Should I clean my blower motor?

Caronsb1

I had my HVAC rep come out the other day for my scheduled tune up and he told me he shouldn't clean my blower fan because it would put more strain on the motor and cause it to fail. Is this true? It is very dirty and he said It is pulling higher amps than it is supposed to. Thanks!

bob22

horse feathers. get a new company.

AGWhitehouse

I agree!

Caronsb1

That's kinda what I was thinking... I had it serviced in the fall and a different rep with the same company told me the same thing. Are there any "special" circumstances where the fan should not be cleaned??

AGWhitehouse

I can't think of a situation where a dirty fan is better than a clean one. The large power draw is the real point of inquiry.

Do you have any pictures? What exactly is this fan apart of? A boiler, forced hot air system, other?

Caronsb1

The blower is in the electric forced air handler inside the house.

Caronsb1

I think the paperwork he left said the motor is rated for 16 amps and it's pulling 17.1. We bought the house (~30yrs old) 2 years ago on a short sale so needless to say it wasn't taken care of very well. I don't have any pics, but the fan is really dirty. He said since the fan is not pushing as much air as it should, cleaning the fan would increase the load on the motor and burn it up within a month. Makes sense coming from him... Ideas?

JJboy

Replace blower motor, clean motor wheels, replace filter and clean evap coil.

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**Always kill the power ** Hot air rises, but heat will always move from higher to lower temperatures. ** Real man shoot in manual. ** If it ain't grounded, it ain't dead.

fabrk8r

BS

Clean it. It will move more air and draw less amps.

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"The physician can bury his mistakes, but the architect can only advise his clients to plant vines." -- Frank Lloyd Wright

yuri

Sometimes when you clean them they go faster, get noisy and vibrate as the dirt has over the years balanced the wheel. Remove it and it becomes unbalanced and a VERY small percentage of the time can cause it to overheat/burnout from not being used to running that fast. Sounds like the motor is dying from bad bearings anyway so it may need replacing along with the wheel is it has become off balanced/warped. Most companies LIKE to make $$ and sell motors etc to make a profit. Don't understand why they don't like to make money. Just delaying the inevitable by using it until it stops on the hottest or coldest day and then you have to pay OT overtime rate to get it done. Some maintenance techs only do maintenance and don't carry parts or know how to install them. My guys are like that but we get them to refer the call to a service tech. The underside of the cooling coil should be checked for dirt as that can cause it to draw too much power.

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