Bearing replacement on draft inducer motor
#1
03-10-15, 12:39 PM
Bearing replacement on draft inducer motor
I have noisy bearings on the induced draft fan motor of a Goodman furnace. The draft inducer is an all-plastic assembly made by JAKEL (J238-150-15293). Since the rest of the draft inducer is in great condition I’d like to just replace the bearings. In order to access the bearing that’s on the fan end of the motor I need to remove the plastic blower wheel from the motor shaft. This motor has a flatted shaft. Is the blower wheel just press fitted on the shaft? Or is there some kind of retainer? There is nothing obvious in the way of a retainer (no finger washer, no nut). Can I just apply my heat gun to the center of the blower wheel and pull on the motor? Or is there something else I need to do?
#2
03-10-15, 02:16 PM
A pic might help. Pulling on the motor doesn't sound right.
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...evid=902534431
There are a bunch of pullers on Google. One of them may work.
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...evid=902534431
There are a bunch of pullers on Google. One of them may work.
#3
03-10-15, 05:14 PM
I know I'll need a bearing puller to get the bearings off the motor shaft. I'm trying to figure out how I get the plastic blower wheel off the motor shaft so I can get to both bearings. The blower wheel is inside a plastic housing that appears to be glued or heat welded together and not designed to be disassembled. So the only thing I can really do is pull on the motor so that the plastic housing presses against the blower wheel.
#4
03-10-15, 05:45 PM
Group Moderator
You're lucky that's an inexpensive draft inducer. A lot of those motors don't allow for the bearing to be replaced.
#5
03-10-15, 06:27 PM
The bearings don't look like they'd be hard to replace. The bearings are 22 mm OD, 8 mm ID, 7 mm deep, pretty easy to come by. But I need to separate the blower wheel from the motor shaft. Any idea how I go about doing that without damaging the blower wheel?
I know the inducer isn't terribly pricey but I have more time than money and I enjoy fixing things that aren't intended to be fixed. Any help much appreciated.
I know the inducer isn't terribly pricey but I have more time than money and I enjoy fixing things that aren't intended to be fixed. Any help much appreciated.
#6
03-10-15, 06:57 PM
Group Moderator
When it's a plastic blower or fan it's usually just pressed on. Are you able to split the blower housing apart ?
#7
03-11-15, 05:37 AM
Your photo shows exactly the blower I have. I looked at the housing but didn't see any obvious way it separates into two halves. Do you happen to know if that particular blower can be split in two? And how? I'll get out my jeweler's loupe and brightest work light and go over it once again.
#8
03-11-15, 09:42 AM
Group Moderator
Some of those housings snap apart in two halves. It doesn't look yours does based on the picture.
#9
03-11-15, 07:20 PM
I Think I'm Stuck
OK, so I looked carefully at the housing and I can see where the two halves come together but I don't see any way to separate them. I pried on the two halves but there was no give at all. I'm thinking the two halves are cemented together. I heated the blower wheel with a heat gun to soften the plastic and tried pulling on the motor so as to pull off the blower wheel. Nothing happened. I didn't want to break the unit since I don't have a backup. So I guess I'm going to have to buy a whole new draft inducer.
Once I have the new draft inducer installed I'll play around with the old one. Maybe I'll be able to rebuild it to have when the new unit fails. The bearings seem to just be lubricated with oil (I pried out the seal from the one bearing I could access). Considering that motor is always running at the exhaust gas temperature I think the bearings just dry out. Seems like a failure prone design.
Once I have the new draft inducer installed I'll play around with the old one. Maybe I'll be able to rebuild it to have when the new unit fails. The bearings seem to just be lubricated with oil (I pried out the seal from the one bearing I could access). Considering that motor is always running at the exhaust gas temperature I think the bearings just dry out. Seems like a failure prone design.
#10
03-11-15, 07:40 PM
Group Moderator
Seems like a failure prone design.
Here's one for you..... on some Coleman/Evcon furnaces the draft inducer fan is inside the exhaust duct.
#11
03-19-15, 05:05 PM
@bikerbill,
Did you ever figure out how to get the impeller off the shaft, to replace the inside bearing?
I've got a very similar inducer blower with a bearing that seized, but was the outside one. I can get the outside one off.
But how to get the inside bearing off? I'm thinking of drilling out the center of the impeller (looks like plastic/nylon) with a drill bit just slightly larger than the shaft diameter from the impeller side.
Anyone, thoughts?
Did you ever figure out how to get the impeller off the shaft, to replace the inside bearing?
I've got a very similar inducer blower with a bearing that seized, but was the outside one. I can get the outside one off.
But how to get the inside bearing off? I'm thinking of drilling out the center of the impeller (looks like plastic/nylon) with a drill bit just slightly larger than the shaft diameter from the impeller side.
Anyone, thoughts?
#12
03-22-15, 08:35 AM
Hey Sammer
The short answer is not yet. I've been sidetracked by a few other issues. I did find a post that shows the inducer unit disassembled but have not been able to contact the poster.
I originally throught the two halves may be glued or cemented together but that doesn't seem like a time-efficient manufacturing process. I'm thinking they must snap together. That can't rotate with respect to one another due to the splines or fingers that slide into molded channels. Give me a few days to mess around with it and let's see what I come up with.
I originally throught the two halves may be glued or cemented together but that doesn't seem like a time-efficient manufacturing process. I'm thinking they must snap together. That can't rotate with respect to one another due to the splines or fingers that slide into molded channels. Give me a few days to mess around with it and let's see what I come up with.
#13
03-26-15, 11:53 PM
Same motor
I have the same exact problem with the same fan but mine will no longer spin and has resistance when manually spinning and it will be cold this weekend in ohio. Where do I buy one of these inducer blower/fans locally?
#14
03-27-15, 11:54 AM
Try This
I can't help you with parts suppliers in Ohio, but you can try this. Turn off the power. Pry off the finger washer that holds the plastic fan on the back of the motor and remove the fan. Then remove the four screws that hold the motor together. Remove the plastic/rubber cup that covers the bearing. Pry out the seal on the bearing with a jewelers screwdriver or something similar. Lubricate the ball bearings that are now visible. Spin the motor and see if it spins easier. You won't be able to do much about the other bearing. But by freeing up one bearing the motor may be able to run well enough for your furnace to fire up. That worked for me until I could get a replacement inducer on eBay.
You could try dribbling oil into the other bearing but with the seal in place I don't think it's going to do much good. You've got nothing to lose.
You could try dribbling oil into the other bearing but with the seal in place I don't think it's going to do much good. You've got nothing to lose.
