furnace blower fan motor

[mrcaptainbob]

So, the blower motor is not starting by itself. If I give the cage a slight start by hand, then it takes off. I was told by my cousin that there was a burning smell a few days ago. Is this the fault of the motor or of the capacitor? How can I check if it's one or the other? Should I just replace them both? I felt the motor and it is hot.

[HayZee518]

probably the start winding is toast. replace both the cap and motor.

[mrcaptainbob]

cap and motor....

I was afraid of that. Thanks, HayZee for the quick and much needed response.

Merry Christmas to you....
Bob

[paul52446m]

furnace blower fan motor

So, the blower motor is not starting by itself. If I give the cage a slight start by hand, then it takes off. I was told by my cousin that there was a burning smell a few days ago. Is this the fault of the motor or of the capacitor? How can I check if it's one or the other? Should I just replace them both? I felt the motor and it is hot.

If it run ok when you spin it Then i would just change the start capacitor. That's a lot cheaper than doing the motor when you don't need it. Paul

[mrcaptainbob]

Blower motor....

Sure. That sounds like a good idea. I can change the cap and if the motor still won;t start on it's own, then I change the motor. Here's how it happened: I was told that there was a very loud screeching sound from the furnace. "Sounds like a belt" is what I was told, along with a "smells like something burning" statement. Since there is no belt I instantly assumed the motor was cooked. I visited today and found the motor DID work! And started by itself, too! The house rose from 51* to 70 and all was well. I checked again a couple hours after and found the furnace would kick on, but the blower motor would not start. Given a small start spin and it took off. I personally did not hear any screeching and do not find any tightness in the motor bearings. I also did not detect any abnormal smells, such as burnt windings or other electrical 'mishaps'. I'll try the capacitor thing first, and if that won;t do it, then it's on to the motor.
I do appreciate this help.

Merry Christmas to you too, Paul.

[mrcaptainbob]

HayZee strikes again!!

Yep, you were correct, HayZee. It ended up needing a new motor, too. Had to get it from Grainger's. A Capacitor to go with it, too. The old motor was a four speed, the new one is a three speed. Since the furnace uses only one speed, it works out okay. I used the mid point of the new motor. I think it may be a little more volume than the four speed one, but it works.....
Again, thanks to Hayzee and Paul for the help.