Mountain9 Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 Hi all, I'm a newbie and just got my first solid fuel forge and hand crank blower. It's a champion (don't know the model) and the blower is in need of some TLC. It's coming along nicely however the fan has a lot of play and hits the housing to the point where it won't spin in one direction. Once the housing is removed, things seem to move fine. Gears look to be in good shape and the fan doesn't seem to have any damage. The challenge at this point is, I can't seem to get the fan off the shaft or to reduce the play to keep in from hitting the fan housing. I've loosened/removed the set screw on the fan but it doesn't seem to want to come free and tightening it does not make any difference. Wondering if anyone is familiar with this model and how I might go about correcting the issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 I believe you have a Champion 140 blower. Have you tried adjusting the end play of the shaft? BTW... welcome aboard, have you read the Read This First thread at the top of the page? It will help you get the best out of the forum like how to do the most effective search. Here is but one thread about them. https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/60037-identification-of-champion-blower/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 When you say your tried to remove it: how many weeks have you been soaking it in penetrating oil and how large a pulley puller are you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 Also why do you want to remove it in the first place? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountain9 Posted June 30, 2020 Author Share Posted June 30, 2020 I haven't resorted to any type of force yet, including a pully puller. Wasn't sure exactly how it was attached or if the set screw was the only mechanical connection. It's been marinating in WD 40 for a couple of days now so hopefully that is making a difference. As to why remove it? Some of the blades are bent/twisted and I think it would be easier to correct them if I could get the fan off the shaft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 WD40 is not a very good penetrating oil. A better one would be Kroil depending on where in the world you are located most auto parts stores will have it. Another easy mixture is a 50/50 mix of Dexron ATF and acetone. Both will penetrate much better if you are bound and determined to take the fan off, which I don't recommend. The fan is just stamped sheet metal with the blades twisted and it's easy and better to align the blades while on the shaft. That way you can gauge how close they are to the main housing. If they need twisting a small pair of channel locks will do it and if they are just bent out light taps with a small hammer will set them back. If they are bent back you can just pry them out with a screw driver against the housing. How much end play does the shaft have. The adjuster screw & nut control's the end play. If you rotate the handle clockwise the gear will pull the fan back to the main housing, a counter clockwise rotation pushes the shaft and fan to the outer housing. If you back the adjusting screw off, you can push the fan back and forth. With the adjuster backed off the fan blades should clear the main housing by about a quarter inch. I set mine with about a sixteenth of an inch end play. From your pictures it's hard to tell which way they need to be adjusted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 I have seen probably half a dozen anecdotal studies by folks that have found the 50/50 ATF and acetone mix beats any commercial penetrating solvent; PB Blaster, Kroil, WD-40, Liquid Wrench, etc. There is a youtube guy, channel name is "Project Farm" who did a really in-depth test of penetrants. His tests showed that Liquid Wrench came in first with the ATF/acetone second. I would put the link here, but I don't know if the TOS would allow it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 Actually there have been multiple well designed experiments that were run showing that the 50/50 was best; I remember reading the reports on them. It was decades ago and so may be "buried" on the net. I don't know if more recent formulations are better these days; (I would hope that they were!); but the anecdotal reports were based on experimental data at one time. I remember discussion on it in rec.crafts.metalworking back in the early 1990's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schmidlapper Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 The set screw is all that holds the pressed steel fan onto the shaft. It should be able to be pulled off at that point if the shaft is not peened at the end. The adjustment mentioned above adjusts the bearing cups in and out and a balance between end play and bearing tightness is needed, too tight and the bearings become clamped, too loose and the shaft moves around more. Adjusting the blades while on the shaft is necessary, use measurements from back of casing to blades and blade to blade to get close to even. As stated above the direction of turn will push blades in or out, check in both directions for rub. Re-tightening the set screw on the shaft can put a small amount of tilt to the fan, so watch out for that when adjusting. The outer housing can rub also and should be test fitted when adjusting. The reason to remove the fan is to inspect for small cracks in the blades. Over the approximate century these have been in use they can develop small cracks on both sides. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 On 6/29/2020 at 7:05 PM, Mountain9 said: Some of the blades are bent/twisted Just wondering how you're doing on getting the blower running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountain9 Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 (edited) Sorry for not getting back sooner. Life got a bit busy. The good news is, I was able to get things squared away with the blower and it seems to be running pretty well. Schmidlapper your assessment seemed to be right on. The shaft seems to be peened at the end. I was able to adjust the blades with the fan on the shaft and it now spins both directions and the rub is almost non-existent now! It may need a bit more tweaking once I get everything reassembled but things are looking good. I'll post some photos when I get it finished up. Thanks for all the help everyone! Edited July 16, 2020 by Mod30 Remove @name tag Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 Sounds good, you might want to edit your post to remove the @name tag as outlined in this thread Using the @ name on the forum and the Read This First thread. You only have 30 min to edit though after that a moderator will have to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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