The blower on my SBI insert (Drolet, Century, Flame Energy, Osburn, Enerzone, etc.) is very weak this season. I took it out and cleaned it thoroughly, saw that the bearings were in great shape, then hooked it back up. It barely blows on high. Four possibilities as far as I can tell- 1- Rheostat (infinitely variable switch/speed control); 2- Power from the wall socket (less than 120 v); 3-Thermodisc (automatically turns on and off when it reaches a certain temperature; 4- Electric motor. I'd like some guidance on how to troubleshoot what is the problem. I have a multimeter, and can figure out how to use it, with a little help, I believe.
The rheostat has two wires. 1. Disconnect outlet to prevent shock. 2. Bypass rheostat by connecting the two wires to it together. 3. Plug in and test. Blows at max speed? Rheostat may be worn. Twisting it min to max a few times may clean the contacts enough to get through the season. 3b. You can test thermodisk sensor and switch the same way one at a time. 4. Still weak? If motor is receiving same voltage as wall outlet, good probability that motor internals are worn out. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Bypass the rheostat with a jumper wire...if the motor turns freely, but still doesn't operate at full speed with full voltage to it, the motor has an issue.
Thanks fellas! Great tips. The rheostat has been a little funny the last few seasons, when turned all the way to high, it has less power than backing it off about 10%. So I suspect that's the culprit. To replace it with a authentic replacement part, it's $30-40 for the switch, another $12 for the knob. A quick search turned up another option for $7, knob included. Looks to be better quality than the original.
I was thinking that, too. The cage fans (?) spin very freely, with one blast of air, and they keep spinning on their own for quite a while. I've have to lube the bearings on regular fans recently, so lube was at at the top of my mind, and I've discovered over time that lube fixes many problems. Not this one, unfortunately!
Update- I bypassed both switches to go directly to the motor. Both wires were female spade connectors, so I had to be creative to make connection, and a 15 amp auto fuse fit the bill perfectly. Conclusion- Definitely is the rheostat switch. The blower never blew so hard, even when brand new, so I'm thinking I might have had a stinker from the start, unless there's a limiter (?) in the switch. Got the replacement ordered for just under $7. I can get the identical switch, now that I'm able to see the specs of the switch, for $10. A little homework saved me about $30, and I now I'm now how it works, which is very valuable to me. I have to decide whether I want to leave it directly wired, or through the temperature activated snap switch, until the replacement rheostat arrives next week. Nice to get this fixed early on in shoulder season.
The new rheostat is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, then I'm going to wire it like it was originally set up. What do you mean when you say "no tepid coming out?" I appreciate your tip, just don't understand it!
Of you leave the snap disc wired in, it will shut off the blower when) if the stove cools off. If you bypass the snap disc, it'll keep blowing not hot air when the stove cools off. BTDT, bypassed the snap disc myself and I get cool air blowing from my blower during shoulder season. It's no issue when I have the stove going 24/7.
Final update- New rheostat arrives, only glitch was the new one came with two male spade connectors, needed a female to connect to the snap disk. Scavenged a wire from a blown well controller that has two female ends. Blower has never blown so hard, original rheostat must have been faulty.
