How to lubricate fan bearings in furnace?
So in our 27-year-old Winnebago Warrior, we have a Suburban NT30KLT furnace. In the last couple of years, the first time it fires up you can hear the fan bearing squalling a bit and then it quiets ...
Forum Discussion
Steve, I can't tell you how to access that furnace motor. You've got the manual, just follow it. We have a Suburban furnace and it's one of the ones with only the little plate with the Intake and Exhaust tubes on the outside. I'd much rather have the version with the large full cover that lets you do more "work on the furnace" labor from outside.
That "Zoom Spout Oiler" is my GoTo, but just about everything has limitations. If you can get in there, by all means Zoom Oil it. Odds are very good it'll be quiet again for years. But like Mex mentions, things have limitations. A blower motor from our Coleman Mach rooftop A/C sits in my garage in testimony to that. One day camping at the beach, NO A/C. Blower motor isn't turning. No problem I've got a Zoom Oiler. Apply Oil and at Runs. Next day, stuck again. Oil again. Repeat the Stuck and Oil, Oil and Stuck routine. Took it home, completely dismantled the motor. Cleaned and polished Shaft, Bearings (Sleeve/Oilite/Bushing/Whatever), Oiled and Assembled. Good to Go? ***NOT*** I ran a bench test with Motor running on a Power Supply, Squirrel Cage Mounted... and it STUCK. The "bushings" don't seem to be a "bronze" material, more of a "steel." I can only figure the "steel" is porous and it's contaminated with something that turns Oil to Glue.
I'd actually drilled the rivets out of the bearing retainers to remove, soak, clean, and oil the bushings. Put it all together, installed it, and Ordered a New Motor. Had it shipped to our next campground and installed it there, replacing the one that was already stuck again.
So Steve, if you can ever get access to the thing, I'll give you 75% that Zoom Oil will cure it. But no more than that. Consider the value of your time. People tell me that all the time, and I still waste a lot of time.
But ABOVE ALL, this is a Furnace. Be sure nothing is rusted through, it all fits together right, you can get correct gasket wherever needed and so on!
That "Zoom Spout Oiler" is my GoTo, but just about everything has limitations. If you can get in there, by all means Zoom Oil it. Odds are very good it'll be quiet again for years. But like Mex mentions, things have limitations. A blower motor from our Coleman Mach rooftop A/C sits in my garage in testimony to that. One day camping at the beach, NO A/C. Blower motor isn't turning. No problem I've got a Zoom Oiler. Apply Oil and at Runs. Next day, stuck again. Oil again. Repeat the Stuck and Oil, Oil and Stuck routine. Took it home, completely dismantled the motor. Cleaned and polished Shaft, Bearings (Sleeve/Oilite/Bushing/Whatever), Oiled and Assembled. Good to Go? ***NOT*** I ran a bench test with Motor running on a Power Supply, Squirrel Cage Mounted... and it STUCK. The "bushings" don't seem to be a "bronze" material, more of a "steel." I can only figure the "steel" is porous and it's contaminated with something that turns Oil to Glue.
I'd actually drilled the rivets out of the bearing retainers to remove, soak, clean, and oil the bushings. Put it all together, installed it, and Ordered a New Motor. Had it shipped to our next campground and installed it there, replacing the one that was already stuck again.
So Steve, if you can ever get access to the thing, I'll give you 75% that Zoom Oil will cure it. But no more than that. Consider the value of your time. People tell me that all the time, and I still waste a lot of time.
But ABOVE ALL, this is a Furnace. Be sure nothing is rusted through, it all fits together right, you can get correct gasket wherever needed and so on!
