Furnace Fan motor bearings going out

[Janb313]

Am on the road and the fn motor is going to die at some point. A really nice repair guy told me I might want to check out replacing the whole unit as the cost of the fan motor is around $300. He won't be doing it as I have to keep moving towards home. I have a Suburban NT-12SE and I don't find one listed anywhere for sale on line. Any thoughts or suggestions I'll try calling Suburban and se if thy still make it and if not what is the replacement. I'm hoping to either repair it or get one that will just slide right in to the space.

[Joe Romas]

For what it's worth there's a thread about making the older Suburban furnaces quiet like the new ones.

It involves different fan blades and either electronically slowing the currnet motor for $5 or replacing the motor with a new slower one and the cost is $80.

But it will take a couple of hours to remove the furnace, install the new motor and reinstall it.

But the same time would apply for installing a new furnace plus the price of the furnace.

Here's your fan motor for $78.05 plus $9.99 shipping
Suburban 520949 Furnace Motor for NT12 NT16

[mary and bob]

Does the motor have bearings or just bronze bushings. If you can get at it easily, a drop or two of light oil on the bushings might help. When I did oil burner service, we had to oil the motor bushings on most units

[Eddie Longest]

FWIW
A new NT-16-SEQ which Scamp is using now is $350 on Amazon. A little quieter.
Eddie

[Janb313]

I'm guessing the NT-16 is the replacement for the NT-12SE? What is the difference. I'don't know about the bearings vs bronze bushings. Not mechanical enough for that.

I'm also wondering as this is an older trailer and furnace - is something else likely to go out next? Always a gamble at this age I guess.

[Captleemo]

Some electric motors have bushings which is basically a collar that the motor shaft spins in. Some motors like that have a felt packing that is soaked with oil when the motor is manufactured and that is what keeps that collar lubricated. Eventually the felt dries out and the motor may start to squeak. Re soaking the felt with some 3in1 oil would eliminate the squeak. Of coarse it is a moot point if you are not mechanically inclined as you would have to pay someone to pull out the motor to either replace it or oil the bearings (bushings). Anyway I hope you can resolve the problem without it costing you an arm and a leg.

[Darwin Maring]

Captleemo Is correct. Also, lint gets built up on and in fan motors so cleaning and lubi g the motor may solve the problem. Because it is a DC motor, you may need to put in new brushes.

[Janb313]

Got lucky when I went to visit friends and one of them decided to pull the furnace and check the fan. I used the info and photos from an older thread about making the fan quieter and it was a huge help. The fan was not turning freely and some WD40 and a little sand paper made a huge difference! It is now running just fine - no bearing noise and the furnace works again - for now. When I have a problem again I'm thinking about going to the NT-16SE. I am just wondering if it draws more power since it is a higher BTU unit. At least I have a little grace time now.

[Dudley]

I have a write up for changing out to the fans used in the 16seq but its too large to upload. Make alot of difference in the noise from the fans, also I added a pwm board to dial back the fan speed as the new fan has 7 blades and moves more air. The 16seq fan motor will run slower and use less amps and can be had for about $80. The fans are cheap, about $15 for the pair.

Fire off your email in PM and I will send the pdf.

New style combustion fan Suburban #350208
New style room fan Suburban #350207

Suburban Furnace Room Air Impeller, 350207
Suburban Furnace Combustion Air Wheel, 350208