wdk450
Well-known member
Gang:
I have had my rig about 9 years, and run my fireplace for effect most nights, all night. After all this use the small flames effect stepper motor got quite noisy. I looked up the motor and found that it is a 12 volt 28BYJ48 stepper motor (they also sell 5 volt versions of this part), which i found for less than $2 on E-Bay. Yesterday, I finally installed it.
I unplugged the fireplace, removed the 4 wood paneling surround screws under the wood plugs, removed the 1 screw at the top center of the front glass, tipped forward and out the glass, removed the 4 fireplace securing screws on the vertical sides of the front of the fireplace, pulled the fireplace out of the enclosure, removed the 6 screws around the top panel of the fireplace and lifted off the top panel (laying it inverted on the top of the fireplace), I removed the 2 bottom screws on the frosted glass panel and removed the glass panel, I removed the top 2 screws on each side of the middle divider panel and inserted about a 6 inch wedge to push the panel away from the motor area. I used a 4 way screwdriver bit and pliers to make an offset screwdriver to remove the motor mounting screws. The spring connecting drive between the motor and the flame effects bar would not come loose, so I cut it with wire cutters. I stripped and soldered the same color wires together (DON'T DO THIS UNTIL YOU READ THE ENTIRE POST). My splice location is accessible from a cutout in the lower left front of the fireplace. The motor/effects bar spring connector was replaced with electrical shrink tubing and heat shrunk in place after the motor was re-mounted with its screws.
The big checkout test revealed that THE MOTOR RAN BACKWARDS!! I did some research on the internet on the wiring of this stepper motor, tried some rewiring options, and came up with the following rewiring to make the motor turn properly:
Supply wiring ends Connect to Motor Wiring ends
Blue to Pink
Pink to Blue
Yellow to Orange
Orange to Yellow
Red to Red
I re-assembled everything and now have a quiet fireplace.
I have had my rig about 9 years, and run my fireplace for effect most nights, all night. After all this use the small flames effect stepper motor got quite noisy. I looked up the motor and found that it is a 12 volt 28BYJ48 stepper motor (they also sell 5 volt versions of this part), which i found for less than $2 on E-Bay. Yesterday, I finally installed it.
I unplugged the fireplace, removed the 4 wood paneling surround screws under the wood plugs, removed the 1 screw at the top center of the front glass, tipped forward and out the glass, removed the 4 fireplace securing screws on the vertical sides of the front of the fireplace, pulled the fireplace out of the enclosure, removed the 6 screws around the top panel of the fireplace and lifted off the top panel (laying it inverted on the top of the fireplace), I removed the 2 bottom screws on the frosted glass panel and removed the glass panel, I removed the top 2 screws on each side of the middle divider panel and inserted about a 6 inch wedge to push the panel away from the motor area. I used a 4 way screwdriver bit and pliers to make an offset screwdriver to remove the motor mounting screws. The spring connecting drive between the motor and the flame effects bar would not come loose, so I cut it with wire cutters. I stripped and soldered the same color wires together (DON'T DO THIS UNTIL YOU READ THE ENTIRE POST). My splice location is accessible from a cutout in the lower left front of the fireplace. The motor/effects bar spring connector was replaced with electrical shrink tubing and heat shrunk in place after the motor was re-mounted with its screws.
The big checkout test revealed that THE MOTOR RAN BACKWARDS!! I did some research on the internet on the wiring of this stepper motor, tried some rewiring options, and came up with the following rewiring to make the motor turn properly:
Supply wiring ends Connect to Motor Wiring ends
Blue to Pink
Pink to Blue
Yellow to Orange
Orange to Yellow
Red to Red
I re-assembled everything and now have a quiet fireplace.
