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BIO AIR HANDLER

September 15, 1999
By LeRoy Wilke

Over the weekend of September 10th thru 13th, 1999, a special repair  project to strengthen and beef up the motor base frame was completed. The photos below show the new structural steel members that were welded on and new spring isolator support units that were installed.

This project will hopefully eliminate the frequent shaft failures of the past. Prior to completion of this work (original design), the heavy motor end had inadequate support and flexed "out of sync" with the fan proper placing extreme forces on shaft and bearings leading to numerous failures over the last three years.

Some background on the problems: Beginning about 5 years ago, 24 hour operation became a requirement in order to accommodate the schools of Natural Science and Biology programs. This resulted in more than doubling the run time while allowing practically no time for routine maintenance. These stresses along with the 30 + years of equipment age led to no fewer than a dozen unplanned emergency repairs (with resultant loss of heating, cooling and ventilation to the entire building) over the last 3 years. Many of these repairs were shaft and bearing replacements as well as burned-up (literally) drive belts and eroded pulleys. Shaft and bearing costs amounted to approximately $1600 per copy plus labor. The HAC "Hacsperts" became so extremely proficient at shaft changes, they whittled a (previously) 3 day job down to a mere 6 hours. For the past several years, a spare shaft and bearings are always kept on hand.

We are hopeful the results of this latest repair prove to be a permanent fix to the old problems. I checked the air handler myself just this morning and so far so good. The air handler now starts and runs as smooth as silk, completely contrary to the old wobble and flexing. A special thanks to Phil Westbrook, Tony Macasso, and Rene Ongoco, the Building Service Engineers most involved with the project, and to Mr. Chriss Saldecke of JCS Welding, the contractor who helped design and did the welding and fabrication.

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