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[tjsgotwood]

hello everyone! Just bought my first house.  I also starting using an outdoor wood boiler for the first time. The Wood Doctor WD8000 was already installed when I bought the house and is about 8 years old. I have been heating my house and shop since november of last fall with no problems. Lately the blower fan has been acting up. It has been really cold here and I'm kinda pushing the limits of my system...so I had the settings a little higher than normal. My aquastat is set at 190 with a diff. of 5. My fan would turn on at 155 and run until about 185 or a little less. My aquastat is a brand new Honeywell L6006A. My problem is...without touching any settings...the fan wil not turn on at 155 at every cycle. Even when I manually adjust the stat it will not turn on the fan. I hear a click when I turn the temp dial...but nothing turns on. This will happen in the same afternoon with steady temps. One hour it's working fine and is always above 150...and then an hour later I check the temp and it's 140 and the fan is not on(without touching the settings). Do you think my blower fan motor is aging(worn brushes)? What is the best way to test it with a volt meter? Do they make replacement parts for the motor?....or do you just replace it as an assembly? thanks for any help or ideas!! 

[Scott7m]

If the fan is bad, it would likely just need replaced.  I'm sure someone could fix it, but it's not a high dollar item

[tjsgotwood]

If the fan is bad, it would likely just need replaced.  I'm sure someone could fix it, but it's not a high dollar item

thanks!...but i was looking to trouble-shoot and fix it myself.

[Scott7m]

I was assuming that your fan was bad, and you just needed to replace it.

If you wanna test your fan, take an extemsion cord out there, pull the wires out of the clip or however there hooked up, and plug one wire into each side of the extension cord plug in, see if it works then

That way it's hooked up direct with no switch to bother it...  If it runs good, then it's very likely the aquastat, honeywell isn't my favorite aquastat, but it may be fine

[tjsgotwood]

thanks again! I do appreciate your time. The fan is running right now on it's own. I know if i directly hot wire the fan...it will work. My problem is that it's not predictable...so it might work now...but will change. I just read another post on here about someone having a the same problem. There fan would not start so they would spin the motor(by hand) and it would start working again. They replaced the fan motor capacitor. To me it seems like my aquastat is working(it is brand new). When the fan is not turning on properly...I can manually turn the temp dial and hear a click, but no fan...that tells me the stat is working. I'm i wrong? Shouldn't there be a way to test this with a meter?
  I don't know anything about hvac..but do know about brushed motors. The motor(when running) is strong and quiet with minimal sparks. When getting up to speed and during operation...it always sounds and works the same. It's a matter of getting turned on. I would think if the brushes or other parts are worn, you would see other issues while operating the motor. If a capacitor is bad it would makes sense...the fan eventually always turns on...some times it just takes longer. Maybe the "bad" capacitor is not holding a charge. If the motor had other issues I don't think it would keep turning on and running good.
 On a side note...I agree about the Honeywell. My actual settings read different than my gauges. The last aquastat seemed to have a mind of it's own. That's why this one is new. But it's still not accurate when you compare the setting on the dial vs the actual temps.

[RSI]

Have you tried turning the fan by hand when it is supposed to be running? If you have a volt meter, check the voltage at the fan. You might have a bad connection or defective contacts in the aquastat. Also check the wire connections to the capacitor. I doubt it is bad if it works on and off but could be a bad connection.
It is also possible for the motor to get a bad spot and if it stops in that position it won't start again but once it gets running it passes that spot fast enough to not make a difference.

[tjsgotwood]

Have you tried turning the fan by hand when it is supposed to be running? If you have a volt meter, check the voltage at the fan. You might have a bad connection or defective contacts in the aquastat. Also check the wire connections to the capacitor. I doubt it is bad if it works on and off but could be a bad connection.
It is also possible for the motor to get a bad spot and if it stops in that position it won't start again but once it gets running it passes that spot fast enough to not make a difference.

thanks for the reply! Another member also messaged me and said the same thing about the motor having a bad spot. It has not "acted up" since earlier so I was un able to really test anything. I checked all the connections and checked for resistance with a volt meter....everything looks good. I'm leaning towards the motor having a dead spot.   

[willieG]

info from another forum on the net

quote- A capacitor start motor that doesn't start, Usually has one of two problems:
1) Capacitor or wiring is bad
 2) Centrifugal switch is stuck.
 

[tjsgotwood]

info from another forum on the net

quote- A capacitor start motor that doesn't start, Usually has one of two problems:
1) Capacitor or wiring is bad
 2) Centrifugal switch is stuck.

What is the centrifugal switch? Is that the relay/switch that operates the damper door?


Also...where is a good place to get parts? Can you get replacement parts for the blower assembly?...or do you need to buy the whole unit?

thanks to all for the help and replies !!!!

[willieG]

im not sure if you can replace parts..i would think you can..im not much of "fixer" of electrical equipment...blowers are cheap i just replace mine teh one i use is in graingers catalauge and is about 52 bucks or something line that...so i think i have wore out 2 in 11 years so that is around 10 bucks a year for blower cost. that is cheap enough for me to just buy one.

[tjsgotwood]

im not sure if you can replace parts..i would think you can..im not much of "fixer" of electrical equipment...blowers are cheap i just replace mine teh one i use is in graingers catalauge and is about 52 bucks or something line that...so i think i have wore out 2 in 11 years so that is around 10 bucks a year for blower cost. that is cheap enough for me to just buy one.

cool..thanks! I was already looking at grainger. I'll just get two blower assembles and have a spare. I already have a brand new pump as an extra. It seems like electronics are being built with less quality lately..even the china stuff seems worse(like that was even possible). I just installed heat in my shop. I went through 3 brand new t-stats before one worked correctly. I think some of the brand new parts we get are still crap. 

[RSI]

info from another forum on the net

quote- A capacitor start motor that doesn't start, Usually has one of two problems:
1) Capacitor or wiring is bad
 2) Centrifugal switch is stuck.

It is not a capacitor start motor so number 2 does not apply. A capacitor start motor is the type that is usually found on something like a drill press or table saw. It has a switch that disconnects the start cap at a few hundred rpm. That is what the click and motor sound change is a second two after you turn it on.

[willieG]

info from another forum on the net

quote- A capacitor start motor that doesn't start, Usually has one of two problems:
1) Capacitor or wiring is bad
 2) Centrifugal switch is stuck.

It is not a capacitor start motor so number 2 does not apply. A capacitor start motor is the type that is usually found on something like a drill press or table saw. It has a switch that disconnects the start cap at a few hundred rpm. That is what the click and motor sound change is a second two after you turn it on.

as i stated i am not an electrical fix it guy, i only posted the info "in case"  those fans are small and cheap and easily replaced. to me they are a "throw away item" i keep an extra on the shelf all the time. i sure would not want to be without one at 10 oclock on a night like last night or the night before!