Suburban Furnace Blower Motor (not available)

[Dan Osborne]

Originally Posted by Skip426

JMHO: It's the mount bracket that makes this motor unique, and no bearings ,the armature shaft runs on bronze bushings , that are lubed from oil soaked felts that surround them. When the oil in the felt dries out the bronze bushings start to wear and squeal. I have salvaged this type of motor , by drilling small holes into the housing that surrounds the felt and re-soaking the felt with original 3-in-1 oil ( sewing machine oil ) allowing a day or two for the oil to soak the felt and re-lube the bushing , then bench testing the motor to make sure the squeal is gone. then using silicone sealer to cover the hole.
I have pictures of this process; I did my own over the summer ; but they are not yet in the computer , I'll get them downloaded and re-sized and re-post.

Option would be to find a motor with the same housing and shaft and fabricate a mount.

That sounds like a plan! I would love to see the pictures.

[D Lindy]

You'd be surprised at what you can find on EBAY by just entering the part #. I've been able to get several "No longer available" parts this way. Give it a shot and see what happens, can't hurt.

[WILDEBILL308]

Originally Posted by Dan Osborne

Removed the furnace today because the blower motor was screaming at times. After pulling it down I found the blower motor bearing felt just a bit rough. The number on the motor is 230772 and I cannot find this motor or a cross reference to one that is available. Anybody have any ideas?

Attachment 120141

Try finding out the specks on the bare motor. Try looking hear for one you can move the mount and blower to.

https://www.rvsupplyparts.com/catalo...ors-383-1.html
Good luck
Bill

[Skip426]

Originally Posted by Dan Osborne

That sounds like a plan! I would love to see the pictures.

OK then , sorry this took so long,. When I found the photos , I didn't have the one I wanted to post , so I scrounged around the RV park and got another motor from a neighbor.
When drilling the hole in the motor end frame ,( 1/8 " drill bit ) orient the motor so the drilled hole will be facing up when the motor is re-mounted, and be very careful not to penetrate the metal too far, or the bit will snag the felt and ball it up. Apply a few drops of the oil and allow them to soak in; I dripped oil in for a couple of days, a few drops every 20 mins or so. Even the light weight oil moves very slowly through the felt. Apply a little silicone sealant to plug the hole and run the motor on the bench for a few hours , cycling on off after the first 15 mins to make sure the squeak is gone.
Over the years , I've used this method , with success on many types of 12v motors. I did my own furnace motor last summer, and haven't had a sound from it all winter.
Hope this works for you.

[gfs1943]

Originally Posted by Skip426

OK then , sorry this took so long,. When I found the photos , I didn't have the one I wanted to post , so I scrounged around the RV park and got another motor from a neighbor.
When drilling the hole in the motor end frame ,( 1/8 " drill bit ) orient the motor so the drilled hole will be facing up when the motor is re-mounted, and be very careful not to penetrate the metal too far, or the bit will snag the felt and ball it up. Apply a few drops of the oil and allow them to soak in; I dripped oil in for a couple of days, a few drops every 20 mins or so. Even the light weight oil moves very slowly through the felt. Apply a little silicone sealant to plug the hole and run the motor on the bench for a few hours , cycling on off after the first 15 mins to make sure the squeak is gone.
Over the years , I've used this method , with success on many types of 12v motors. I did my own furnace motor last summer, and haven't had a sound from it all winter.
Hope this works for you.

Thanks for this info, Skip. My furnace motor is squealing (intermittently). I could get a new one, but even if I do I will repair the old one and keep it as a spare.

I have some rubber plugs out of printer cartridges that will fit the drilled hole; think I'll try that. I just have to give my broken shoulder another few weeks before I am able to do much mechanic work.

[Dan Osborne]

Thank you for the valuable information Skip. I worked on it this morning and it is all lubed up and spinning nicely. I plan to reinstall it next weekend

[WILDEBILL308]

Most won't remember that the older Colman A/C motors (basically the same motor) came with plastic tubes that had plugs you could remove to add oil to the bearings.
Glad you got the squeak taken care of.
Bill

[Dan Osborne]

Last followup to this thread. While I had the entire furnace apart, I went ahead and sanded and painted all of the parts then put the freshly lubed motor back in. The furnace ended up looking great and sounds brand new again. Thanks for all of the very useful suggestions. You guys rock!

[marcham]

This thread should be a sticky...

[Dan Osborne]

I went drag racing over the weekend in central Virginia. It did not get that cold at night but the furnace did come on a few times. Very quiet, very smooth and I slept like a baby

[WILDEBILL308]

That beats the screaming berings saranade.
Bill