Auburn draft indution motor

[ohfarmer]

Hey everyone, I'm a new member but been reading the posts for some time now. I've seen some very good discussions and now it's time for me to take a stab at it.
my stove is an o4 model and i'm now having my first problem with it. Dec 21st the draft induction motor quit working. I took it off and it turned over kinda hard, since this is my only heat source i got on the phone to the dealer righ away, he was out so i left a message for him to call me. I figured he wouldn't have one so i called to grainger with the numbers off the motor and they couldn't find a match. while waiting on the dealer to call i decided to tear my motor apart, i cleaned up the shaft and bushing, put some oil on it for electric motors and put it back together. it turned ok so i put it together and it worked fine which was a good thing because the dealer never called back. Early tues morning Dec 26 it did the same thing again, i called the dealer, this time i got him and he said he sold the last one a couple days ago and he'll have more thursday dec 28. I tore it apart again and looked closer this time, i found the packing material around the bushing was almost completely gone, i cleaned everything and oiled it again and this time put a wick material in around the bushing to hopefully keep the shaft oiled, so far it's working, today is the 4th day since cleaning and oiling i'm hoping it will last much longer.
since all this happened i found out a new motor will be at least $165 hopefully by adding some wick material around the bushing it will run a long time yet but if not then i'd like to know why not. is the bushing bad? it is oil impregnated, do they eventually go bad or lose their lubricating ability? it seems to me their ought to be a way to make this motor run another 2-3 years since it's perfectly ok except for the shaft wanting to seize. Appearently the only way to get a new motor is to go through a st croix dealer, all place i've tried can't reference the number. before this i had no complaints with the stove now i realize my dealer doesn't have much of a parts stock and i would have been left out in the cold for close to a week had i not been able to get the motor to work. does anyone on here have a dealer with a good inventory of parts?
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Burning corn is the best decision i made in a long time

[jakehill]

Had similar problems this year with a couple of stoves, they would not turn over on the lower voltages on start up. After talking with an old friend who rebuilds electric motors alternators etc, he suggested to spray the motor out with brake cleaner. Cleaned them right up, spent $3.00 on can of brake cleaner and have plenty to spare.

Jake

[xracer]

$165 for those motors is highway robbery.

If Fasco is like other suppliers, they assign St. Croix a proprietory P/N (or Customer #), but in reality the parts are usually nothing special, you just have to figure out which motor from their catalog is the equvalent. I'd just take the motor to a local electrical supplier, or Grainger, McMaster etc. and match it up. If you call Fasco, they won't give you any info.
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St. Croix Auburn

[tallcorn]

Stove manufacturer's order custom built motors from places like Fasco who can make any flavor of motor. Fasco only sells that motor to the stove manufacturer and places like Grainger can't get them. So you are stuck with dealing with a dealer. It's like some car parts. Many can be found at any parts place and some are only available from a dealer. They are usually some odd-ball thing that is very expensive.
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Countryside 3500P (pedestal version) used 8-9 yrs, 24/7 during days requiring heat. All original motors. Burns moldy corn, and pellets equally well. Burn it if you got it.

[jakehill]

Combustion fan motor list price is $125.00 not $165.00 the gasket is $12.00 not always necessary but recommended. If you install it yourself the dealer should
give you a break after the warranty has expired.

Jake

[xracer]

[ohfarmer]

Well my second repair is still holding up. It burns me up when a company makes parts proprietary. My stove is a great design and i expect things like this motor to go bad over time and when it does i also expect to get a replacement at a respectable price and in a timely manner, neither happened. i agree this is a $50 motor (even that is more than it's actually worth) and i wouldn't feel bad about paying that for it.
I also thought someone could match up this motor with a like design, Grainger took one look at it and said they couldn't do it. he sent me to another place called johnstone, they have fasco motors everywhere and they couldn't match it. i've come to the conclusion i have two options. buy from the dealer or make mine work. if my repair holds up till i shutdown the stove for the summer i'll get a new oil impregnated bushing made and have it on hand for later if needed. if it doesn't hold up i guess i'll be forced to pay the almighty company whatever they want.
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Burning corn is the best decision i made in a long time

[xracer]

Do you know what wouldn't match up? Bolt pattern or???
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St. Croix Auburn

[ohfarmer]

The motor he tried to sell me was a single speed, it only had 2 wires. That brings up a good point too. the label on the motor i have doesn't have any of the good details like rpm, hp, and how many speeds it is. i assume it's 2 speed it has 3 wires or it could even be variable speed, wouldn't it have to change speed with each of the 5 temp settings? if someone on here is a dealer maybe they have that info and would share it. they have some that looks like the same mounts but without the other details i don't know if they would work or not
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Burning corn is the best decision i made in a long time

[LET]

That motor is a variable speed, it is different for each of the 5 levels. I suppose you warranty just run out this fall.
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LET Energy Systems
Bixby 110, MaxFire & UBB
St Croix Lancaster, Auburn, Greenfield & SCF-Revolution
Stay Warm ----- Burn Corn
www.letenergysystems.com

[cornstoveman]

I just worked on a Greenfield today and examined the combustion motor...It does have three wires..White, Black ,Brown...but the Brown wire is hooked to NOTHING! Tells me that a 2 wire motor will work fine. Matter of fact..( maybe X can help me on this one! ) Maybe the Brown wire is for reversing the polarity to run the motor backwards?..not that it is used but it must be a motor that is used for more applications or can be mounted in a different position on another appliance? So...if we could figure out the details of this motor we could get a suitable replacement.
Cornstoveman
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Been poking clinkers since 2002!

[tallcorn]

Motor speed can be controlled electronically by the micro-processor and software.

This is a single phase AC induction motor speed control that could be miniaturized. Some of the components were added for visual effects. I tested it using a floor fan. It can slow the low speed of the fan to a quiet breeze.


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Countryside 3500P (pedestal version) used 8-9 yrs, 24/7 during days requiring heat. All original motors. Burns moldy corn, and pellets equally well. Burn it if you got it.

[xracer]

[cornstoveman]

My price sheet lists the combustion fan as a whole unit.
Cornstoveman
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Been poking clinkers since 2002!

[xracer]