[shellkamp]

I have this customer who should play the lottery with his luck.

In August I changed the module on his ecm blower motor, today I replaced both the motor and module of the blower due to a more catastrophic failure of the motor.

I install the new blower motor, turn it on and walk out to find the condenser fan (variable speed also) isn't spinning. Here's the kicker, if I disconnected the compressor from the circuit and turned power back on the fan would come on but operate erratically, ramping up and down in speed. I don't have an oscilloscope, but I saw no obvious drop in voltage when I turned the unit on with the compressor in the circuit

After a few more times connecting and disconnecting the compressor, the fan just wouldn't start up anymore. Told customer he may need to look into getting the power company to monitor the electricity to his house after having this many ECM motor failures in a short period of time.

Anybody else have customers with similar problems? I could buy undersized ductwork as the cause of failure for the blower, sure, but to have the condenser fan fail at the same time is a little fishy to me.

 

[shellkamp]

it was a Trane XL16i Condenser, I believe it is roughly 6 or 7 years old, however I don't care enough to run to the van to get my notepad for the serial number. I'll be replacing the Condenser fan motor tomorrow, haven't checked the bearings. The blower motor, however, looked like it had a meltdown and was very tight when rotating the shaft, but felt more like a magnetic resistance than bearings, so I imagine it was the rotor and armature causing the issues. I had replaced the module just in August and it worked find until the smoke came out of it the other day. What was funny to me is how the outdoor fan would only come on when the compressor was disconnected for that short while. As if it suffered from a major voltage drop.

 

[shellkamp]

condenser may not be sparkling, but I'm confident it has enough airflow to not adversely affect the motor. But hey, everyone could use a maintenance agreement, right?

 

[shellkamp]

I should have been more clear. Both motors felt tight compared to the new ecm motors I installed. I didn't bother testing the windings on either motors this time around. If it wasn't warranty, I would have taken it home and inspected further.