Old oil furnace snapped fan belt


  #1  
Old 01-29-17, 08:26 PM
T
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 78
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Old oil furnace snapped fan belt

Howdy,

My furnace died today. I noticed on my thermostat it was making a heat call, and no air was being moved. I went and inspected and found that the belt snapped, so the motor was just turning away.

Replacing the belt seems simple enough. I'm just curious if anyone recommends any additional work I should perform while in there? I"m not sure if the bearings can be lubed in the motor/fan, or what to use if they can be.

Thx!
 
  #2  
Old 01-29-17, 08:30 PM
PJmax's Avatar
Group Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Jersey
Posts: 64,939
Received 3,951 Upvotes on 3,544 Posts
On most of those old belt driven blowers there were oiling points.
That motor probably has oil ports too.
 
  #3  
Old 01-29-17, 08:42 PM
T
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 78
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Any recommendation on what to use for oil? I bet she's a bit dry. How freely should the squirrel cage fan spin?
 
  #4  
Old 01-29-17, 10:07 PM
PJmax's Avatar
Group Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Jersey
Posts: 64,939
Received 3,951 Upvotes on 3,544 Posts
Light motor oil. 3 in 1 oil is good.

The squirrel cage wheel should spin pretty freely.
 
  #5  
Old 01-29-17, 10:15 PM
T
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 78
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
This one spins, but it feels kinda "heavy" on the bearing. How heavy is the wheel?
 
  #6  
Old 01-29-17, 10:17 PM
PJmax's Avatar
Group Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Jersey
Posts: 64,939
Received 3,951 Upvotes on 3,544 Posts
You should be able to give it a spin and it should keep going by itself.
 
  #7  
Old 01-29-17, 10:36 PM
T
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 78
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
hmm she's pretty stiff

https://youtu.be/Ek2KGaAkGjo
 
  #8  
Old 01-30-17, 11:31 AM
Andrew's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: USA
Posts: 952
Received 14 Upvotes on 10 Posts
It does look pretty tight. Unfortunately, those bearings do not appear to have any lube points. If they are sleeve bearings, you may be able to force some oil in there around the shaft, but I would plan on replacing them.
 
  #9  
Old 01-30-17, 11:42 AM
T
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 78
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Thanks, that is sort of what I figured.

I got the new belt on and it's running much quieter now, and seems to be moving air a bit better. It got down to about 50 in the house last night, so it was a bit chilly. The furnace is running A LOT now trying to get things back up in temp. Definitely way more quiet though.
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: