BX2816 snowblower fan / impeller connection

[pklain]

I have a BX2816 front snowblower and just broke a fan / impeller shear bolt (probably on a rock from my gravel driveway). I replaced the bolt with a super cheap close fit low grade bolt that I had in the garage. It immediately broke again when I engaged the PTO with no load on it. When I spin the fan / impeller, it freely spins for almost a full turn and then hits against something solid in one direction, and feels like it kind of wedges solidly up against something in the other direction. I don't know the internals of the blower, but assumed that if the shear bolt is not there, the fan should spin freely and not feel like it is stopping on anything after just one rotation. There are no remnants of the bolt, the area around the fan blades is clear, it is not rubbing on anything - just feels like there is a pin or something inside deeper that is stopping it.
I will take it apart, but hoping that someone who knows these might know if this is normal or if something is broken inside. Thanks in advance.

 

[DustyRusty]

Check the chain for a kink in it. A common problem when you hit a rock. At the back of the blower, there is a black cover with a hole in the top. Take that cover off, and you can see everything that drives the auger.

 

[pklain]

Check the chain for a kink in it. A common problem when you hit a rock. At the back of the blower, there is a black cover with a hole in the top. Take that cover off, and you can see everything that drives the auger.

Thanks for the recommendation. I took off the cover, and nothing looks odd. I may just replace the bolt and dig in further if it's still not working right

 

[pklain]

Thanks for the recommendation. I took off the cover, and nothing looks odd. I may just replace the bolt and dig in further if it's still not working right

Finally figured it out. One of the impeller fan blades is actually bent out a little bit and was actually contacting the bottom flange of the blower housing. Thanks again for the suggestion and I will fix it and move on

 

[DustyRusty]

Finally figured it out. One of the impeller fan blades is actually bent out a little bit and was actually contacting the bottom flange of the blower housing. Thanks again for the suggestion and I will fix it and move on

Best to take it apart to repair, since the impeller might be out of balance after the repair. Take measurements of the other blades and try your best to match that to the damaged blade. If it is out of balance, your snowblower will vibrate, which means that you will either learn to live with it, or you will purchase a new one for about $200.

 

[pklain]

Best to take it apart to repair, since the impeller might be out of balance after the repair. Take measurements of the other blades and try your best to match that to the damaged blade. If it is out of balance, your snowblower will vibrate, which means that you will either learn to live with it, or you will purchase a new one for about $200.

I think it's just the 'ear' of the blade and I just bent it back with some big channel locks. It looks close but it's a good point to understand that it might be out of balance. I will be trying it tonight. Thanks again for the feedback

 

[ravensview]

I had the same thing happen to mine, I hit a piece of firewood that one of my dogs had been playing with and it got buried under a snowfall, anyways the shear pin went but not before one of the fan blades bent, I was able to bend it back and ran it till I got another fan unit, am going to do a complete tear down this coming summer as I had the fan blade just hit the housing and it bent out so I ordered yet another fan unit, I’m thinking that somethings out of alignment.

 

[pklain]

I had the same thing happen to mine, I hit a piece of firewood that one of my dogs had been playing with and it got buried under a snowfall, anyways the shear pin went but not before one of the fan blades bent, I was able to bend it back and ran it till I got another fan unit, am going to do a complete tear down this coming summer as I had the fan blade just hit the housing and it bent out so I ordered yet another fan unit, I’m thinking that somethings out of alignment.

If yours hit the housing again, you might look all around the housing flange to make sure it is still all straight. I had noticed that my fan blade had slightly kinked the flange from where it contacted it and I tried to flatten that with the channel locks also. After my ‘repair’, it didn’t hit and didnt feel like it was vibrating while running.

 

[ravensview]

If yours hit the housing again, you might look all around the housing flange to make sure it is still all straight. I had noticed that my fan blade had slightly kinked the flange from where it contacted it and I tried to flatten that with the channel locks also. After my ‘repair’, it didn’t hit and didnt feel like it was vibrating while running.

Yep, I had to slightly bend the metal on the housing where it hit, I’ve run snowblowers for 50 plus years and never had this happen before, that shear pin should’ve prevented it, I am regretting going with the 2816 instead of the heavier duty model, I’m thinking that this 2816 is more of a small driveway low snowfall live in the city unit, when it’s running it’s doing a great job but I just don’t think it’s built for a high snowfall, rural living duty.

 

[sagor]

Happened to me a few years back. I think what happens is if a rock (or timber) gets carried along the leading edge of the "ear" of the fan, it hits the flange on the housing and bam, you get the ear bending out, and the flange damaged. The solution for me was to bend that flange outwards about 1/4". That way, a rock riding on the edge of the ear, gets pushed up along the flange inwards instead of against the edge of the flange.