Re: Motor to roof vent not working and just over year old

On Mon, 29 May 2006 21:16:43 GMT, "jaynews" <jaynews@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

When I moved into my condo, the motor to the mushroom roof vent wasn't
working, so I replaced it in the spring of last year. Now the new one isn't
working (completely dead...confirmed on a test bench). Am I correct in
assuming that nothing in the motor is user-serviceable...like maybe a fuse?

I'm going to call the manufacturer tomorrow and see if the motor is still
under warranty. If not, I may just wind up seeing what Home Depot has
available.

I never looked for a motor there, but I doubt they have it. Most
cities have an electric motor repair shop, and they stock these
things. Take your motor with you.

I wouldn't be surprised if there were a thermal fuse in them, but if
it blew, it seems to me the fan got hotter than the fuse allows
because the fan wasn't spinning. One year is not very long. I hope
they send you another for free.

**Wondering...what is the typical lifespan of these motors?** (they operate
under extreme temperatures,

Although humans think 140 is extreme, that's because our body temp is
98 and we're not designed for much hotter. For machinery, 98 is of no
special importance.

Despite that, my experience too has been that, in my roof fan, the
first lasted maybe 7 years, the second two years, the third 6 years,
and this one 8 years so far. Or something like that. Almost 23 years
total, and the best money I've ever spent.

I tried to buy the most expensive fan I could find, but at the time,
the difference was only from 65 to 75 dollars. Maybe I could have
found better not at a hardware store. The first time Ireplaced the
motor, I ordered from the factory, but it only lasted 2 or 3 years, so
the next time was at the local motor store, so I think anything I lost
by not buying more expensive the first time has been recovered.

Today was the first really hot day out, I think, and like in past
years I know it would be totally intolerable on my second floor,
without AC, but with the roof fan and not wearing a shirt, it's not
bad, and I haven't even turned on the fan next to my desk yet.

This was a cool May. It was warm enough in the day for the fan to go
on a couple weeks ago, but cold enough at night that I used my bypass
swtich to keep the fan off, to heat the attic so that the house would
be a little warmer at night. I turned off the furnace here in
Baltimore more than a month ago.

and I don't like how mushroom vents leak
slightly or mist under windy conditions when it rains..

Mine does that, in the attic. It never gets really wet underneath
(although I wouldn't store my Rembrandt there) and the plywood floor
has shown no damage.

..maybe the moisture
helps gradually damage motor.

I've definitely wondered about that, and I think I asked here once.
The rain hits the roof and splatters into the screen, or maybe it
blows into the screen directly sometimes if the wind is enough, and it
breaks into a mist when it hits the screen that's there.

I installed this fan myself, but I'm fat now and don't have a ladder
so I didn't want to go back on the roof. Thought about putting
another screen inside the one it comes with, to let the air in but
cause the water to drain out before the motor, but a) didn't know why
my screen would succeed more than their screen, b) wasn't obvious how
to put the screen in, c) had lots of projects more importnant, and d)
I've got replacing the motor down to 20 minutes, not counting going to
the store and turning off the fuse, and I've decided replacing the
motor isn't so bad.

This time around I'm running a digital thermometer up there to see if a
working fan *really* makes a difference My attic already has a ridge vent
and soffit vents, but in spite of all the hype about how great a ridge
soffit system is...it still gets HOT up there (was almost 130 up there today
in middle of afternoon...upper 80s outdoors in shade).

Absolutely the fan makes a tremendous difference. I know because when
I bought this townhouse, with a shingled pitched roof about 10 feet
high in the middle, I had a full width ridge vent and front and back
full width soffitt vents. They are 4 inches wide with no interruptions
for the width of the house, with window screen in the opening. I have
6 inches of fiberglass insulation between the second floor and the
attic.

I would come home from work at 6PM and it was so hot upstairs, I
couldn't even go there (and I was thin then, although as to temp, that
doesn't seem to have made much difference)

I would sleep in the basement and go upstairs the next morning to
bathe and get new clothes.

When I opened the trap door to look at the attic, I'd feel the hot air
rush at me when I still below the ceiling.

Now I do my work in the attic at dawn.

And only need to use the AC for about 2 weeks a summer. The rest of
the time, I have a table fan next to the desk, the bed, the kitchen
table, and the living room tv. It's always cool enough in the
basement to use my workbench.

After the fan had been working about 18 years, I was up there outside
doing something else and noticed a layer of "lint" the whole length of
the soffitt vents. None of my neighbors have that because none have
that much circulation because none have roof fans.

Will be interesting
to see if the fan really makes any noticeable difference when I get a
working motor again....if not then I may not bother to replace the motor a
3rd time if the new motor goes again.

Very good idea. Do measurements when you have no fan. My fan was
factory set (to 85? degrees) and comes on about 9 to 12 in the
morning, and goes off between 7 and 10 at night, depending on how hot
and sunny the day was. So it's not on when I'm trying to sleep. I put
on much lighter colored shingles a couple years ago, so maybe it runs
less, but I didn't keep records along iwht outdoor temp and sunniness.

The measurements inside your house should really be done with the AC
off for a few days, but I understand why one wouldn't want to do that.

I don't know what danger powered fans present. I have had 3 motors
fail with no problem other than the lack of the fan.

I've wondered about oiling my motor, but I don't think any of them had
oil cups or oil holes.

I'm going to read George's post in more detail. My currewnt motor is
in place and I'm not fiddling with it under any circumstances, but
I'll try to save George's post and review the next motor, someday I
suppose, in its light.
J.


.

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