Compressor Fan Problem?


  #1  
Old 09-30-05, 11:49 PM
MacG
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Compressor Fan Problem?

I've got a Rheem unit about a dozen years old. Noticed not-cold air today.

Went outside and had noise coming from compressor box, and the fan was NOT
turning. Shut it off ... do research.

There is much resistance when trying to turn fan by hand. That doesn't seem right. Most other types of fans I've ever encountered have little or no resistance when they are off ... in other words, you can spin the fan blades by hand, and they spin easily.

This doesn't ... in fact you can push the blades, and they stop almost instantly when you stop pushing ...

Don't know about capicitor, contactor, etc. ... but anybody got a quick answer on the fan ... should I just try to replace the fan motor?????

Is this a common failing?

Thanks a lot ...
 

Last edited by MacG; 09-30-05 at 11:50 PM. Reason: misspelling
  #2  
Old 10-01-05, 04:24 AM
2cold4u
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time to replace the motor & run cap.
 
  #3  
Old 10-01-05, 04:30 AM
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2cold is correct. If the fan blade will not turn when the power is off then it's toast, and like he said replace the cap also.
 
  #4  
Old 10-02-05, 06:28 PM
H
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aamen

the bearings are shot don't loose a compressor trying to limp a fan along,....ie, a penny wise,a pound foolish!... get a new cap anytime you replace a motor. The motor may have had oiler ports that were never oiled.
 
  #5  
Old 10-03-05, 06:51 PM
MacG
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Thanks for the help!

Fan motor (and cap) seemed to do it.

My thanks to the folks at Grainger for help in getting the right motor, and just being all around helpful.

Got an A.O.Smith FE6000 ... mainly because of the mounting ... only appropriate one they had with the holes in the side in addition to the threaded studs coming out the end.

Incidentally, I ran across the many cables on new motor vs. three cables on the old ... Fan came without a wiring diagram!? But I was able to look it up on the A.O.Smith site, and here's what I found:

Brown wires (one has white stripe) go to capacitor.

Power wires were black, red and yellow ... yellow was common ... black was high power ... red was low power. I was replacing a 1/5 hp, so we went with low ... that came from Grainger catalog page data ... store made me a copy.

So, it appears that the old motor used one of its wires as a common with the cap and the power supply ...

Anyway, all is now well (well, except for one other goof on my part ... let the fan run the wrong way for a couple of hours, before I figured out that ain't right! ... this motor has a quick fix for that, too ... with reversible contacts on cables coming out of the motor.) ...

Ah, the learning process ...

Again, my thanks.
 
  #6  
Old 10-04-05, 03:58 AM
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Good job Mac. Now don't forget to let a pro service it for a winter tune-up.
 
 

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