Hello, I have a Leslie-Locke attic ventilator that does not work anymore. The motor does not appear to be seized, but obviously there is a problem somewhere.
My questions are:
Is there an easy way to test/verify the motor itself?
I cannot seem to locate "leslie locke" fan products to find a replacement motor and the search returns that I've found appear to indicate that they are in other businesses. Does anyone know whether the attic fans from this company are produced under another name that I could find parts for? I saw one article that seemed to imply that "masterflow" fans are leslie-locke.
Yes anyone with the tools can test a motor. I will assume you do not have the tools necessary. Fractional hp motors are usually go, no go.
I will bet that LL did not make the motor. Remove the motor and probably the fan blade from the housing and look at the specs of the motor. Match the rpm closely. The HP rating can be a little higher and not create any problems. Example replace a 1/6 hp motor with a 1/3 hp.
SQLit - The label on the motor had Leslie-Locke on it (I don't have it in front of me) and some of the specs (i.e., 3.5A). I will take another look.
Don't onersize a motor by a lot. The air flow across the motor will not change, but the larger motor will produce more heat. Heat is the enemy of any motor, and the air carries the heat away, Oversizing a motor will lead to early failure. Ask any motor rep.
In alt.home.repair on 18 Jul 2005 12:11:30 -0700 tom snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com posted:
With the power off, when you try to turn it by hand, with the blade attached, is it real easy? It should be no harder than the weight of the blade and armature would make it. When you start it off, does it spin by itself for a while.
The first time I replaced my roof fan moter with one from the fan maker. Later it turned out to be easier just to take the motor to a motor store and let them sell me a replacement. There are only two motor stores in Baltimore and the surrounding counties (2 million people?) , and for some reason one of them didn't work out. Maybe it only had bigger motors.
As with anything you should permanently save the original values, and compare what they recommend with them, before you leave the store, but unless they make a big booboo, they'll sell you what you need, with the same specs as what you've got.
I'm on my fourth motor in 22 years. They last from 7 to 2 years. I wish I knew why but it's only a half hour and not a lot of money to replace them, so I do. The first one lasted 7, the replacement from them lasted 2, and the current one is nearing 7.
Meirman
-- If emailing, please let me know whether or not you are posting the same letter. Change domain to erols.com, if necessary.
There is no stamp or other information that I can find on the motor itself.
There is an additional metal container attached with two wires that is labeled: CSC ECCOL NO PCBs A combustible fluid Use care in disposal 10UF/370VAC Made in USA....and an address, etc.
My guess is that this is some type of fluid-based capacitor (obviously, I'm on a learning curve here) that I may not need in a newer motor.
I am going to call around to some of the electrical places today, but if you can provide any additional information, I would appreciate it.
As a follow up to my question on the attic ventilator, I purchased a new motor with specs as close to I could to what I have (RPM is the same at 1050, but the AMPs are 4.3 instead of 3.5).
I installed it and my only concern is that there is vibration that you can see in the hood when the motor is running. I checked the level of the motor and it appears to be level set within the belly bands. I also checked the fan blade clearance and they all seem to be the same.
I don't really have a frame of reference for how the old unit behaved, but I'm concerned that any vibration will translate to heat in the motor. The only other thing I can think of is that the skirt to which attach the motor to the circular perimeter has a little play...not much, but it could be that the motor itself is vibrating the skirt, which in turn is vibrating the hood.
Is there play in a typical system, or is there something else I should check? The roof is fairly new, so I don't think that there's much in the way of decayed wood, etc.
I know I could have hired someone to do this, but I really wanted to do it myself. I appreciate your patience and replies.
Post-followup...after awhile of letting the motor run, the environment does not appear to be cooling (i.e., the fan now runs continuously on the highest setting.
So, I figure that it's either a lack of soffits or the hood is restricting the air from flowing out at a rate sufficient for the fan.
While I believe the soffits are adequate, I will double-check them tomorrow.
Can a hood restrict enough of the air flow to be a hinderance for a
I have the same problem... except my Leslie Locke motor doesn't list RPMs, so I'm sort of clueless on replacement.
LESLIE LOCK BLDG. PRODUCTS P/N - 909312 - UL E146880
120V 60Hz 4.0 AMPS ELECTRICAL INSULATION UL 14460BJY3 CLASS A THERMALLY PROTECTED UL547 X CM02 DOW - 136 - 0 - 40 - XIN MADE IN CHINA 01 - 99
The tubular part of the hood that the fan mounts in seems to be about
17" diamter if that helps. The fan itself is a 3-blade with what seems to me to be a steep pitch to the blades... i.e. should move a lot of air at relatively low RPM.
FYI, I did find this Master Flow replacement motor at Home Depot online for $41.95... [image:
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direct link didn't work but you can go to homedepot.com and search for Master Flow.
I note that this same replacement motor is used for ALL of the Master Flow attic fans that Home Depot carries -- both roof and gable mounted. Interestingly, these fans have different diameter and CFM airflow ratings. So perhaps the RPM on these things is fairly standard... i.e. I can slap that puppy on my fan and life will be good? From the photo the motor mounting looks the same as my Leslie Locke.
Or perhaps I'd be better buying a complete unit and cannibalizing the motor and fan to keep them matched? (I'd rather not replace everything because I don't want to mess with the roof shingles.)
A direct link didn't work but you can go to homedepot.com and search
Chalupa, I ended up finding a motor on eBay (Lomanco, I believe, with similar ratings). However, the motor spins and appears to vibrate rather excessively (the canopy above the fan can be seen vibrating from the yard). I have not had a chance to really investigate whether there is a problem with the fan blades, or whether the fan is too close to the canopy and there is not enough space for the air to probably escape (i.e., putting pressure on the canopy). When I initially got it working, I did not notice a pull of air through the space, but I haven't had a chance to get on the roof to see if air is being propelled out of the attic.
I also had the same problem. This past week after 7 years my Leslie Locke attic roof ventilator's motor finally died.
I found, on the shelf, a replacement motor at Lowe's for $31.00. It is not a Leslie Locke but it is the exact same size and rpm (1050rmp) and, effectively, the same amperage (i.e 3.4 vs 3.5 amps). I installed it yesterday and there is no vibration and it's working perfectly.
for all of you out there who have this problem: i had a two speed leslie locke motor which stopped working. after taking it out i did a resistance check and noticed that though it was open between the white and either of the hot leads, there was resistance between the two hots (black and red). i know this is a little unorthodox, but i connected those two to to my line in, and the fan now works fine, probably at slow speed due to the center tap. not sure how long it will work this way, but a lot easier and cheaper than getting a new motor to fit. give it a try if you have a two speed motor with a center tap!
tom snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote:
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> A direct link didn't work but you can go to homedepot.com and
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You can do that in your house. I would not do it in mine, nor would I recommend anyone wire up a motor in an attic fan in any way other than it was intended to be used. You can buy a whole new attic fan for $75, or a replacement motor for less. How lucky do you feel?
FanInstaller wrote: If you have your original owners manual and receipt for your Leslie Locke attic fan you may be entitled to a free motor replacement. Some of the Leslie Locke attic fans came with a Labor warranty too! However the labor can not exceed the price of the cost of the fan.......................(hey its still something !) Leslie Locke is long gone however here is a link to where you can get the info you need to get the refund and replacement.
I also have a Leslie-Locke whole house fan that was purchased at Home Depot in August 2001. It has recently stopped working and I was interested in having the motor (or the whole fan) replaced because it is still under the 15-year warranty.
Online I found a site for LL (Leslie-Locke) Building Products
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(910) 259-6374 = general (800) 755-9392 = customer service (800) 211-9612 = tech and warranty
If power is applied already, if it's humming or vibrating a little, and the blade is not spinning, unless some piece of wood has amazingly stopped the motor from spinning, the motor is bad.
Without any power applied, use a stick, not your finger, and try to spin the blade. It should spin several times before it stops, when there is no electricity applied. It doesn't have to seize. It only has to be hard enough to turn that the electricity doesn't turn it, or doesn't turn it very fast
How do you know there is no power applied? I put a switch in mine so it won't run on merely warm days, like early spring and late fall. But a lot of people don't have that. You can turn off the breaker if you are sure which one it is. You can hold a little neon bulb near the wires that go to the fan motor. If the bulb glows, the power is on and some power is being used. By "little" I mean 1/2 inch long, not counting the wires. They make little screwdrivers with a neon bulb in the handle, to check in a situation like this if there is power. They're not expensive.
Other possibilities, of course, are the thermostat, the circuit breaker, and the wires.
Do you have a voltmeter and know how to use it? Track down how far the power gets, to the thermostat???, to the motor??? For a while I thought my fan's thermostat had failed, in the on position, but it's okay. Still, it could fail, in a way that te current did NOT flow also.
You don't have to buy it from them. Take the motor out and go to a motor store. Any big or moderate sized city should have one or more. They stock all the motors that this would use. Even small cities will likely have someone who sells motors and other stuff. It's actually easier often to find things in big towns and small cities, because there is only one place and it's nearby.
I don't think any of these motors benefit from being oiled. Mine has no place to put oil. I've had my roof fan for 30 years and the motor lifespan has varied, 6 years, 7 years, 3 years, 13 years and counting.
Save your bad motor so next time you only have to make one trip to the attic, so you can bring in the bad motor to get another replacement, and not have to remove the most recent motor first.
FTR, I don't think he's talking about a whole house fan. I think he means what I call a roof fan, so there is no confusion.
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