Blower impeller issue with IR12

[GoochMan29]

Hello everyone,

I have a question about my Diedrich IR12. (Built in 2005, I bought it used about a year ago.) AFter cleaning out the blower area of some built-up gunk, the protective plate that covers the fan is now coming into contact with the fan itself. The fan now has a small groove in it -- not enough to make it inoperable, but certainly its not ideally balanced like before.

Meanwhile the plate and fan still make physical contact, so I can't roast with it right now. I'm looking into some kind of soft metal -- like a brass filling -- to create a small buffer area between the protective plate and the fan housing. IN the meantime, would it be damaging to just roast without the protective plate for a short period of time? Or would this cause another large set of problems?

Any input you can give would really be appreciated, thanks!

 

[Mr.Peaberry]

A better quick fix for the interim might be to just file the groove deeper until contact is eliminated. I doubt that the difference in airflow would be measurable.

Peaberry

 

[N3Roaster]

It sounds like the impeller just wasn't put back on the shaft far enough back. Loosen the two set screws, hold a wood block over the center of the impeller, and give the block a gentle tap or two to push the impeller all the way back, then re-tighten the set screws. Without the plate in place your air flow is likely to be all screwed up and I'd expect you'd be able to taste the difference with that.

 

[JohnD18]

Agreed with N3Roaster. Try taking the impeller off, and resetting it. Diedrich tells us in the manual that the impeller should be about a fingers width off the back wall. It sounds like it is not pushed on far enough.