Blower motor died on a 18 year old Furnace. Need advice

[George E. Cawthon]

Are you saying auto mechanics and auto repair owners are insane?

[CJT]

You could get lucky. But in my case, the furnace was in the attic, which had 20 years' accumulation of dust in it, and the motor was on the back side of the furnace, behind a panel that was, to put it mildly, tightly attached. So it was a dirty, unpleasant job.

That said, it was getting cold in the house, so I was pretty motivated, and I managed to get it done in a couple of hours. It's been running fine since March of '02, so I must have done it ok.

[m Ransley]

If 500 is what heating companies charge for an AC blower motor what is the price for a VS DC blower 1000$ ??

[m Ransley]

How do you know what you have is only 60% efficient and not 80%, what make is it, most old units are 80%. You really need other bids and a written load calculation for sizing yourself right, A few things this one contractor have said dont sound right, motor price, present unit efficiency, new unit price, pushing a new unit, and no discussion of a condensing furnace that can save you 15% more over an 80% unit.

[Stretch]

$500.00 is too high. We normally replace a direct drive 3 speed blower motor dor $200 - $250, including diagnosis. Allowing for higher labor & overhead in DC area, maybe $350.00. Also, you need a load calculation done. Note that although the firing efficiency is 80%, the AFUE may be only 60% due to off cycle flue losses. Still, I would lean toward 90% if I replaced the furnace. Your reputable company doesn't sound so high-standard to me. Just a bigger bunch of hacks.

Stretch

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Real life experience, just yesterday.

Blower motor on a gas fired boiler had to be replaced, the alleged 15 minute job. Experienced service tech t hat has done plenty of work for us on our boilers.

Removed motor and blower wheel assembly 10 minutes Removed blower wheel from motor 2 hours, lots of penetrating oil two easy outs, one sawzall blade, my help for 30 minutes Replace motor assembly 10 minutes

Shop rate $90/hour plus travel. Add in the cost of the motor.

[Jim Elbrecht]

-snip-

I got mine here-- they were super fast [2 days to NY] & the moter has been running quietly for 3-4 years now.

Jim

[Pop]

80%, the : AFUE may be only 60% due to off cycle flue losses. Still, I would lean : toward 90% if I replaced the furnace. Your reputable company doesn't : sound so high-standard to me. Just a bigger bunch of hacks. : : Stretch : And speaking of hacks, this thread sure drew a lot of them out!

[CJT]

I would expect to be able to get any reasonably standard motor locally in any decent sized city. In my case, a few minutes with Google turned up the 800 number of GE technical support, and calling them led to a supplier a few miles from my house. Good thing, too, because my house temperature was dropping fast.

[maradcliff]

If you want a new furnace, get one. If not, fix the blower. With most anything these days, there is always someone with their hand out trying to get your wallet. Blowers are simple devices. Motors are costly but not that outrageous. Anyone that can use hand tools should be able to replace that motor for $100 to $200. Look to grainger.com for motors. You can often find complete blowers at salvage yards for as little as $20. Four bolts and an electrical cable will change the whole thing. Just be sure it fits. One other thought, contact local heating companies and ask them if they have used blowers. Many of them save used blowers when they rip out furnaces. A bad blower is not the end of the world or the furnace to those of us who are handy. If you cant change the motor yourself, see if there is a local handyman who can. I surely would not trash a working furnace because of a fried blower motor. Yes, you will probably get a little better energy efficiency from a new furnace, but look at what you have to pay to save a few BTUs of fuel. Remember, most of those energy figures are exaggerated, just like milage figures on cars. I'm sure you have seen these complaints about car milage on the evening tv news.

I'd get on the web or phone and see what Grainger has for motors, or call those local heating supply companies for a used motor. One other thing, look for a local motor rebuilder. They might be able to rebuild yours for under $100. but be sure to tell them you need this ASAP for heat.

If you can use a box wrench and screwdriver, you CAN remove the motor yourself. (Be sure to SHUT OFF THE POWER, when you do it.)

BTW What is wrong with that motor? Did you forget to oil the bearings? Maybe it's just siezed up? Sometimes a little oil will get it moving again......

Mark

[vferdman]

Mark, it IS the motor. I have removed the assembly and the blower wheel is hard to turn by hand. I lubed what I could, but could not get to the front bearing because that blower wheel got really stuck to the shaft of the motor. I called the service guy out for help and he managed to get the oil to the bearing and make the motor run, but it is very noisy. I don't mind changing the motor myself, I already had the thing out of the furnace. I could use a puller to get the wheel off, but I am not sure about the furnace itself. 18 years old seems a lot and I am not sure I want to band-aid it. I am new to the whole forced air heating thing. Mostly lived with hot water radiators, but I am learning. How do I know the heat exchanger is not cracked? How do I know the furnace won't crap out a month after putting a new motor into it? The furnace is a Bryant, so it is a good unit, I think. The 60% efficiency number came from the service guy. He said the new ones are a lot more efficient, even the 80% ones. I don't know what the truth is. Right now the motor runs loudly and sometimes gets stuck and doesn't start up and I need to give it a push. So I am in kind of a crisis mode.

Thanks for all the advice, I am learning a lot. Vladimir

P.S. I did not get an official quote on the motor. $500 was something the tech blurbed out, but he was not sure of the actual cost. Could be less. Also, these guys have been around for a long time and stand by their work, so if I have them do the replacement I am pretty sure it will be done correctly.

[scott21230]

Where in the DC area are you? I bough a motor at Grainger in Baltimore City (near the stadium) once. There are tons of places in Beltsville and Laurel too. Motor doex not have to be an exact replacement either (meanins exact make model number). They come in standard sizes. Take the old one out and take it to a place like Grainger and get a new motor and capacitor. When you show them the old motor they can pick out the new one for you (although it would be good to know before you go in if the depth of the new motor can be different and if the shaft length will matter. Most likely motor diameter will need to be the same.

[Mark]

sounds like if you could get that bearing lubed, you would be all set for a while anyway or....

I would think you could buy a replacement blower and install it yourself for under $100 and I would certainly do that rather than get a new furnace under duress...

you may find some interesting reading here about efficency and cracked heat exchangers

Bacharach Inc

Mark

[George E. Cawthon]

That's a good term "hack." Near as I can tell in this group it means an individual that repairs his own stuff (no matter how qualified) instead of having a "professional" do it and especially if he does it for 30 percent of the "professional" cost even if he uses the same materials and techniques.

OTOH, "lousy repair work" seems never used, maybe because it doesn't distinguish between a "professional" and a "non-professional." And, "rip-off" seems to be seldom used by any "professional" with respect to pricing.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

My Opinion:

If you can replace the motor for $300 or less, do it.

At some point, have the unit serviced and the heat exchanger checked. I'm running heaters in one building that are 29 years old and just put a new belt on one of the blowers. Bearing were greased on both. I see no reason that they will not last another 10 or more years.

On another boiler, it is 40 years old. I just had some valves and the regulator replaced on the gas train as well as the motor on the burner. Total cost about $1800, but new cost would be $35,000.

[vferdman]

I am in Montgomery County, MD. I just went to Grainger and brought my whole assembly there with me. We took the motor off the wheel and the guy looked up the replacement. My original is a 1/2 hp GE unit, the replacement he found was a Dayton 1/2 hp same rpm (can't remember now exactly what the rpm was, but they matched), same shaft, the only difference is the replacement is 3 speed, the original is 4 speed. I had the high and low connected to what probably is cooling and heating. I noted down all the connections when I removed the original and will hook up the new one the same way. Total cost with the new capacitor: $69.20. If this works when I install after work tonight, I will have saved a lot of money. Thanks to all for encouraging me to replace. My hesitation was due to lack of knoweledge of where to get the replacement. Grainger seems pretty good for that.

Thanks! Vladimir

[Bubba]

Yeah, pretty much. Havent changed one yet for a blower out of warranty. Thats why you get the 10 yr. Even if you wont be there that long, you can transfer the warranty usually one time. Makes for some happy people. Bubba

[Bubba]

HVAC man, not cars. Hell, if I could get all my customers to bring their furnace or central air conditioner into my warm well lit comfortable shop Id probably be happy to give all kinds of free estimates too. Until that day comes, it just aint free. Ive even started charging for most estimates. I do the work and your estimate fee goes towards the install price. Im tired of handing customers all my ideas, paperwork, Manual J's and all just to have the $3hr hack read my work word for word and do it cheap. Let him figure it out on his own. Customers waste tons and tons of man hours by getting 5, 10 and more bids and then some decide "Uh, thats too much, I'll think about it next year." Next year the whole process starts over and it doesnt get done again. Bubba

[CJT]

At yet somehow life goes on. Maybe HVAC isn't at the center of the universe after all.

[Red Neckerson]

and yet your head is at the center of your ass-hole....