Tjernlund blower wheel disintegrated?

emorrison1972

So we fired up the heat for the first time this season and it ran for less than a minute and then nothiing...went down to the basement and tried to diagnose the cause of failure, and realized the issues were with the power vent...long story short after opening up the unit and reaching in from the back, I found that the "wheel" was now nothing more than some sgharp rusted shards of metal...is this a common failure for the SS1's?  If so, would anything else have been damaged?  The motor was trying to spin the shaft, but the twisted up metal inside was holding it back...tested the motor it seems to spin freely now and when energized it spins....thanks for any light you can shed on this...Ed

Jim_47

Power venter's

I have had very similar luck with powervents if they are not used year round. If the boiler or furnace is for heat only.   You would think the price for a stainless blower would be less than replacing it numerous times. Oh and good luck with removing the old one from the shaft.

Henry

Blowers

The actual culprit is the original installer. There is a programming module that will have a time for post-purge. This will dry up the blower from any condensation from the exhaust gases as they cool. Most installers fail to program the post purge giving us new customers!



Henry

billtwocase

Henry

you are thinking SS-2. SS-1 has a time delay relay for post purge, and the culprit is usually the electrician that does not add the necessary line voltage other than from B-1. I would also test the combustion when done. I would also just get the motor assembly, and not spend the time trying to replace the blower wheel. They don't come off. The SS-2 is digital, and not as good in my book

Paul Fredricks_3

but

I think the SS-2 has a different type of blower that is less susceptible to those problems.



As far as the SS-1 goes, don't replace the blower wheel, get the motor kit which is the motor and the wheel. I think the wheels are stainless now, or else that's Field.



The biggest culprits are combustion and lack of make up air. See it all the time. 

Jack

The difference in the I & II is

The I was the original Sideshot and has a squirrel cage blower wheel. Over time, if the blower wheel isn't serviced ( cleaned). Keep in mind that everything that goes thru that burner goes thru the PV. It is a pretty aggressive atmosphere. The 2 was subsequently designed with a backward inclined mat'l handling wheel. It is designed to shed deposits and does pretty well at it. The 2 is much easier to service. For the last several years all Tjernlunds's products have the same UC1 control board with pre and pst settings and self diagnostics. I think the 2 is a significantly better product than the 1. The 2 has a max input of 168k. I think the 2 goes to 225kbtu.

billtwocase

SS-2

They have not 1, but 2 motors on those, and the board, I am finding, is not very reliable. If they don't leave enough room to pull the assembly out from the front, you gotta uninstall it from the outside in to get at things. It is a little quieter, but I'll take the SS-1 over it any day.I'm a chimney man all the way, but as builders got cheaper, and electric conversions, they are becoming all too common