Electric leaf blower--possible problem fix

JDgreen227 · Nov 6, 2011

For those who have WeedEater electric leaf blowers...and I am sure many Craftsman branded blowers are made by WE, I suggest you check the tightness of the impeller nut, and possibly remove and replace it after adding more Loctite, or some other thread locking compound. I was using my Web200 model yesterday, and the impeller nut came off, and the fiberglass impeller chewed up the round plastic restrictor under the impeller...and I cannot find the nut.

The threads on the motor are some unique type, I have tried several sizes of nuts, both SAE and Metric, with no success. You can order one from Sears Parts Direct com for only $3 or so, and the plastic restrictor is the same price. Add in shipping and the cost will probably close to $13, and if the factory had used proper hardware or locking compound in the first place, I wouldn't need to repair mine. Hopefully this advice will help another member avoid my problem.

JDgreen227 · Nov 7, 2011

Took some pics....

fortuneneo · Dec 2, 2011

It will be costly to repair.

JDgreen227 · Dec 2, 2011

fortuneneo said:
It will be costly to repair.

Excuse me, but I thought by posting my experience it might prevent others from having the same issue I did. And if they did, they would have an idea of the expense of repair vs. replacement cost ($45-$50).

Craig Clayton · Dec 2, 2011

On the nut thread size I wonder where the country of origin is. I find it odd on a ( not to sound rude ) low end tech item to build a special pitch so as to fix the customer up. If it was off shore then the standard metric pitch's would probably be used. The problem might be a finer pitch metric thread as it is a high speed shaft. Metric does not use fine or course threads and in your area metric nuts might be hard to find. In canada we are suppose to be using metric but almost everything is in the imperial standard. Was it a left or right hand thread?

Craig Clayton

JDgreen227 · Dec 2, 2011

Craig Clayton said:
On the nut thread size I wonder where the country of origin is. I find it odd on a ( not to sound rude ) low end tech item to build a special pitch so as to fix the customer up. If it was off shore then the standard metric pitch's would probably be used. The problem might be a finer pitch metric thread as it is a high speed shaft. Metric does not use fine or course threads and in your area metric nuts might be hard to find. In canada we are suppose to be using metric but almost everything is in the imperial standard. Was it a left or right hand thread?

Craig Clayton

Good points....the motor is labeled as made in Shanghai and the shaft that the nut threads onto has been machined down on opposing sides so the impeller slides over the flat sides, and the threads are on the other two sides. Almost positive it is a LH metric thread, took the motor to a local small mom and pop hardware store and they couldn't find a locknut to fit....they had several LH metric locknuts but none would fit....