I recently purchased a Champion 401 blower, and was wondering if anyone knoew any of the history of it? Stuff like manufacture period, who designed it, etc.

Thanks!!

401 **BLOWER** or 401 Forge????

I see no listing for a 401 blower.

All that I bought was just the blower. I don't know if its still considered a forge or not. Its the same design as the 400, but it says '401' on the fan housing where 400's put their number, and it says 'New Style' on the side of the gear box.

This no. 401???

I don't have much information there. The official cataloge numbers for the 400 **SERIES** are many. It is not refered to as the 400 blower when ordering. It is orderedf by the actual MODEL NUMBER, and NOT the series number.
The model number would refer to the fan size and application i.e. 12" fan and pulley driven or 9" fan and crank driven.
If I remember from the catalog, the 401 is one of the model numbers, and why it would be cast into the fan housing is far beyond me. They all have the 400 **series** number cast into the housing, not the model number.

Does yours look like this? If not what does it look like and what is the fan size?

Yes, that is an exact match with what I have, minus the legs.

I'm not sure if I'm understanding you 100% on the model number and series number. What is the '401' and what does it designate?

The 400 as it is would be the hand cranked 12" fan case.
420 is hand cranked 14"
421 is hand cranked 16"
4001/2 is belt drive 12"
4201/2 is belt drive 14"
4211/2 is belt drive 16"

The 401 is the blower/forge combination for a rivet forge of steel and 18" hearth. There is also a 402 and 403 modles. There arte also many many many other forges that use the 400 series blower.

Why yours has the 401 cast into the fan case is beyond me. It is for a rivet forge. It would be mounted to the forge and would not have legs. Legs could be added with parts available.

You sould have the 9" fan case,,,,,right???? This is intended for rivet forges where the 12-14 and 16 inch are for larger forges.

I have the 401, but I have 400 cast into the fan case

Yes, it is a 9" fan housing. What would be the 'recommended' coal pan range for this blower?

They are used on the 18" and up rivet forges and some folks use them/adapt them to the larger forges. Which will work fine by the way unless you are forging an anvil,,,,,,, LOL

Do you have a picture? Did you receive any of the mounting post/support with it???

Well, I will have to wait until the weekend to get pics of it. College student away from home.... There were no mounts that came with it that I can recall.

OK, here's some pictures of what I have. I hope they are descriptive enough to help.


I'm trying to clean it up a bit, including the inside. Do you know of any way to get the gears out fairly easy?

SReynolds, where ,if I may ask, did you find all this catalog info for Champion? I've been looking lately as i picked up a C blower that is unlike any I've seen.

oh ya, the stand is similar to a Canady Otto Big Western instead of a 3 legged one.

Bruce, it could be the Champion Midway Spiral Geared Blower. An interesting piece of work.

I have not seen that one, nor is it in the catalog I have. There are other catalogs out there. I think mine is 1920.

To remove the gears from the 400............don't unless yoy have to. The task is simple is the parts are not frozen in place. The bronze gear has screws. Take 'em out. Then I use two 3/16 screws and put then in the bushing adjuster. Unthread the adjuster. There is a bushing in side made of bronze. That comes out. The set screw for the gear is backed off.

Repeat for the other side and drive the shaft from the small pinion and the large bronze gear.

The crank shaft/gear has caged ball bearings. One in each bolster. You take the jam nut off and the flat washer. Then turn out the cone. They are threaded onto the shaft which adjusts the bearings end play.

The crank chanft has the same set screw. Once the bearings are out, then drive the shaft through the crank gear.

If yoy want to remove the worm gear, that is altogether different and I
d be happy to tell you if you'd like. It is much more involved and parts will drop out onto the floor if you don't watch out. It can get to be a real mess.

Is there a way to completly clean the inside of the gear housing without removing the gears, then?

I always remove the worm gear. Always. The others I never mess with unless I'd have to.

I soap the inside with strong engine degreaser and then hit it with the steam/high presure washer. Then I oil it. It gets it so clean it even cleans out any rust inside , if there is any.

If you don't have access to a steam washer and engine degreaser, use oven cleaner and take it to the car wash. You will want to oil it. Stick he inside a 5 gallon bucket of diesel fuel or simply spray it well with some diesel fuel or WD-40 etc.etc. Set it inside the bucket and hose her down w/oil.

I have this one setting in a bucket of coal oil right now.

I've never seen a Champion catalog. Where didja find it?

They are on e-bay or you can get some from ABANA in the form of a CD

thanks

OK, I'll give it a try this weekend when I go home. Thanks for the info!!