Lifespan of Condenser Fan Motor

[K1ROD]

How long should a condenser fan motor last. Several that I replaced are failing after only about 3 years. I am careful not to distort and unbalance the fan when I replace them. The motors that are going bad are GE's, made in India. Any ideas?

[lra]

maybe it's GE. More likely though, the fan blade has become slightly imbalanced through no fault of yours. A lot of them have clip on weights from the factory balancing..much like a car tire... and they can come off. Also have had hail/sticks etc hit the blade while running and cause the same thing. Further, is the system maintained properly ? If I have to replace more than one OFM in a systems lifetime, the second replacement always comes w/ a new blade.

[K1ROD]

Thanks for your reply. Yes, these systems are well maintained. Is there any way to spin up a fan and tell whether it is out of balance or not?

[lra]

I guess if it's severely out of balance you'd see it. The weights are very small and your motors are lasting longer than they would if the blade were badly damaged or out of balance. Not to mention the outdoor unit shaking. For the cost of the blade, i'd just change it. I assume you check rotation, capacitor size and MFD's, running amps, etc.?

[CottyGee]

I don't know from Adam, but I would think you might be able to hear and/or feel an out-of-balance fan. You can most certainly feel an even SLIGHTLY out of balance tire on a car (butcha gotta have a smooooth road).

[K1ROD]

I guess if it's severely out of balance you'd see it. The weights are very small and your motors are lasting longer than they would if the blade were badly damaged or out of balance. Not to mention the outdoor unit shaking. For the cost of the blade, i'd just change it. I assume you check rotation, capacitor size and MFD's, running amps, etc.?

Changing the blade is probably good advice however it's always the problem of not usually having the right blade HP / Diameter on hand. The motor rotates freely, I replace the caps when I replace the motors. Cap size is correct (10 uF 370V), current draw is a little high about 3.0 amps for a 1/2 HP motor. And the motor is wailing like a pack of Coyotes on a full moon night.