Woke Up To Acrid Odor and Noise From Basement...

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted By: SHOZ
I would think the pot metal one would last years too. I don't see what happened as normal wear. Either a bearing is bad in the blower of someone in the past cracked that pulley trying to remove it improperly.


I inspected the furnace when I purchased the condo a year and 4 months ago and didn't notice anything. As brittle as this piece appears to be, I'd think that a crack due to improper belt changing would cause an immediate failure, as the crack quickly propagates. See below for additional discussion...

Thinking "out loud" here:

It was mentioned earlier that the sheave is designed to change the pulley ratio between the motor and blower, but it appears to me that it also serves to adjust belt tension.

The belt tension didn't seem excessive, but it was tighter than I'd expect for the duty (the blower assembly isn't very heavy and it spins with little resistance.) I don't know when this was last replaced, but whomever replaced it, they should have threaded the second half of the sheave to adjust tension.

The two halves of the broken sheave were as close together as possible, adding as much tension to the best as possible. It may be that this is what caused the failure.

 

[SHOZ]

Moving the two halves of the pulley together adjust the speed of the blower. Tension is done through moving the whole motor.

 

[440Magnum]

Don't mess with trying to save the old pulley, just replace. Grainger.com is your friend ;-)

The last time I saw that type of adjustable motor sheave, it was on a circa 1966 Friedrich central air furnace/blower that was in my parents' house. Most blowers have been direct drive for years, now.

I wouldn't have any issue with using an alloy pulley in this application. Probably that one was cracked by someone just prying a belt on or off rather than sliding the motor to loosen...

 

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted By: SHOZ
Moving the two halves of the pulley together adjust the speed of the blower. Tension is done through moving the whole motor.


I'll look again to see how much room for movement I have on the mounting bracket.

As for adjusting the sheave,how do I determine what speed I want?

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Don't mess with trying to save the old pulley, just replace. Grainger.com is your friend ;-)



I ordered an A40 Browning belt and 3-in-1 oil from Amazon and the same Congress sheave pulley from drillspot,all for under $40,shipped.

Sure beats $500

 

[Vikas]

what are you going to do until Amazon order arrives at your house? you have other means of heating your condo? and how in the world did you get any HVAC guy to show up and give you free quote? I thought they charge $200 just to show up at your door and that does not include actual labor or parts.

 

[SHOZ]

If it was at it's narrowest position then I would set the pulley like this again. Opening it up will slow it down.

I have a two speed motor and with the heat I run it slower and with the AC fast.

 

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
what are you going to do until Amazon order arrives at your house? you have other means of heating your condo? and how in the world did you get any HVAC guy to show up and give you free quote? I thought they charge $200 just to show up at your door and that does not include actual labor or parts.


I have one 1.5kW ceramic heater on the low setting (900W measured) in the basement set at ~60F (manual knob thermostat,) one 1.5kW ceramic heater on the high setting(~1.5kW)on the first level set at 65F (digital thermostat,) and neighbors on two of four sides pouring in ???kW, should my townhome be at a lower temp than theirs.

Originally Posted By: SHOZ
If it was at it's narrowest position then I would set the pulley like this again. Opening it up will slow it down.

I have a two speed motor and with the heat I run it slower and with the AC fast.


Thanks for the correction, I brain-[censored].

 

[Merkava_4]

Never buy cast iron pulleys; they don't hold up. Get aluminum or steel.

 

[SHOZ]

If you ever want a variable speed motor that can be easily rigged up to a manual 2 or three way switch to choose speeds on a multi speed motor.

 

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Never buy cast iron pulleys; they don't hold up. Get aluminum or steel.


Good to know, but my choices appear to be limited without doing a lot more research and possibly trial-and-error. I bought the same part that broke, to make things easy.

I'm not sure how the cast iron pulley would compare to the zinc-alloy one I bought. The one that broke does not look like it's made for heavy duty applications by a large margin.

 

[Warstud]

Since you have the motor out...you might as well pull the fan out and clean it. Also oil the bearings on the fan.
My furnace quit working 2 years ago because I didn't oil the bearings on the fan and it seized up and wrecked the motor. Cost me some $$$.

Here's a video showing how to clean the motor and fan. Just take the fan down to a car wash.

 

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted By: Warstud
Since you have the motor out...you might as well pull the fan out and clean it. Also oil the bearings on the fan.
My furnace quit working 2 years ago because I didn't oil the bearings on the fan and it seized up and wrecked the motor. Cost me some $$$.

Here's a video showing how to clean the motor and fan. Just take the fan down to a car wash.



That's my plan. The previous owner had the blower motor bearings replaced as a condition of the sale. The noise was bad enough that I wanted to make sure that it wasn't something more serious making the noise, something that would cost me a lot more very soon after purchasing. With the new bearings, the thing is silent and spins like it's on ball-bearings.

The blower and motor rack-out, so my plan is to full rack-out the blower and clean as much as I can, including the bottom of the ducting in which is sits, as well as the blower itself. As far as hosing it down, I'll have to see whether the cage is easily removable from the casing. I'll do what I can, though.

I also thought about pulling apart the motor bearings (which haven't been touched in a while, based on the gunk buildup on the cooling passages,) but decided that it works just fine and not to mess with something that could give me big headaches should I ruin the seal or something.

From what I can see, the motor windings look relatively clean, too, so I'll clean up as much as I can with a shop vac, simple green, and a can of compressed air, and leave well enough alone.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
Cast iron will last forever. How long did the pot metal one you had last?


Right, but I imagine I'll be replacing the furnace with something much more modern within the next 5 years, max.

I have no idea how long the old sheave was in service before failing, but it's pretty dirty, so at least a few years, right?

So, does anyone know if the die cast (cheaper) piece is typically good for decades or is it a [censored] shoot? In other words, is the additional $15 for the cast iron piece of a waste of money for such a short time or will it ensure trouble-free operation until I upgrade?

Thanks again for all of your help, guys!





Question, really because I just dont know....

There is a blower, which is I assume what youre working on, and then there are the thermal regulation systems. An AC system with condensor and evaporator, and then a furnace with burner and notionally for high efficiency, a modulating/condensing design.

If you replace those parts, might you still retain the existing blower?

If so, Id go with cast iron. If not, then save the money and get through. Heck, try JB weld or something then...

 

[Merkava_4]

This is what I'm talking about here.

An aluminum pulley made by Chicago Die Casting Mfg Co.

They make very good pulleys.

http://www.chicagodiecasting.com/

 

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
Cast iron will last forever. How long did the pot metal one you had last?


Right, but I imagine I'll be replacing the furnace with something much more modern within the next 5 years, max.

I have no idea how long the old sheave was in service before failing, but it's pretty dirty, so at least a few years, right?

So, does anyone know if the die cast (cheaper) piece is typically good for decades or is it a [censored] shoot? In other words, is the additional $15 for the cast iron piece of a waste of money for such a short time or will it ensure trouble-free operation until I upgrade?

Thanks again for all of your help, guys!





Question, really because I just dont know....

There is a blower, which is I assume what youre working on, and then there are the thermal regulation systems. An AC system with condensor and evaporator, and then a furnace with burner and notionally for high efficiency, a modulating/condensing design.

If you replace those parts, might you still retain the existing blower?

If so, Id go with cast iron. If not, then save the money and get through. Heck, try JB weld or something then...


Take a look at the first pic of the OP and then the pics at the top of this post; notice the dusty thing to the right of the motor in the OP (and in the top of this post)? That's the housing for the belt-driven blower (and the foundation it's attached to.) The motor and blower are mounted onto the same sliding foundation, which, after removing two screws, can be slid out or racked-out to the position shown in the OP or, when electrically disconnected (two leads) removed entirely, such as in the pics at the top of this post.

Lubrication:
The motor actually has lubrication instructions on it (see pic.) I've decided to clean up the outside of the motor as much as possible and lubricate it according to the instructions as soon as the 3-in-1 oil comes in the mail tomorrow (along with the pulley and belt, hopefully.)

System Description:
The motor and blower are beneath the furnace and provide forced air circulation of the furnace burner heat. There is no A/C component. I use window units for A/C.

Upgrades:
I'm not sure whether piece parts of the furnace can be upgraded, to be honest. These things aren't modular, and even if they were, I'd guess that the modular design would have changed since 67, so new parts wouldn't be plug-and-play at all. So, I believe that an upgrade would constitute a full replacement of the furnace.

I live in a condo, so while the rules don't explicitly prohibit adding a condenser outside, next to my front "porch," no one else has them. That doesn't mean I can't ask when the time comes. I'd love to have forced-air A/C, though window units are very easy, too, and allow me to dehumidify the air in only the space I want, since it never really gets super hot here.

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
This is what I'm talking about here.

An aluminum pulley made by Chicago Die Casting Mfg Co.

They make very good pulleys.



I went with the exact part that came with it, since I don't know much about pulleys and didn't want to waste more than half a day ordering. You guys provided great help and so too did my coworkers and a few others, but when I called a Browning distributor with the sheave pulley part number he said he'd never heard of it, and could send me something that should work.

So, I'll install the same part (made by Chicago) that I removed and maybe figure out a better replacement between now and when I need to replace another pulley.

Again, thanks for the quick responses and helpful posts, guys!

 

[sleddriver]

While out I suggest you thoroughly clean that blower. Looks quite dirty/dusty from this side of the screen. As individual vanes accumulate dirt, their efficiency drops, resulting in less airflow. Like airplane wings, they perform best dirt-free.

I take mine outdoors, spray with degreaser, let it sit 10min and hose off. You won't be able to do that in your area this time of the year unfortunately.

I've used Tuff-Stuff foam cleaner as an experiment and it is strong enough to work. Plus it foams instead of running off.

 

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted By: sleddriver
I take mine outdoors, spray with degreaser, let it sit 10min and hose off. You won't be able to do that in your area this time of the year unfortunately.



Thanks for pointing that part out...jerk

 

[Vikas]

I bet you have a tub in the bathroom; don't let wife see you taking it there though!

 

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
I bet you have a tub in the bathroom; don't let wife see you taking it there though!


I was just thinking that!

 

[Warstud]

Are there oil ports for the bearings?