Anyone know electric motors?????

oosik · Apr 17, 2022

My Pan Abode cedar home has cathedral ceilings. I have a big 'ol paddle fan in the living room. Up there - real high. It was a Hunter. Smoked itself about fifteen years ago - after twenty five years of use. Must have been something similar to what Fuddy ran into.

ponytug · Apr 17, 2022

Motor wire is lightly varnished and then wound into coils that are placed in the motor stator and tied together to keep them from vibrating. In a good motor, the whole stator is then dunked in an insulating varnish and baked for added insulation and glue to keep the wires from vibrating and wearing out the insulation. There are some great YouTube videos, if you are curious. High efficiency motors can even have square cross-sectional wire for better winding density.

All it takes is a small pair of nicks in the varnish and you have a short in the coils, and all the magic smoke comes out. Given how thin the film of insulation is on a motor coil, it is amazing to me that the shorting of coils doesn't happen more often. A drop of water can really make things go down the tube in a hurry.

All the best,

Peter

Fuddy1952 · Apr 17, 2022

jigs_n_fixtures said:
You can probably fit either of the motors you have. They are both 48 frames. Does the old motor have a name plate?

I pictured original motor name plate & more here.
I have a Hunter fan in garage that I removed from my Grandfather's doctors office. He bought it used in the 1930s, I remember him saying it came from an old department store. Blades reverse by a mechanical lever you push. It's unbelievably heavy...all I could do to hang it. It still works well.

ponytug · Apr 17, 2022

That helps. You have what appears to be a half HP, two speed 800rpm motor. (Not clear to me what the other speed is, but probably 1740rpm.)

On the web, I see lots of folks having trouble cross referencing the GE part number 5KCP39KGN301APM, probably because GE quit making fractional HP motors. So, that means you will be looking for a non GE motor.
So, that raises a few questions;
How long is the shaft, what is the shaft diameter, and does it have a flat or a key way for your fan? How is your motor mounted?

Once you have that, I would suggest calling a couple of local motor supply houses and seeing what they have.

I am sorry, but I am beginning to suspect that the easy way out is a whole new fan. Having just replaced a furnace fan motor, my experience was that getting a replacement fan motor from someone other than the manufacturer can be an extended, not to say painful, process.

All the best,

Peter

CobyRupert · Apr 17, 2022

#1)The windings (black to white) have a resistance of 4.6 ohms.
#2)The fan’s frame (and a little green wiring and whatever part of the winding that’s between the black lead and the short) has a (black to green) resistance of 1.9 ohms.
#3) The frame and the winding add up to 6.5 ohms both mathematically and by measurement of white to green. I believe this tells us the winding between the black lead and the short location adds no measured resistance in measurement #2. I believe this says that the winding is shorted very close to the black lead.