My squirrel cage is not balanced! sounds like..

[drewspuppet]

My squirrel cage blower is unbalanced or something, it gets really loud at times and makes you want to duck for cover.
I did a test by marking a spot and I found the heavy side/unbalanced part.
I read somewhere you can put duct tape on the light side to balance it out but it there is no room to work with around the housing of the cage.

Do I need to take it somewhere or should I just run it till it really does blow up?

[gravdigr]

99% of the time when a squirrel cage blower goes unbalanced it's for 1 reason. It's running without a filter and the blades on the cage are caked with dust and dirt. You should be able to reach in with a screwdriver or other tool and clean off the blades if this is the problem. Generally if your cage went off balance it's for a reason and best to find the reason before trying to fix the problem.

[Mike_Aurelius]

Actually, remove some metal from the heavy side. Clip a couple of slices with a pair of diagonal pliers.

Taping something to the 'cage' isn't a good idea, eventually the tape will loosen and start to slap against the housing.

It might also be that the bearings on the motor are starting to go. Might be time for a new fan.

[Swampy]

You can put those tiny upholstery clips on the inside of the fan blades to balance it.

If you've ever pulled the door lining off your vehicle to install speaker wires/fix the window winder/wodeva, you will see the clips around the edge of the panel. They are about half inch square and clip over the edge of the panel to retain the upholstery covering on the panel.

Anyway, those clips are just the right size to clip onto the fan blades. I know because that's what the previous owner did with mine.

Clip them from the inside of the cage, then they won't fly off at speed.

As Digga said, there must be something causing the out-of-balance, maybe an old meat pie, sock or dead bird or something?

[Dale M.]

All the above..... Once balanced, it should not change with out reason... You need toi find reason....

Dale

[Mac Maestro]

Go to any Air Conditioning place and get a new one. (Well, new to you)
Ask the guys or take one out of the dumpster. If you do that for half a day you can get a car full.

[Lithomancy]

um blowing up? yeaaa, i dont like that idea, its getting moved, i kinda like having legs

[LaPlayaGlass]

You don't by any chance have one side obstructed in some way do you?
AL

[drewspuppet]

I do have the motor side blocked mostly with a board, there is still air flow from that side of the blower but it's mostly blocked. Why, shouldn't the motor side be boxed up like that?

[Mike_Aurelius]

Those types of fans rely on partial air-over for cooling. You have have over heated the motor at some point, but that shouldn't cause an out of balance issue.

Check what you are using to block the air flow, it's possible it might be loose and being drawn into the the housing and hitting the cage, which might sound like it is off balance.

[broken glass]

Go to any Air Conditioning place and get a new one. (Well, new to you)
Ask the guys or take one out of the dumpster. If you do that for half a day you can get a car full.
Reply With Quote

the ac places I contacted, told me they didn't have anything for FREE.

obstruction of free flowing air, can make your fan work too hard, making it push too many amps then it was designed for, thus blowing up your motor. I blew up my 800dollar vert upblast fan in 20 minutes, the fact the electricion hooked the blades up to go in reverse could have been part of the problem too., but i was pushing 20 amps into a 6 amp fan.................its so funny i could poke myself in the eye.

[Dale M.]

Go to any Air Conditioning place and get a new one. (Well, new to you)
Ask the guys or take one out of the dumpster. If you do that for half a day you can get a car full.
Reply With Quote

the ac places I contacted, told me they didn't have anything for FREE.

obstruction of free flowing air, can make your fan work too hard, making it push too many amps then it was designed for, thus blowing up your motor. I blew up my 800dollar vert upblast fan in 20 minutes, the fact the electricion hooked the blades up to go in reverse could have been part of the problem too., but i was pushing 20 amps into a 6 amp fan.................its so funny i could poke myself in the eye.

Technically that is not quite right....

Voltage(volts) pushes current (amps) through resistance (ohms). By decreasing the resistance or increasing voltage you cause change in current "flow'. But you can not push 20 amps into a 6 amp motor if the line voltage and motor resistance stay constant (within operating parameters).

When you get a minute, look up OHM's LAW...

Dale

[Mike_Aurelius]

I believe what he's meant to say, Dale, is that the motor was pulling 20 amps (and probably popped the circuit breaker) when it finally burned out.

He is correct that obstruction of air flow makes the motor work harder, drawing more current. More current, the hotter the motor, the hotter the motor, the shorter the life.

I've seen many motors draw more than what they are designed for when overworked beyond their design parameters.

[LaPlayaGlass]

Because if it designed for 2 sided induction you are creating an out of balance situation by blocking one side.

[LaPlayaGlass]

If it has a divider in the middle of the cage then it probably wants air from both sides. Unobstructed. That can make it have problems. open it up and try it....damn and the shop was just getting warm right?
AL