My swamp cooler motor seized up right during the heatwave last week

I was out in the yard Friday afternoon and heard this awful grinding noise from the roof. Turned out the bearings on the motor were completely shot and it locked up solid. Has anyone rebuilt one of those motors or is it just better to swap in a new unit?

2 comments

2 Comments

abby_black1mo ago

Are you sure it's completely seized? Sometimes what sounds like a seized motor is just the bearing getting dry and crusty. A few drops of penetrating oil and some gentle persuasion with a wrench can free it up. Unless you saw sparks or smelled burning (which is a whole different problem), it might just need a good cleaning. I've had "dead" motors come back to life after I pulled them apart and lubed the bearings. But if it's truly locked tight with no movement at all, then yeah, swapping in a new unit is the smarter move (and honestly way less hassle than rebuilding).

xenagarcia26d ago

Honestly, that "sparks or burning" part got my attention because it reminded me of something that happened to a buddy of mine. He had an old fan motor that was completely locked up and he swore up and down he saw a tiny spark when he tried to force it. Told him to just swap it out, but he spent a whole weekend trying to rehab it anyway, and it never ran right after that. Always felt a little hot to the touch. So yeah @abby_black, you're spot on about that being a whole different problem, sometimes it's just not worth the fight.