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Heating & Air Conditioning

Need help troubleshooting attic fan

10 years ago

Hello. The original whole house fan that was installed when we built our home (1994) quit working. I found a new motor with same physical dimensions except slightly bigger in HP. Original motor was 800 RPM and the new 1070 at high speed. I installed new motor with original fan blades, however, there is very little puling of air through the house. Fan blades were installed correctly and I've tried switching the wiring for medium and slow speeds, still no pulling of air. Rotation of shaft is also correct and when I hold a piece of thread under the fan, it does not pull it up until I hold it very close. Our original fan would pull ashes out of the fireplace if we had no door or window open, but nothing with new motor. Also, the new motor seems to get extremely hot with little use. I cannot figure out why there is a problem or what else I can try. Can someone please offer some insight? Thanks so much, Mark

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Comments (5)

busboy
10 years ago
Well here are some thoughts. You must make sure you have enough openings in the attic to allow the air to pass through ie gable or ridge vents of suficient size. Make sure those vents have not been blocked. Also you must obviously make sure a window or maybe 2 are open.

Possibly, at the higher fan speed your fan blades are stalling. Try your thread trick and see if it starts to rise when you turn it on and then drops.

Also, even though it says it is a higher RPM, is it actually higher? If the new motor is defective (high heat symptom) maybe you are not getting the full RPM.

I'M not an HVAC tech but I do stay at Holiday Inn Express
mjhjea
Original Author
10 years ago
I thought new motor was defective so I exchanged it and I'm still dealing with same issue. I also have plenty of ventilation with my full ridge vent as the original fan worked phenomenal before it quit on me. I remember before how the original fan would suck a cracked door open, it had that much force. But with this new motor, I can barely feel anything. I'll open only one window to check air flow, but feel nothing. The luvers open up on the ceiling panel when fan is on, so I know fan is at least trying to do what it's supposed to. I just don't understand the situation. If a motor is turning the shaft/blades, why no air being pulled in from the outside?
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Thanks everyone for your advice and suggestions! Sammy Thanks! will keep that in mind. I think with this weather things will get even hotter this year :/ chiflipper will keep your advice in mind. I am sure our architect will bring this up too. Sophie Wheeler I appreciate your wise advice. Yes we can buy a bigger older ( built in year 2000 or less) home in this city for the same price we are planing to spend on the new construction. But they won't have the layout we like, the location we like and will cost more in maintenance and repairs. Anything newer costs over the budget we have set and have even less sqft. 1800 or 1700). I agree new constructions costs extra upfront over resells but should one just buy a house for the sake of getting a bigger space? Also, what about the extra maintenance costs which comes with the age of the house? We thought in the long run, all of that will add up to making the older home more expensive. 2000 sqft or there about is perfectly adequate for our current needs. I was just thinking an attic maybe an added advantage if we do decide we need more space in 5-6 years. But if we don't finish it up by then, we'll just sell and move on :)
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weedmeister
10 years ago
Is the fan slipping on the shaft? Is a running capacitor required for the new motor and do you have the correct size?
mjhjea
Original Author
10 years ago
Hi. Fan is not slipping on shaft. I have the correct capaitor for the motor.
busboy
10 years ago
I have to think that you don't have enough venting capacity in the attic. Either the ridge vent or soffit vents have become partially blocked. Soffits can get blocked with insulation. Yes, soffits are intakes during passive cooling but will act as exhaust vents when you pressurize the attic with the whole house fan.

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