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Re: (ET) More on my leaf sucking blower problems



Steve,

   Shaft runout should be more in the .0015” range than .004” for sure.  If it is making noise it is on borrowed time.  A bearing failure could allow the shaft to drop onto the endshield hole and rub damaging it or worse (tearing up commutator, brushes and winding).  The fan is a pretty good centrifugal and large diameter load.

   If you can pull the DE endshield off and leave the armature in the frame, it may be an easy fix but you will have to remove the bearing from the shaft with a puller.  I think it is a shielded bearing and no bearing cap on the inside.  If you pull the armature out you can blow out the windings and carefully clean and inspect them and also polish the commutator and check brushes – do not use any solvents on the windings as it can lead to more problems (washing carbon down inside and grounds).  Getting the brushes in the holders and onto the commutator can be tricky but not impossible.

   Check the fan for large nicks or gouges and grind them down.  It needs to be symmetrical.

Good luck.

…Walt

 

From: Pieter Litchfield [mailto:pieter_litch yahoo com]
Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2012 5:21 PM
To: steven1955 comcast net; elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu
Subject: Re: (ET) More on my leaf sucking blower problems

 

Steve:

I have no experience with the blower, but your measurements suggest (to me anyway) that maybe the fan itself has bent fins?  Can you figure out a way to check the balance of the blower wheel and determine if all the parts are more-or-less straight?

Pieter

 

From: steven1955 comcast net [mailto:steven1955 comcast net]
Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2012 5:01 PM
To: elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu
Subject: (ET) More on my leaf sucking blower problems

 

Hi again GE tractor folks,

Before I spend a lot of time trying to straighten and balance my leaf sucking blower's blower wheel I thought I'd ask...

Does anyone have a surplus blower wheel they'd like to part with?

It might be cheaper in the end to replace than fix.

More on my motor.  My motor, as best as I was able to measure with it's roughened shaft, has 0.0035 to 0.0040 inch runout.  My GE dealer service manual states that 0.004 inch is OK for our motors.  I think the 0.0015 inch is more appropriate, but maybe 0.004 inch is OK for motors used intermittently like the motors on our GE tractors.

I did reassemble the motor but left the blower wheel off, and it does not vibrate, which is good.  It does make excessive noise.  I'm now pretty sure that the big end bearing has a dented bearing race.  I couldn't feel any issues when I checked by hand, but at full speed it's too noisy.  New bearings are in it's future, but maybe not until next season.

So if you have a blower wheel or even an entire blower let me know.

Thanks folks,

Steve Naugler