How long should evap cooler motors last?

[Joerg]

Sawing & hammering sounds like a great way to ruin the fan's balance.

Wot balance?

After receiving the new (!) unit the first thing I had to do was balance
both squirrel cages. They wobbled like crazy. Obviously it was asking to
much of the manufacturer to expect a properly balanced set.

 

[josephkk]

Soak in PB Blaster, might come off in a day or two. And rewind the
stator.
I think PB Blaster is better than liquid wrench.

Cheers

Carburator cleaner in the gallon can ought to do the trick as well. May
not be easy to find now. Readily available only 20 some years ago.

?-)

 

[josephkk]

That motor is toast. The shaft rusted and one of the squirrel cages
didn't come off. I have never seen this much rust on a motor after only
three years. So I had to saw the 1/2" shaft off with a bare blade by
hand (!), with an old sock as a handle. Took me a whole hour but I find
the results show of Dancing with the Stars that SWMBO always watches
boring so did it then. Pounded out the remnants of the shaft.

The motor has also thoroughly cooked itself out because the overheat
protection (if it really has one as stated ...) didn't come on. Cinged
paint, twisted metal, a mess.

The cooler manufacturer was not willing to pick up part of the tab, made
me pay over $100 total at full price. So if anyone thinks about buying a
cooler you now know. It's from Essick (also sold as Champion) and IMHO
the quality is rather poor. Next time I will look at other brands.

Which brings up a point: Since I must use this lousy motor design again
so it fits, would a slight brushing of oil prevent it from rusting
again? Or silicone grease? Vaseline?

Replace as much of the affected parts as you can with custom built SS.
Also have the motor shaft black chromed. Then silicone grease as well.

?-)

 

[Joerg]

Replace as much of the affected parts as you can with custom built SS.
Also have the motor shaft black chromed. Then silicone grease as well.

Well, I don't think I'll spend that much money on an evap cooler. What
might happen some day is that I build my own cooler from scratch.
Probably from aircraft aluminum. It will also have VF driven motors
instead of a simple two-speed motor. And it will be better than this
commercial junk, guaranteed.

Making the louvers will be a major pain, or I'd have to find ready-made
parts for that.