Chokes are smoking(not cigarettes)

[John Deats]

I have two fans that both have chokes that you can smell an electrical burn, then the smoke. One is a Westinghouse 315747-A, the other is a r&m 3804. I rewired the 5 wire choke, while the other came to me this way. Hopefully there is a simple solution other than buying new ones. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[Paul Carmody]

Good chance the wires were crossed on the first one.Westinghouse don’t play ,they burn within minutes.

Have you looked at the stator windings?They usually cook at the same time.

Edited January 23 by Paul Carmody

[John Deats]

Stator windings in the R& M appear to be fine. I haven't pulled the stator from the westy yet.

[John Deats]

Paul, thanks for your help. I detached all the wiring on the R&M, then reattached them. Fan runs fine now. No smell, no smoke. Whichever wires were crossed, they aren't anymore. Will work on the Westinghouse later this week. Hope I get the same results. 

[Lane Shirey]

Unfortunately usually when the coil gets hot enough to smoke or smell like burning, the insulation has been compromised and will likely fail in the future. It’s certainly not a fan I’d let run unattended or give to a family or friend. 

[John Deats]

Thanks Lane. Could I reinstate the choke, or does it require a total rewind ?

[Lane Shirey]

My opinion, a rewind. The problem is, what you smell burning is likely the insulation itself. If it’s charred or burnt off at any point inside the coil , then it’ll short out if not now, then in the middle of the night when you’re sleeping. 
Even if you removed all of the outer tape, and then submerged the coil in varnish under a vacuum, it would not repair the insulation where 2 wires are touching. 

You could check resistance but that won’t check compromised insulation  you’d need a Megger for that  

There are many who would spray the outside and call it fixed. But that’s not the solution. 
 

Really the call to rewind is up to you but that’s what I’d do, or look for a replacement. 

[David Kilnapp]

I’ve run into that issue with R&M chokes (3804 and other models) before. More so than any other choke coils. Replace or rewind are the only options.

[John Deats]

I ran the R&M for three hours this morning with no negative results. Motor housing or bell had any heat. The westy is another story. I separated the wires like I did on the R&M, but after ten minutes, it still smokes. Motor housing and bell heat up alot. The westy will be a rewire for safety, or I will give it to a certain family member as is. As for the R&M, I will run it longer and keep a watchful eye on it. Thanks for your input.

[John Deats]

Well, I ran the R&M this morning for six hours with no issues on high or medium speeds. When I placed it in low speed, after maybe ten minutes, the heat on both the bell and motor housing were present.and burn smell was also present.No smoke. Lane and Dave. I will be looking for a switch for my R&M. It is a good machine. To trust two out of three speeds is not good enough.