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Seized up blower


Pancho07

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Yesterday I came into possession of a canedy otto blower with stand and fire pot. I haven't had the chance to open up the gear box yet but I'm guessing that the oil has turned to tar. My question is is the a source for replacement parts if some of the gear teeth are broken or something like that? Also, what oil should I used in it once it's all cleaned and polished?

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Unfortunately, the diametral pitch and tooth count on gears has tended to be reduced to some standards whereas in the "good old days", a lot more options were available off the shelf.  That can make some older gears hard to replace if they were a bit oddball.  It is especially tough when you get into lesser used gears like the bevel gears sometimes used in post drills.

But it's not time to worry yet.  If it's only a tooth or two, even an unavailable gear can often be repaired by careful tooth build-up in either brass or steel (and hand filed to approximate shape).  There are also metal build-up products that claim they are as strong as the parent metal (sort if like filled epoxies) but I hae no experience as to how true the claims are.  The gears in a blower normally don't take huge loads so you can get away with less than perfect in many cases.

Boston gear has some good references on their site regarding what gear nomenclature means and how to identify what you have.  Their catalogs also tend to include what is the current industry standards so can get an idea of what's available in the broad marketplace without having to check 50 different catalogs.  Gear pricing can be shocking, though, so I'm betting you will be doing a lot more research on the repair end before the replacement end (if they are even bad).

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Don't get carried away trying to polish the things, they weren't in the first place. They were in fact intended to be repaired in the shop or on the farm. After a few decades of mud dawbers, mice nests, rain and children crushing stuff in them they do tend to bet bound up. A soak in gasoline (white naptha in the day) or ATV and acetone will break the hardened oil loose. Then a trip to the pressure washer car wash and just blast the stuffins out of it. Why a car wash? Because they have pretty sophisticated oil traps in their drains to prevent pollution. 

As you're blasting it with HP water rattle the crank back and forth to help the crud break loose so the water can blow it out. 

Don't force ANYTHING, they're tough but not bullet proof. Still some vigorous back and forth on the crank while flushing it with water usually takes care of blockages. If it still won't turn or the impeller fan rubs, etc. THEN it's time to start thinking about taking it apart and guess what, cleaned out it'll come apart easier too.

Frosty The Lucky.

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Good news, the gear box was full of mud dawber blobs so that was easy to clean once I got the impeller off. Some of the shafts have a suprisingly light coat of rust so they are cleaning up pretty easily.

What do I need to fill the gear box with? Same as my smaller champion?

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No, you only put a few drops of oil in the oil ports every now and then and it doesn't need to be anything special like nondetergent. Something a LITTLE sticky is good but not necessary and gear oil is a little much just like 3in1 is a little light. Still either will do, in the day there was no telling what was available I'll bet rendered bacon grease works a treat.

However if you fill the case you'll find out how fast it will leak out on your floor.  Do you REALLY need to ask me how I know. :rolleyes: I know the gear box looks just like it has a level plug in the side, I don't know what it really is but fill it that high and it'll cover at least 10sq/ft of concrete shop floor in a nice even layer.

Frosty The Lucky.

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Perhaps "fill" was a strong word. It does have cast into the side of it something to the effect of "fill to level of air cock". I figured that I would maintain it the same as my smaller champion until I heard different so I guess I'll carry on. 

I didn't know if I needed to put some kind of gasket into it to prevent that or not, that would have been my next question. 

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Some of the old equipment may have a "sacrificial gear"; so if something's going to break it will be *that* one and you only need to stock that one for parts.  Unfortunately they are not stocked anywhere nowadays and tend to degrade over time---or to put it another way:  Good Luck!   (Murphy's Law also states that expensive and hard to make parts will sacrifice themselves to save the life of the cheap easily sourced sacrificial parts...)

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  • 1 month later...

Yes. The Canedy Otto Royal Western Chief  is an oil bath. Fill to the fill level cast directly onto the gear box i.e. the valve. Light oil. 

Adjust the crank arm to suit you. 

I have an all original which contains no wood, plastic, bamboo, saw dust and resin impregnated gears. 

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  • 6 months later...

Ive been having issues with my blower as well, it's become entirely siezed up

So, I recently got an old buffalo forge as a gift, all still in working condition, well the blower lasted maybe a week before it started to get harder to crank, I let it sit for a little while and now it will not crank at all, I don't know how to disassemble it, but I feel like that's the best place to start, it's a buffalo 200 silent blower, I'm not sure if it's rust or some bolts I'm not seeing, but I can't even get the gear case off

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  • 1 month later...

I recently bought this buffalo for $125. It cranked a little hard found out it hard hard grease in the gears. Cleaned it really good and now it turns very easy. It will crank 11/2 times after I let go. Very quiet too. It says Buffalo Forge but not sure of model. 

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The Buffalo Silent 200 series is my favorite..    That is a later model with stamped steel fan case..  this model has the cast gear case so it's not the newest which has both a stamped gear case and a stamped fan case..  I prefer the cast iron gear case myself..   The last models had everything in stamped steel and the case got a little smaller.. 

 

As to the Cannedy Otto blowers they are filled up to the oil level drain and are  a dry blower.. One of the only completely oil sealed blowers produced from day 2 of production.  the Gear case gets filled with a light oil  up to the drain..  There is also a hole in the crank handle boss that gets a drop here and there..  

I own   6 Buffalo silent 200s ranging from late 1800'd  to about 1910 with 1 a later unit from around 1930..   They range in Model size from 12" with 14" being the most widely produced size.. They also produced a 16" model  for 2 years  and then it became a special order item at a premium price..  Right round this time frame they switched from a double roller radial bearing (Magneto bearing) to a setup more like a ring and pinion the the bearing only on one side of the spur gear..  I prefer the models with both sides of the spur gear with bearings..  The years of production of the Buffalo blowers is funny because what they used for a size reference is beyond me as there is not one measurment that means anything..  The 12" doesn't measure 12", the 14" has the same case and fan case as the 12" with a larger fan blade..  The 16" is huge in comparision but its really only like 14"..     

I also own a Cannedy Otto Western Chief which is one of the highest quality blowers made and again.. Does not leak oil..   

Every other blower maker Champion, Buffalo, etc, etc. are all oil leakers..   I've been looking in a way to put oil seals into the buffalos to stop them from leaking.. 

Eventually I'll post my findings.. 

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