Blower Motor Failures US Stove 1602R

Hi all, New guy here. Name's Jim. This is my second heating season with coal but I'm having a furnace issue in addition to learning how to burn coal. I did a quick topic search so hopefully I'm not repeating an existing thread and hopefully this is appropriate. Sorry if I'm outta bounds. Anyway, I bought a US Stove 1602R in the summer of 2011. It was a 2010 model new in the box. Both original circulation blowers failed within months of installing the furnace- bushings turned to powder. US Stove sent me 3 more under warranty over the next months which now were made with bearings - BUT - the first had a bent shaft and vibrated until 2 out of 3 mount tabs broke, on the second, no kidding the armature shaft wore out inside the bearing!! and the third is starting to rattle and wobble after only it's second season. I think I'm out of warranty and even if not, I don't care to put in one more of their units. The US Stove supplier apparently does not use any common standards as the rated HP (1/8, 1/10, 1/15), RPM (1325, 1425, 1600, 1630), cage configuration (galvanized lightweight 34 blade; steel heavy 40 blade) and shaft size (5/16 or 3/8) are different depending on what they send. I've been killing the guy at Grainger trying to find the right combination of motor and squirrel cage and I've gotten quite handy with adapting motors to the original blower housing. Stock Grainger blower/motor housings are close as far as flange size but their CFM output is way too low. I've tried a Dayton 1/15HP, 1550RPM but it can't spin the cage fast enough so I bought a Dayton 1/10 HP, 3000RPM. That one will sling the light cage like mad but can't spin the heavier one either.

Anyone else have blower issues/fixes??? I don't want to start a bashing session on the manufacturer, it's a great heat producing furnace and, most importantly for me, it was what I could afford. I just think there is a better solution for less than the $380 US Stove wants for a replacement. If nothing else and if it's ok, I'll post my solution (when I find it) so others can benefit. Thanks!

Have you looked into Fasco motors?I believe that is what comes in the SWG powervent and they appear to be reliable.

Wow that's interesting.. The blowers on my Clayton 1537 (US Stove product) are the twin 550 CFM blowers and are nearly 12 years old. No problems so far. They run smooth and quiet. I lube them once a year with a drop of electrical motor lube in the oil tubes. Anyways, Id love to get a little more air volume movement thru my furnace so I will be keeping an eye on this thread to see what crops up..

Welcome to the board partner!

Scooby, thanks for the Fasco tip. I just spent the last half hour going through their stuff and I have another headache. Staring at spec sheets does that to me!! There has to be something in all that! The perfect solution would be to find a 3.3", fractional HP with a cage that put out at least 800CFM. I won't quit.

Lightning, I've spent quite a bit of time going through your posts. Great stuff. I want a window in my feed door in the worst way! And I'm collecting some of your ash tools. My shaker/grates work different than yours but the tools have got to help. But I was afraid someone was going to post what you did - years of no-problem operation!!! I'm jealous...and a bit twisted! Blowers failing keeps me awake at night - with both the noise and fear of losing a motor and overheating the firebox or worse - especially when I'm not home. However, I can really see an evolution in the motors as I look at them and it seems like USSC is going through a "make it cheaper" process that happens in businesses seeking to increase profit margins. Their prices are hilarious and I got in at the wrong time. I think they're moving to make them better - at least I hope they are - as evidenced by the sealed bearing construction on the 2012 motors as opposed to the sleeve bushings on the 2010s. It's funny that the 2010s had rock solid mounts!! But shipping bent shafts, unbalanced cages and sagging mounts is unacceptable. I'll have to find the pics that I sent to USSC. In fact, the blowers I received were unopened from China (still sealed with Chinese printing) just re-boxed and sent out to me. The fact that they were unopened says they were never QC'd upon receipt so USSC doesn't know what they are sending out. When I received one of the blowers, the squirrel cage was clearly off-center. It was almost rubbing at the top and had a larger gap at the bottom. The "Y" mount tab was bent and it soon failed. I couldn't believe it. To be fair - it's not that they are from China that makes them bad - the Dayton motors and blowers from Grainger are from China too, but they are clearly made to a different standard. How does an armature shaft wear out????? It's no joke thinner where it goes through the bearing.

One good thing is that now I'm so proficient at the blower changes - it looks like an Indy pit stop!!!

Anyway, as soon as I get the mounts and test the 3000RPM motors, I'll post the parts and let everyone know. BTW, I'm also experimenting with snap discs to shut the combustion blower off when the fire goes out and another disc to shut one circ blower off when the firebox is either warming up or when the fire dies down.

More to follow...

Thank you for the kind words James. These units may not be top of the pile by any means but anyone with a little ingenuity and perseverance can have a great coal experience with them.

My twin blowers are rated for 1100 cfm total. I'd love to get closer to 2000 somehow. I've considered modifying the inlets on the back of the furnace to accommodate a big single, three speed motor blower, like an 1800. My propane furnace had one but I sold it when installing the coal burner.

I look forward to reading up on your blower mods. Please report back with your findings..

OK, this is bazaar but I wanted to share what some of you might know already. This fall, I took the Dayton 1/15HP, 1550RPM motor out because it wasn't putting out much air. I put the one from USSC with the worn shaft back in after a grease and tinfoil shim job because I figured It just might work and, if not, I could trade some noise for more warm air circulation. Well, the foil failed and it sounds like someone put tenny shoes in the dryer so I put the lighter squirrel cage back on the Dayton and was going to reinstall it. As I was testing it on the bench, it would speed up seemingly randomly. Then I discovered that when I moved my hand nearer the inlet opening opposite the motor, the thing sped up - a lot. No such effect if I covered the motor side inlet. So I put 2 inch tape in various configurations across the inlet and found a simple X or + shape works best. So when you limit the inlet just right, the motor at least doubles its speed ...and it puts out more air! It even worked with the heavier cage ( 2.2 pounds for the 40 blade steel vs 1 pound for the 34 blade galvanized cage). I'm sure there's an airflow trade because of the restricted opening but it's way better output than when it was unrestricted. I'm putting it back in tomorrow and seeing how it does. Maybe I don't need the 3000RPM motors. I'll try 'em anyway since I got all the parts on order just for the sake of science and post the results. Thought someone might find it all interesting.

Lightning wrote:Thank you for the kind words James. These units may not be top of the pile by any means but anyone with a little ingenuity and perseverance can have a great coal experience with them.

My twin blowers are rated for 1100 cfm total. I'd love to get closer to 2000 somehow. I've considered modifying the inlets on the back of the furnace to accommodate a big single, three speed motor blower, like an 1800. My propane furnace had one but I sold it when installing the coal burner.

I look forward to reading up on your blower mods. Please report back with your findings..

ask and ye shall receive: http://mb-soft.com/juca/info/blower.html
http://mb-soft.com/juca/index.html

First is the PDF with the listings, second is the website. This is for a large single blower, modifications will be necessary.

Thank you partner! I will have a look see at it.

Great info SWPaDon. I find it extremely interesting that they don't recommend the 1/15 motor for feeding ducts. This is exactly what my trial and error frustration showed. 465cfm is nothing to my system and I have a very simple setup. My house is 50 feet long and the furnace blows into the middle of a single duct that goes 25 feet each way. The three 1/15 motors I tried are not sufficient which leads me to wonder why the USSC motors say they are? Even the complete 1/15 unit from Grainger was no good. I took the USSC unit to Grainger and plugged it in for them and they could not believe the difference. Side by side, the USSC unit had at least twice the output but the same rating except for amperage.

That's why this is so painful. If things were just labeled for what they are... There I go, dreaming again!

So, I'd be interested in the 1/6 or the 1/4 hp, 900 and 1200 cfm units. I have been trying to use the factory housings so as not to have to build another air box or start chopping on the back of the furnace. After my next round of motors, I may have to change my approach. My new motor mounts and squirrel cage will be in on Monday. I'll let you know. Thanks again!

I hope the information works for you guys.

I can't remember the CFM of the single blower on my Clayton. It's 3 speed, and I can only use the center position. The high side cools the furnace almost instantly, and blows pictures off the walls.

HVAC guys chunk plenty of good blowers in the dumpster everyday...approach one, with your hat in hand, at his shop/warehouse and you will likely find them to be accommodating enough to give one away.

ebay and C/L both have blowers listed at their sites.