My Carrier's blower suddenly started screaching yesterday. I shut off the power and opened the inspection cover to find the squirrel cage grinding on the outer edge of the blower assembly. I removed the assembly and noticed that the cage retaining bolt had actually worked itself out completely and allowed the cage to slide down the motor's shaft until contacting the edge of the assembly. I pushed the cage back into position, reinstalled the bolt and tightened.
When I manually spin the blower it seems a bit out of alignment, running in an out maybe 1/4 inch. If I turn on power and depress the safety switch to run the blower, the misalignment seems invisible, possibly due to the speed. The vibration when it is on does not seem worse than it did prior to coming loose.
I did not like this misalignment so I fudged with it a bit to try to get it straight but I had no luck. Do I have a problem or is this ok?
If this is an issue, is there a trick or tips to resolve?
Thanks