Blower issue

[Jim Morrison]

We are running a new Cleanco with 150 hours on it. Whenever I'm near the unit running I've got Peltor ear muffs on. A couple weeks ago shut the unit off and pulled muffs off before the blower had stopped spinning and could hear a knocking sound. Van went to our supplier who tried to clean blower up but knocking persisted when unit shut down. The blower was removed and taken to a Roots authorized shop.

Their email to the supplier said -
"Hi ___, warranty has been denied on this claim because of foreign product in the blower cavity. There is a buildup of some sticky substance that has caused the rotor lobes to make contact with the endplates (reduced the clearances between the endplates and rotor faces) and thrown the blower out of time (see attached pictures). That is why there is a clicking noise when the blower is reduced in speed. We are surprised that the noise is not constant.

We tested a cleaning agent, with no success at removing the sticky substance. Stronger methods will be required. We can attempt to clean the blower with our pressure washer and hot water? Worst case scenario is, dismantle the unit, clean it out, reassemble, set timing and clearances to factory spec, fill with oil and test unit.

We have cleaned nothing unusual with the unit and are baffled as to what the foreign material could be. Wondering if anyone has encountered something similar? Will try to get pictures from the blower shop.

 

[Mikey P]

What do you lube it with?

And how often?

 

[Cleanworks]

We are running a new Cleanco with 150 hours on it. Whenever I'm near the unit running I've got Peltor ear muffs on. A couple weeks ago shut the unit off and pulled muffs off before the blower had stopped spinning and could hear a knocking sound. Van went to our supplier who tried to clean blower up but knocking persisted when unit shut down. The blower was removed and taken to a Roots authorized shop.

Their email to the supplier said -
"Hi ___, warranty has been denied on this claim because of foreign product in the blower cavity. There is a buildup of some sticky substance that has caused the rotor lobes to make contact with the endplates (reduced the clearances between the endplates and rotor faces) and thrown the blower out of time (see attached pictures). That is why there is a clicking noise when the blower is reduced in speed. We are surprised that the noise is not constant.

We tested a cleaning agent, with no success at removing the sticky substance. Stronger methods will be required. We can attempt to clean the blower with our pressure washer and hot water? Worst case scenario is, dismantle the unit, clean it out, reassemble, set timing and clearances to factory spec, fill with oil and test unit.

We have cleaned nothing unusual with the unit and are baffled as to what the foreign material could be. Wondering if anyone has encountered something similar? Will try to get pictures from the blower shop.

without seeing pics it's hard to say but we are vacuuming up sticky substances daily. The soap you are using as well as whatever is in the carpet. The majority is prevented from going through the blower by your filters but some always gets by. Which is why you want to periodically spray wd40 through the blower. It's mainly water vapor and cleaning solution building up and the wd40 displaces the water preventing rust. I have never heard of it causing a blower to come out of timing. I have had waste tanks overfill and tons of soapy water go through the blower with no ill effects. It seems odd that after 150 hours, you could accumulate so much debris. Might be a hole in the filter allowing larger debris to pass through, in which case, should be a manufacturer claim.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

I doubt you did this, but as I've seen this too often in the past, I have to ask:

Have you ever extracted stripped floor finish with your unit?

 

[John Olson]

they deny every claim every time. Cleanco has to go to bat for you or your screwed

 

[Kris Stevenson]

I had to have the blower replaced on my Cleanco with 2 hours on it. It broke the belt. My supplier could hear/ feel a clicking sound when they turned the shaft by hand. My supplier removed and replaced the blower. I don't know who covered the warranty.

 

[FredC]

@hogjowl is there a service bulletin about this?

 

[hogjowl]

I’m not the person to ask.
Truck Mounts would be who would know.
They’d get it taken care of!

 

[Jim Morrison]

What do you lube it with?

And how often?

Wd40 although I've been spraying on the light side. I saw a post blower heat exchange unit pulled out of another Cleanco years ago. The operator was a heavy wd40 user, he had never heard of flushing the blower with water. His heat exchanger was totally coated in black goop which caused it to fail. It was around that time that I heard of water flushing on this board and switched from wd40 to water flushes. The amount of dirty water blown out of the silencer was always amazing!

I doubt you did this, but as I've seen this too often in the past, I have to ask:

Have you ever extracted stripped floor finish with your unit?

No I haven't Jim. Looking back on the cleanings we've done with the new van, nothing out of the ordinary, residential, commercial, did some greasy movie theater seats. Maybe the tolerances on the new blower were tight enough that it wasn't getting as much lube as was needed to keep the blower lobes clean and residue slowly built up? Who knows.

As a side note the clutch seized up on my old unit today. My only option was to remove the blower belts and drive in to Fibreclean for 2:30 pm and they were able to install a fresh clutch.
Thank you Adam & Chris for squeezing me in!!! Fibreclean's Edmonton service department has always given us gold standard service. The other good news is the blower shop was able to clean up the blower without dismantling it. Fibreclean will get it tomorrow and put back in the van. Felt like we were getting dealt a lot of lemons this past week, feel like we were able to make a bit of lemonade today.
Appreciate all the replies.

 

[Mikey P]

Now you got me paranoid about using wd on our 650hp and it's finned hx

 

[Cleanworks]

Now you got me paranoid about using wd on our 650hp and it's finned hx

The wd40 is fine but run the blower for a few minutes to let it evaporate off.

 

[FredC]

The wd40 is fine but run the blower for a few minutes to let it evaporate off.

you sure it won't leave this?

What is left, after WD40 is allowed to evaporate for a few weeks

What is left, after WD40 is allowed to evaporate for a few weeks

forum.multitool.org

 

[Cleanworks]

As long as the blower is hot and runs for a bit, I don't think it will accumulate to the point of doing damage. I usually do mine when I know I'm not going to run the unit for a couple of days. The only reason to do it at all is to displace moisture. It doesn't lube anything.

 

[FredC]

It doesn't lube anything.

You mean you don't use it for that or it doesn't?

sds list petroleum based oil which would seem to be consistent with what was left in the evaporation pic....not sure I'd want to coat my heat exchangers with that


I know you are only supposed to use a small amount.........but I also know carpet cleaners

 

[Cleanworks]

You mean you don't use it for that or it doesn't?

sds list petroleum based oil which would seem to be consistent with what was left in the evaporation pic....not sure I'd want to coat my heat exchangers with that


I know you are only supposed to use a small amount.........but I also know carpet cleaners

None of my units have heat exchangers after the blower exhaust. All blower manufacturers seem to recommend some type of lubricant or light oil before an extended shut down. I can see too much oily residue attracting soil and building up. After blower heat exchangers put a further restriction and add heat to the blower. Nice to have the extra heat but I feel that may lead to premature blower failure. Especially if debris starts collecting in the heat exchanger.