x-13 evap motors...

[Brent Ridley]

It has that black rubber matting around the resistor. You can't even access the base on the circuit board without somehow removing that matting.

And, I've never seen a burnt resistor on the X13 only ECM 2.3's.

[hurtinhvac]

It has that black rubber matting around the resistor. You can't even access the base on the circuit board without somehow removing that matting.

And, I've never seen a burnt resistor on the X13 only ECM 2.3's.

Ah...I see, thanks.

[chuckcrj]

The resistor trick is for true ECM motors. That doesn't apply to X13 motors.

An x13 motor is no less a "true ECM" than a GE 2.3.

I haven't found any X13 failures myself, is this a regional thing?

[Brent Ridley]

X13 motors are constant torque and operate at set speeds.

ECM 2.3 modulate speeds. Truely variable.

They're not the same.

[jtrammel]

We find about 1 bad x13 every 2 weeks. It's getting to be a pain and customers aren't very happy about it. We've only had a couple bad out of our installations but lots from service calls on other equipment, most of the time it's bc of inadequate ducting and/or condensation.

[chuckcrj]

X13 motors are constant torque and operate at set speeds.

ECM 2.3 modulate speeds. Truely variable.

They're not the same.

It's true they are not the same, but both are variable speed an both are Electronically Commutated Motors (ECM).

An X13 does not run at fixed speeds, it runs at a fixed torque.

[Brent Ridley]

By set speeds, I meant you have speed selection terminals on the motor.

Yes. It is constant torque.

[Mr Bill]

By set speeds, I meant you have speed selection terminals on the motor.

There actually called torque taps and there 24 volts that are set/programed by the mfg. for the furnace/air handler the motor is installed in, it's not really recommended that the tech play with the torque taps.

[Brent Ridley]

Thanks for the clarification Mr. Bill.

The only time I've ever changed a tap is on a failure. Once or twice, I've changed the tap and gotten the motor operational until a replacement arrived.

[Mr Bill]

The only time I've ever changed a tap is on a failure. Once or twice, I've changed the tap and gotten the motor operational until a replacement arrived.

Thats good to know, I never have tried that, but in Houston it's a petty good chance you will always find the part, so I just pull the motor and go get another one.

[Gunslinger]

The x13 is a single phase motor/module assembly. 3 phase motors are typically belt driven in my experience. I haven't seen a 3 phase ECM/x13. But I don't work on commercial equipment. Mostly residential. Did you verify you are not loosing a leg of power ?

Rheem /Ruud has a 3 phase pachage unit that uses a single phase X13 blower motor. And they fail.

[Mr Bill]

Rheem /Ruud has a 3 phase pachage unit that uses a single phase X13 blower motor. And they fail.

Yes, new part failures are becoming more common everyday, now Carrier is going to the LG compressors, guess pretty soon we wont have time to do our everyday service calls, for all the warranty calls we will have.

[hurtinhvac]

I had two recent classes that touched on this. One was a RSES with a Nordyne Rep., the other a Carrier distributor with a class specifically dedicated to troubleshooting ECMs. They both swore up and down that the issues were becoming less, and in my limited experience in kinda seems so. It's been many a week since I've had to deal with one, and we've installed a boatload of 'em.

However...you can't ignore the fact that the reason they keep having these classes is because there was/is a huge issue and they are sick of giving out warranty motors and modules together - when they well know by now it is the modules that are the culprit as much as 90% of the time.

I just got yet another RSES bulletin in the mail over the weekend concerning this very issue. As noted above, the X13s now have a thick rubber matting protecting the module circuitry as they figured out that moistue really messes with these things.

I have no clue as to how they are attempting to deal with the power surge issue, other than to suggest additional surge protection...