Mr. Heater Big Maxx

[Fireman14]

I'm new to the site, however I have gained a lot of information by reading all of your post's. I purchased a Mr. Heater Big Maxx by Enerco about three months ago and have already worked on it three times. I have un-clogged the vaccum tube running from the power vent housing twice and just this morning ordered a replacement exhaust blower from the company. The exhaust fan has become increasingly louder over the past few weeks and produces an annoying ressonance in the unit like a bearing is about to go out. Initially it was whisper quiet while running.
Question is, what kind of problems have you folks had......and what can I expect in the coming heating seasons? Thanks.

 

[Red Green]

I have been using mine for over a year and have not had any issues.

 

[Chetter]

My heater is 2 years old and the exhuast fan motor is noisy as well and I have a new one to replace it but have not put it in yet. What I did find when I got the new one was that the squirrel cage that spins on the motor wasn't true, it had a slight wobble, well it would just kill the bearings in the new motor as well. So I worked with it and now it is true and straight when it spins. I jumpered the wires to make sure it is quiet and smooth. As for the clogging of your vent tube, sounds like your pipe has some dirt in it that it is being pulled into it. Did you use new black pipe for your gas supply? I really like my heater and though I haven't changed the fan, I think the problem that I found with the replacement is what happened to the original one and I will find that out when I pull it to change it out.

 

[fireman]

Mine is about 5 years old and I've never had a single problem with it. It's nice and quiet as well.

Jim

 

[Bender78]

My 75K unit has been up and running for 3 months now. No problems yet.

 

[Fireman14]

So the clogged vaccum tube was probly due to running a saw and sanding a couple of wordworking projects i was doing. I changed the exhaust fan about two weeks ago and it is fine now, quiet as ever. Mr. Heater sent it right out to me no querstions asked. I found the same thing with the squirrel cage being un-true in the housing so I messed with it and hopefully made it a better fit. So far so good, its quiet as ever. Im about to the end of our heating season now. To Chetter, everything was new in the instalation including the gas supply, I did shut the gas supply and pull the cap off the condensation leg an it was clean. All in all, the unit is great, nothing better than working in the shop in the middle of January in a t-shirt.

 

[Chetter]

So the clogged vaccum tube was probly due to running a saw and sanding a couple of wordworking projects i was doing. I changed the exhaust fan about two weeks ago and it is fine now, quiet as ever. Mr. Heater sent it right out to me no querstions asked. I found the same thing with the squirrel cage being un-true in the housing so I messed with it and hopefully made it a better fit. So far so good, its quiet as ever. Im about to the end of our heating season now. To Chetter, everything was new in the instalation including the gas supply, I did shut the gas supply and pull the cap off the condensation leg an it was clean. All in all, the unit is great, nothing better than working in the shop in the middle of January in a t-shirt.

That's great, I'm glad you found the not so true squirrel cage before installing it and I totally agree, it's great to work in the garage in Jan and Feb with short sleeves on for sure. I have one question for you and changing out that blower, did you use new gaskets and how hard was it to replace it? Like I said, I haven't replaced mine yet but I am planning on it this spring and I ordered new gaskets with mine. Thanks.

 

[Fireman14]

Yes, I had them send two new gaskets, since you have to tear down to the heat exchanger to get to the fan housing screws inside of it. The gaskets pretty much fall apart when it is disassembled.

 

[ride92]

I know this is an older thread but how to you go about checking the blower fan to make sure it spins true? Mines a bit noisier then I’d like

 

[Chetter]

I had to replace mine since it was not true, it did the ever so slight wobble. I got one from Mr. Heater no cost, and installed myself, it should come with any related gaskets since you have to pull the fan and housing, was easy enough to do and yes, the fan wobbled. It's been fine all these years and has been a really reliable heater for me.