Bryant 80% Inducer Motors

[krux]

Ok is it me, or are they junk?

I have been told they only last a couple of seasons due to the bearing design. Gosh I can't imagine this would be true without a law suit.

So what would you do? (If I had money to throw, I would get a new furnace). The current inducer motor I switched out with 3 years ago (used unit) has a little shift play and had a small vibration. If I touch it with my finger or play with the rubber bushings, it goes away for a while. I do have the previous unit that I cleaned up the other day. It was making a "dragging" noise but I believe it was from all the drywall dust caked into it. I lubed the bearings and cleaned everything up. It spins freely now with no drag (spins for a long time) and no shaft play.

I was told that shaft play and vibration is normal on these from sources. Am I just picky on having items work perfectly?

Thoughts?

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

I'm not a big fan of anything from carrier or any of its,spin offs,that being said the motors like most other small parts are bought off of a supplier who builds them for everybody else also.

 

[Brian_WK]

Any fan motor with a bushing design is going to fail faster than one with a sealed ball bearing unless you pull the motor every other year and oil the bushings wick. On our annual service check we would alternate pulling the inducer and oiling then the blower the next year. They both take about 30 minutes to pull apart, oil, anti-seize the set screws then reassemble. On this service schedule they damn near last forever unless the wheel rusts out and gets out of balance the it takes out the bushings anyways.

Brian

 

[krux]

Any fan motor with a bushing design is going to fail faster than one with a sealed ball bearing unless you pull the motor every other year and oil the bushings wick. On our annual service check we would alternate pulling the inducer and oiling then the blower the next year. They both take about 30 minutes to pull apart, oil, anti-seize the set screws then reassemble. On this service schedule they damn near last forever unless the wheel rusts out and gets out of balance the it takes out the bushings anyways.

Brian

These have the sealed skateboard bearings in them. I wonder if I should throw in the other motor. Anything having that much drywall dust caked on it would make a noise.

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[gungatim]

LGR!

 

[krux]

drywall dust is a serious bearing/bushing killer. I learned that when I finished my basement and ran the bathroom fans. ruined one fan, furnace motor, and 2 electric sanders...

pull the bearings and replace them if you can, other wise you could try and soak them and re-oil them. even "sealed" bearings are not 100% sealed.

Its funny that you say that. I killed the blower motor on it already to.

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[mrobins297aaa]

drywall dust is a serious bearing/bushing killer. I learned that when I finished my basement and ran the bathroom fans. ruined one fan, furnace motor, and 2 electric sanders...

pull the bearings and replace them if you can, other wise you could try and soak them and re-oil them. even "sealed" bearings are not 100% sealed.

edit; forgot to add I have a Bryant 90+ furnace as well, it will be 20 yrs. old in the fall and still works good, aside from replacing the motor once, the igniter twice, and the computer board once as well. aside from those things, I did have to bypass the pressure switch since for some reason even a new one would not work, despite cutting the exhaust pipe at the furnace to ensure no restrictions (was probably a calibration problem with the computer but it's been that way a loooong time now...)

Are you sure it's not the heat exchanger causing the restriction. Bryant had a huge problem with those laminated steel heat exchangers with the laminating coming off on there 90+ furnaces. Make sure the flame is not rolling out and tripping the roll out switch. They lost a big law suit with those heat exchangers and are suppose to be replacing them for free............my 90+ Bryant lasted only 11 years before it self destructed.

also you shouldn't be bypassing those pressure switches, there in there for your safety. take a good look at that flame while it's running and make sure it's not being lazy or rolling out.

 

[Firebrick43]

If you do have to replace take to motor to an electric motor repair place. Every good size town should have one. Ours the guy is wonderful to work with and even if the motor is completely shot he can typically get a replacement for much less than an hvac wholesale house. Many of the hvac supply houses won't sell to the general public to boot.

 

[gungatim]

Are you sure it's not the heat exchanger causing the restriction. Bryant had a huge problem with those laminated steel heat exchangers with the laminating coming off on there 90+ furnaces. Make sure the flame is not rolling out and tripping the roll out switch. They lost a big law suit with those heat exchangers and are suppose to be replacing them for free............my 90+ Bryant lasted only 11 years before it self destructed.

also you shouldn't be bypassing those pressure switches, there in there for your safety. take a good look at that flame while it's running and make sure it's not being lazy or rolling out.

yes I'm sure. been like that for around 10 yrs. now. Bryant repair guy was out and couldn't fix it either. no issues with heat exchanger. for all I know the one he replaced it with is calibrated wrong or something. he was out twice and only way to keep it working was to pull the hose...

and yes I know about safety stuff, and I don't recommend people making changes to their furnaces, or disconnecting seat switches on their lawnmowers, or welding air tanks, re-designing trusses, etc...nobody should do what I do.

 

[mrobins297aaa]

yes I'm sure. been like that for around 10 yrs. now. Bryant repair guy was out and couldn't fix it either. no issues with heat exchanger. for all I know the one he replaced it with is calibrated wrong or something. he was out twice and only way to keep it working was to pull the hose...

and yes I know about safety stuff, and I don't recommend people making changes to their furnaces, or disconnecting seat switches on their lawnmowers, or welding air tanks, re-designing trusses, etc...nobody should do what I do.

I just wanted to make sure you new about that problem with those heat exchangers, my Bryant would have been 17 years old this year so it's probably the same model furnace you have. But if you've had it checked out then your probably good to go. I'd keep a eye on it though for any overheating or flame roll out.