B2782 Impellor housing cracked!

[KeithG]

While blowing some heavy snow/ice I noticed snow being blown from under my blower and when I investigated I found that my impellor housing cracked (see pictures). I have replaced many shear bolts on the impellor before so I was surprised that this cracked instead of the shear bolt breaking.

My question is what is the best way to repair this? I am guessing the metal should be heated and reshaped back to its original position and then welded to repair the crack. However, doesn't heating metal and reshaping it weaken it? How to do you "quench" the metal to make it stronger? I have seen small metal parts just submerged in water to do this but I cannot submerge the entire blower housing...

I also do not have all the torch equipment to do this myself so I will probably be bringing to a welding shop. What should I look for in the person doing the work to make sure he knows what he is doing?

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

That's not a crack, that's the metal being worn too thin and rock, Ice, and / or other debri wearing a hole in it.

Easiest fix, flip it over and weld a plate over the bottom to reinforce and then weld up the hole on the inside.

No heating or quenching required.

 

[Tughill Tom]

I would get the torn section back together by hammering. Then grind/ sand and start filling with welding material. Finish off by grinding/ sanding smooth to rest of the housing. The welded material will be harder then the original.
Clean metal is the key to this, good luck.

 

[RCW]

Stone driveway?
Guessing so, as mine gets dinged up too. [emoji15]
I would reinforce the underside of the housing also, and fill in the gaps from the inside.
Probably a small piece 6” W x 12”L would work.
However you patch it, make sure there’s a drain hole in the bottom!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SidecarFlip]

WOW... Time for some new metal in there. If I were you, I think I'd pull the impeller and shorten the blades a bit (for clearance) and add rubber ends (made from belting or mudflaps) to contact the housing. That will go a long way in mitigating the damage caused by your obvious stone driveway gravel being tossed.

Any competent metal shop can slip roll you a new housing to match the the diameter of what you have now.

 

[KeithG]

I have an asphalt driveway that has degraded so much that sometimes a small chunk of it gets picked up by the blower and thrown. I think this is what might have happened.

The impellors already have about .25" of clearance between their tips and the surface of the housing. I did buy this used so I have no idea what it went through before I got it. I do have a section of a hard pack driveway going around back of my property but I always have the blower skimming that section and not digging in. However every now and then I do hear some material getting thrown through the chute.

So some of the recommendations state to put a plate on the outside for reinforcement. What thickness should the plate be? How do you get it rounded to match the housing? Just curious.

If the housing has been weakened this much would it be better to get a piece of a steel ring and put it on the inside (don't know if this is possible) to reinforce the entire housing? I am assuming a ring about 1/8" thick would serve this purpose with the area for the chute cut out...

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

So some of the recommendations state to put a plate on the outside for reinforcement. What thickness should the plate be? How do you get it rounded to match the housing? Just curious.

If the housing has been weakened this much would it be better to get a piece of a steel ring and put it on the inside (don't know if this is possible) to reinforce the entire housing? I am assuming a ring about 1/8" thick would serve this purpose with the area for the chute cut out...

Putting on the inside isn't that great because you will have to tear it down and then rebuild it, and trying to weld on the inside of the blower is really hard.
Also, if it's not welded completely, it will accelerate rust and rot between the plates, hard to do when welding inside a closed space like that.

Putting the steel on the outside will shore up the thin inner steel without the hard welding.

The best is tearing it down completely and cutting the bottom out and rebuilding it, when I do them I use a lot thicker and stronger steel!

Now if you do your own work it's fairly cheap, if you have to pay a welding shop to do it, then you might be far better off just buying parts or a new unit, as labor cost can get real pricey!

As far a bending the steel several different methods work, small kinks with a break, or press, roller mill, or strapping it to another piece of round steel and bending it, or just weld in place and bend it around.
1/8" mild steel is pretty easy to bend, 1/8" AR400 steel not so much.

 

[RCW]

So some of the recommendations state to put a plate on the outside for reinforcement. What thickness should the plate be? How do you get it rounded to match the housing? Just curious.

I'd also try to stick around 1/8" or 12 gauge and put it outside, since it's January. Will avoid a major tear-down.

If you go to a Tractor Supply, Lowes, Home Depot, etc. they may well have various pieces of mild steel in 12"x12 or 6"x12 pieces to judge thickness.

My blower is a BX2750D, so I don't know your housing dimensions. I measured the depth of mine, and its about 5.75". I'm only guessing something 6x12 would work.

As far as shaping, a roll mill is best, but you might be able to get the radius close via ratchet strap and BFH around a 5-gallon pail, piece of firewood, front tire on your tractor, or repeated bends in a bench vise..... sometimes you just have to improvise.....just be safe....

 

[Pau7220]

As long as your headed to a welding shop, I'd have him fit a set of snowplow style skis on the main housing to keep that cutting edge out of the gravel. Sux to leave an inch of show which will turn to ice... but it will save your equipment.