on them, although one of the issues with that is dust being blown onto the fan and requiring some extra cleaning. All things being equal it is a good idea to blow all the dust out and lube the motors at least once per season, also remember that on some of the fans one of the oil holes is inside the electrical junction box on the fan.

One thing to remember is that the fan is bolted to the stove and does pick up some heat, they are made to run at in excess of 200*F so unless you are burning yourself on the motor, there is really no need to worry. Having said that make sure you perform regular maint., if the fan is running hotter than normal you can almost be assured that it needs cleaning and oiling,the real question is what is normal!?

Thanks, I can touch the motors now. The thermometer is about 100 degrees on the pipe bottom vent location. So all seems fine. The stove has just been fired up as of Monday, brand new never been used before.

So far it is a dream come true! My husband had to be out of town. I did not want to wait another week, so I fired it up myself. I could not ask for any better ease of start up. Love the stove.