Noisy fan on fireplace insert wood stove

[amateur hour]

Hello,
I have been lurking on here for a little while reading up on wood splitting and burning. Anyway, my father has a Drolet fireplace insert that he uses to heat the house. It is probably 5-7 years old and burns 3-4 cords per year. Lately the fan/blower mounted to the front has been really noisy and I was wondering if there was a fix for this besides replacing the blower.

I have taken the cover off and vacuumed the ash/dust/dirt off the blower which seemed to help somewhat but didn't solve the problem.

Any help would be appreciated. I have found the replacement blower online for about $150 plus shipping.

Tom

 

[Whitespider]

Likely, if it's noisy, the motor is worn-out and replacement is the only real "fix". Really, 5-7 years is a long time for one of those little high RPM motors if it ain't been cleaned and lubed every year at least... couple times a year is even better.
Sometimes you can disassemble the whole apparatus, clean/flush out the motor/bearings and re-lube and get a few more weeks, maybe months, use out of it. But "noisy" bearings mean you're gonna' need the new motor (or a complete rebuild of it) sooner or later... I'd get the new motor on it's way if'n I were you, likely cost more than $150 to have a motor shop rebuild it. Get the new one installed and then clean/flush out the old motor, re-lube and keep for emergency spare... or even try rebuilding it yourself.

Is that $150 for the complete blower assembly?? Ya' may be able to just replace the motor for something less than that. Should be a spec tag/manufacturer decal on it, maybe take some measurements... go on line an find what ya' need. I mean, doubtful that Drolet designed some "special" motor, or had it designed... likely just a "standard" motor used for multiple applications.
*

 

[MrWhoopee]

Is that $150 for the complete blower assembly?? Ya' may be able to just replace the motor for something less than that. Should be a spec tag/manufacturer decal on it, maybe take some measurements... go on line an find what ya' need. I mean, doubtful that Drolet designed some "special" motor, or had it designed... likely just a "standard" motor used for multiple applications.
*

That's the truth. I wouldn't be surprised if a little research finds that motor for under $40. Sometimes searching Amazon for "Drolet xxx blower" or something similar will bring up a listing that gives an actual manufacturer and model number. Then search for that model number. I've saved hundreds that way.

 

[nathon918]

where are you located?
as long as the windings are good a rebuild will be cheap probably somewhere around $50.
its when the windings are burnt up that the cost of rebuilding is usually around the same price as a new motor...
theres a few shops near me that i use often for work depending what i need rebuilt

 

[cnice_37]

I looked into something similar, with the help of this forum as well. See here:

http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/how-do-you-lube-your-squirrel-cage-blower.244079/

I'm now looking for a replacement, I haven't been able to locate just the Jakel motor, so I'm looking at a turnkey unit (motor assembled with the blower and mount). Ebay has some as low as $40 shipped and as much as $120. I don't think going to Jotul directly (for me) is cost effective.

Since that thread and the intial cleanup, I have since "lubed" bearings multiple attempts. The squeal comes back within a week and back to square one. Just one of my blowers is doing the squeal so I have been running on one, but in the cold snaps I really need the 2. Like the replies said on my original thread, the bearings in my case were sealed, and I've tried getting in there with droppers and gravity but no success.

 

[ponyexpress976]

I got my replacement squirrel cage fan through Grainger. Had to drill out a couple pop rivets but I saved a ton of coin just replacing the motor/fan and not the whole assembly. I'm lucky enough to be near one of their retail locations. Popped the old one out, walked and and said "gimme one of these". 15 minutes later I was back in the truck and headed home for the rebuild.

 

[sgt7546]

Mines 4 years old. I get noises but not motor noise. I find that just pulling the unit out and tightening all the mounts up cuts the noise at least half.


• Sent from my screen to yours.

 

[Fred Wright]

More than likely the motor bearings, or bushings are worn. When a bearing starts making noise it's already a gonner. You can take the blower apart and lube the bearings but that'll only serve for a couple weeks at best.

If you prefer to repair your blower, a simple replacement of the motor bearings will take care of it. They're little bronze bushings, pretty much standard size. You may have to drill out pop rivets and replace 'em with small screws. Much cheaper than replacing the entire unit.

 

[brewmonster]

I have a Drolet insert also and had the same problem. I went ahead and got a new unit from myfireplaceproducts.com for $122. The old unit was anchored at only three places but the new one had six anti-vibration feet, so I drilled more holes and anchored the new one at all six spots.
Not the cheapest approach, but the result is fantastic. Of course the screech of dying bearings is gone, but so is almost all of the rattle due to vibration. What a relief! I wish I had done it a long time ago.

 

[turnkey4099]

I made the mistake of going to a HVAC that does handle stoves for a retrofit to my very old stove. Some $200 later I now have a fan with a loud whine that can only be used on a low speed and even then it is intrusive.

Turns out it wasn't even a fan built specifically for a stove and had to have another module to even make it multi speed.
Harry K

 

[amateur hour]

I went and ordered the factory replacement fan from myfirplaceproducts. Installed it and it is so quite I can even tell that it is on. Should have just done it last year when it started.

I think they have sealed bearings but is there anything I can do to try to improve the life of the motor? I vacuum the motor once in a while to try to get the dust off but that fan is running non stop during the cold season.

 

[cnice_37]

I've read many motors aren't recommended to run lower than 1/2 speed... not sure if this applies to yours as well.

I bought a generic replacement, haven't swapped it out yet.

 

[ttyR2]

The place I bought the replacement Dayton blower motor for my Blaze King stove specifically said "not recommended for variable speed". Maybe pure induction motors aren't good for that?

 

[brewmonster]

I went and ordered the factory replacement fan from myfirplaceproducts. Installed it and it is so quite I can even tell that it is on. Should have just done it last year when it started.

Glad it worked out for you as well as it did for me!

 

[Ironworker]

I had the same problem with my blower after 6 years and did what I could to fix but after a couple of times I just went and got a new one.

 

[farmer steve]

had to replace the blower on my old Baker woodstove. $150. from the dealer. BUT,turns out it's the same blower i use on my greenhouse to keep it inflated.$65. -2% for cash from my greenhouse supply place.

 

[haveawoody]

Bearing or shaft is probably just showing it's age and has made the coil work overtime so all the windings get very hot, it's a quick self feeding cycle to total breakdown as one gets more overworked to do the same job and the other wears more to make the problem even worse.
One day it just wont start up or will pop fuses trying.
An odd working fan sometimes can be just buildup of fine dirt/dust but a noisy fan is usually a sign it's on the way out.

A general clean and tiny bit of grease of the fan at the end of each season will go a long way to prolonging the life of the fan.
Dirt and dry is how fan shafts and bearings start to wear.