Furnace fan noisy

[mech0001]

My (probably original) Solaire furnace works. I pulled the front plate off and it appears virtually unused and unsullied.
HOWEVER, there's the telltale scream at startup indicating dry bearings. Yes, it does go away but returns on restart.
Per the manual, oiling is not necessary.
Does anyone know if the fan assembly is accessible enough to remedy the lack of lube?

 

[dsmithy]

I took mine apart Angus. It was not particularly pleasant but not very demanding. One afternoon job. Mostly you have to deal with both the combustion air and the heated air blowers on the same shaft. Go for it.

 

[mech0001]

Thanks, I am in to it now.
Not sure if this is the original unit or not. The intake hose from the rear is simply laying next to the unit and I don't see any dedicated inlet air plenums.
Looks like it was "carefully engineered" to be as large as possible. I am currently attempting forced entry to
the fan from the rh side.
Cover is screwed on center - rear and riveted at the front??
Removing what's in the way and I'll make new metal cover(s) as needed with my mini brake.
So far I am to the outer fan which is stuck on the shaft. We'll see how the penetrant is doing today.

 

[tmsnyder]

My to-do list includes a cheap chinese heater, usually referred to as a 'cheap Chinese diesel heater'. they are a knock-off of a german Webasto cab heater. They are much less 12V power hungry, much more moderate heat output, much less noisy, and certain models can burn gasoline. And much smaller so you can pick up some cabinet space.

If it were me, I'd at least consider swapping it out.

 

[mech0001]

Well, I got it out of there. Ended up removing inner shelving and enlarging the cutout on the ride side of the sink cabinetry. Not a large concern (most of the shelving had water damage) but irritating.
Also irritating is the attached where you can see the modifications they made to accommodate this unit. That larger hose laying to the left? It wasn't even attached. The DuoTherm unit (which the coach was clearly designed for) has ports for that to attach to. I guess they got a better bid for 1977 but it sure doesn't look like it belongs.

Anyway, the question is whether to continue or replace. My primary requirements are prevention from freezing as it does get that cold here from time to time. PLUS, when I'm somewhere cooler, I want to have my bathroom heated!

Todd, I remember hearing about gas heaters in the older VWs but never worked on one that had one. I will check that out.

Any thoughts on size furnace to replace with? If I replace, I'd like to avoid modifying the body (further).

 

[LQQKatJon]

Well, I got it out of there. Ended up removing inner shelving and enlarging the cutout on the ride side of the sink cabinetry. Not a large concern (most of the shelving had water damage) but irritating.
Also irritating is the attached where you can see the modifications they made to accommodate this unit. That larger hose laying to the left? It wasn't even attached. The DuoTherm unit (which the coach was clearly designed for) has ports for that to attach to. I guess they got a better bid for 1977 but it sure doesn't look like it belongs.
View attachment 12700
Anyway, the question is whether to continue or replace. My primary requirements are prevention from freezing as it does get that cold here from time to time. PLUS, when I'm somewhere cooler, I want to have my bathroom heated!

Todd, I remember hearing about gas heaters in the older VWs but never worked on one that had one. I will check that out.

Any thoughts on size furnace to replace with? If I replace, I'd like to avoid modifying the body (further).

I am not familiar with the duo therms…. But the original sol air. The sol airs had both intake/return. air tubes/vents as well as heat. All new furnaces I see do not have provision for intake air ducts, and just use grating around furnace. The smaller hose should be the heat hose to the bathroom.

On my palm beach with louvered cabnet doors, I went and hooked the old sol air hoses into the heat side.

On an eleganza that did not have louvered doors, we just let the return hoses sit loose/open to the furnace space. Thinking that would allow extra air to come in for return air.


I have a vw gas heater on my 73 vw thing I am resurrecting for my towd. . Should be test
Running it here in the next month. I dont see why it would not work…. But if it does not work,
I will retrofit the diesel heater in.

I may add the diesel heater in the gmc.


I love having a good working furnace. Do not need it hardly at all. But when it gets cold, it sure is nice to have. Especially if driving in colder temps.

 

[pvfjr]

Corvairs came with gas heaters as an option as well, if you want to keep it GM.

I've been thinking about adding one of those little Chinese diesel heaters in the generator compartment. With the Ragusa triple battery tray up front, a guy would have enough space over there. My furnace works great, but it would be nice to have something that runs low and slow during the night, and doesn't wake up the kids.

 

[mech0001]

I am not familiar with the duo therms…. But the original sol air. The sol airs had both intake/return. air tubes/vents as well as heat. All new furnaces I see do not have provision for intake air ducts, and just use grating around furnace. The smaller hose should be the heat hose to the bathroom.

On my palm beach with louvered cabnet doors, I went and hooked the old sol air hoses into the heat side.

On an eleganza that did not have louvered doors, we just let the return hoses sit loose/open to the furnace space. Thinking that would allow extra air to come in for return air.


I have a vw gas heater on my 73 vw thing I am resurrecting for my towd. . Should be test
Running it here in the next month. I dont see why it would not work…. But if it does not work,
I will retrofit the diesel heater in.

I may add the diesel heater in the gmc.


I love having a good working furnace. Do not need it hardly at all. But when it gets cold, it sure is nice to have. Especially if driving in colder temps.

My Eleganza has the exact setup you are describing (with the return hose laying next to the unit). It would have been hard for me to block the original tube openings (for either the original Solaire (?) or DuoTherm) and hack in new ones. I wonder if the dealers ended up doing that.

Anyway, I will have spare parts for one (mine has a new gas valve and board is good) as I have ordered a Suburban to replace. Replacing the fan motor (with two rusted fan hubs) to get an old, abandoned model fails my cost/benefit analysis.

 

[mech0001]

Suburban 30K replacement installed and working. Fits well in available space. Now to fix the hole left behind.