We had a 4 or 5 day warm spell so I took advantage of the stove down time to work on one of my insert blowers. It had started to make a little noise. I should have done this in the Fall but……I didn’t. I haven’t seen this process on the internet anywhere so I thought I’d show what I do for bearings that start to make some noise. I’m too cheap to just automatically shell out $200 each and replace both blowers in my insert. Pardon my dirty fingernails but I got into a little soot while removing the blower. My blowers are Jakel brand but I’m guessing they are all pretty similar. Start by removing the impellers by taking off the clamps and pulling the impeller out. This may be the most difficult part of the whole operation but here is how I figured out how to do it. I drill a couple of evenly spaced holes in the impeller to allow me to thread a U shaped wire in from the backside. The clamp the wire ends in a vice so I can pull down on the shroud. The wire lets me pull with even pressure on both sides of the impeller. IMPORTANT—pay attention to the orientation of the impeller blades so the impeller is installed correctly during reassembly. Remove the impellers from both sides. Then I remove the 4 screws holding the shroud on with a 1/4” nut driver. Remove shrouds from both sides. With the shrouds removed, you can now remove the 2 longer screws that hold the 2 halves of the frame together. With the 2 halves apart, you can remove the shaft. The bearings are pressed on the shaft and stay on the shaft. Leave the rubber cups in the frame halves. Each side also has a Belleville washer in each cup, don’t lose those. With a small pick you can carefully pry up the side of the dust cover seal to expose the ball bearings. Notice how dirty one of the seals is with old sticky and gummy grease. At this point use some solvent to melt the old grease. I like Berrymans Chemtool and Quicksiver Powertune. Spin the bearing to rotate the balls and to work out the old grease. Use Q tips and shop towels to remove the grease. Repeat the process until you’re comfortable that you got out all that you can. Look at all of the old dirty grease that came out! When you’re comfortable that you got all of the grease out that you can, you can pack in some new grease. I used white lithium grease. Just use you finger to push some new grease in. Spin the bearing to distribute the grease. Be careful not to press too much grease in there as it will create unnecessary drag. Clean up the dust seals and reinstall. At this point you can begin to reassemble the motor. Tighten the 2 long screws evenly so the shaft doesn’t bind. When the 2 halves are together, I like to apply some electricity to make sure it spins okay. If it spins okay, reinstall the shrouds and impellers. Make sure the impellers are oriented in the same direction as when you disassembled so that air blows out properly. Reinstall the mounting grommets and put the blower back in the insert. At this point you can spend the $400 you saved on a new saw!
Fantastic thread! I have been tempted to check those bearings on a rear style Avalon/Lopi fan but haven’t had the chance yet. Ever pull the bearings completely? For the Lopi style- I now bypass the thermodisc as it’s a known failure point. The rheostats typically fail as well (usually 10ish years). The older style uses an in-line (cord) box. Travis Industries wants a pretty penny for their updated versions so I just use an Amazon switch/stat and use the original switch box as a junction box. Drill out the rivets, first. I wire everything up in there and keep the ground. Then good use of electrical tape just in case. The switches are indexed just right for a Lopi style switch. Just be sure to match up the indicator. I then use tin screws to replace rivets so I can get back at in the future. The new style rear blowers have quick spade connectors with an external switch junction.
Nice work! Most people don't even bother to clean their blower wheels out, let alone grease! All that dust n hair that is often built up in there causes low air flow/heat output, and often times an annoying vibration/rattle! One thing that goes counterintuitive to what most people think is how often/how much grease to put in bearings...one of those places where more is not always better. This article explains it better than I can. But I'm sure that blower will long outlast it's expected lifespan at this point! The Dangers of Overgreasing
I shudder to think of how many of these blowers have been tossed out after a snapdisc, rheostat, or dirty bearing problem. I have one on my bench right now that the po cut out to accommodate an aftermarket set of blowers. I gotta say that it might just work (but will probably rattle a bit more in the loose housing). Gotta rig up a good switch, though.
Heck, the little Drolet 1400i insert stove I have in the fireplace I was able to buy for $200 because the guy thought the blower was bad...little did he know that it just had a snap switch that was placed in the front corner, and unless you built a huge fire, or built it offset to that corner, the blower would either not come on at all, or it would take forever to come on. I didn't know for sure if it was good or bad when I bought it, but my gut said it was fine...even if not, I would have found a cheap way to fix it. The seller had never actually built a fire in it...it was in his neighbors house, and after the old man passed, his kids came and cleaned the house out, then told this neighbor he could have anything left in the house, as they were going to raze it. So I think he thought the blower should come on as soon as you "turn it on"...but, the on/off switch has a rheostat...so gotta wait for that snap switch to "make" too. After using it for a bit, I just wired in a "manual/auto" toggle switch to the circuit, that way I can run it however it hits me at the time, which honestly it's usually in manual.
Great thread and info! I've never taken it apart that far, probably because I am afraid I won't be able to put it all back together correctly lol. I do pull it out each year and and blow the crap out of it with the compressor for a few minutes out in the garage. I also drop some lube drops where I can, not many places I see to lube but I try and get it in there. Seems to really help each season as by end of Jan and Feb it's pretty caked up again and get wonky sounding.
