Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I have an Ariens 9526DLE that I bought Fall 2007.  It works well and throws snow out the chute like nothing I've seen before.  However, the auger seems to spit/leak out snow on the righthand side (respective to when I'm looking at the auger housing directly from the front).  I took it to the dealer and they said I had a 1/2 sheared shearpin and replaced it under warranty.  That didn't fix it and I'm still left with snow leaking out that side.  It's annoying as it leaves a small trail of snow all over the place that I have to shovel up by hand.  I would characterize it as snow being thrown/spit out forward as the auger spins.  It happens when I'm chewing through snow greater than 2" high.  I thought the auger rail on the right side was installed backwards perhaps... can someone take a look at the pics and confirm the auger rail is installed properly?  Thanks!

I used the snowblower this AM to clear an additional 4" we got yesterday. The snow was light as it was in the previous 9" snowfall. The auger on the right side is throwing a small amount of snow forward, but not to the side, so in my particular case, I don't think there is a problem.

I will explain the root cause of the problem. If anyone finds a solution, please post it.

The impeller acts as an air fan.

In theory, the air is inputted from the front of the blower housing and is completely outputted in the discharge chute (i.e. the air flow is from the front of the blower towards the chute).

In practice, the impeller produces too much airflow to be completely outputted in the chute. What is actually happening, is that the air is inputted from one side of the housing and the air is exhausted at BOTH the chute and the other side of the housing.

This can be confirming by moving a light rag (or a candle) in front of the housing to watch the air flow.

So when the snow is being blown, the fluffy stuff is ejected on one side of the housing according to the airflow.

Does that unit only have three impeller vanes?   Is that something new? 

Here's a pic of the four vane impeller on the Simplicity:

My Ariens has 4 impeller vanes. I think all the current models have 3.

Looking at the backing plate for the impellers, it's clear that the Ariens used considerably less material and one vane less as well.  Saving money on steel I guess?   Understandable.  The Chinese were sucking up steel in 2007 and 2008 at a phenomenal rate.  Steel prices (as well as many other metals) went through the roof.  Personally, I'd rather pay more for the product than have it built more cheaply.  A name is only as good as it's product.  When the product no longer deserves the name, consumers will catch on and the name will lose it's marketing value.   I hope all of the domestic manufacturers don't follow this example.       

  I can't speak to why they made the change, but I'd just like to point out that it could have been seen as an improvement because fewer blades means it's easier for the snow to get into the impeller in the first place.  Reducing the number of blades but increasing RPM a bit would allow for better snow ejection.

I.M.Mike

For some reason, that doesn't sound right to me.  If fewer blades are more efficient, why not go to two blades, or better yet, one?   Funny how that works on a snow thrower. 

If you look at an airplane prop.  more blades = more efficiency.   I know it's a different application of blades but one would think that the fan effect of more blades would move more air and thus more snow.   I would suspect that the theory of fewer blades is to allow for greater openings between vanes and supposedly larger volumes of snow to enter into the impeller housing.  That poses another problem for me.  Considering the rotational speed of the impeller, one vane less wouldn't seem to offer a lot of opportunity for more snow to get in.   Someone will have to clue me in on how fewer blades is more efficient... 

For what it's worth the impeller in my 1999 Ariens 1024 has six blades, 1/8" thick steel.

automatic1stdown, is the impeller shaft bear metal ?  Looks like it's rusted (Ariens
used to paint it).  If you haven't already done so you might want to take out the shear
bolts and inject grease while turning the augers until the grease comes out the ends

Paul P

pvrp wrote:

Six blades!  How could the snow possibly get in the housing with so much steel spinning around in there?   Just kidding.  That model and vintage of Ariens was a premium snow throwing machine.  Something Ariens can be proud of. 

 Actually, Ariens had some of the best machines you could buy for thirty years or better.   I just cannot fathom a company with such a respectable history and great name laying it all on the line to save a few bucks.  Times are tough understandably.  However, it takes decades to develop a good name.  All it takes is a couple years of producing mediocre products to ruin it. 

I believe the reduction of the number of vanes is simply cost cutting being marketed as better efficiency.  Better efficiency for getting the product out of the plant as far as I can see.     Look at the backing plate.  It's pretty skimpy too.   If someone can explain how fewer vanes makes for a more efficient impeller, I'd like to hear the theory. 

Looking at the photos automatic1stdown posted, from that point of view the impeller spins counter clockwise. As the tips of the auger blades come around they pushes snow into the impeller, which under the right conditions, throws some of it forward and to the right as the bottom of the impeller is moving to the right and very fast. I suspect that’s the cause of the leak.

In light snow the auger tips don’t shove enough snow into the impeller each time they comes around to cause the impeller to throw it out. In heavy snow, the snow that would be thrown out is blocked by snow in the auger. There is likely an range of snow where the leakage is maximum and in more or less snow the leakage is less.

In my opinion the leakage is a design tradeoff of the three blade impeller, which may increase the maximum capacity of the machine for a given engine power, but also results in some leakage when the snow is within a certain depth range and weight.  I’m guessing, but with the three blade design the impeller may spin faster as there's more time between blades for a given RPM than with a four blade impeller.  The higher RPM may be the root cause of the leakage, but also helps throw snow further.

Being the leakage is always to the right side (left from behind) you can minimize the problem by clearing in a pattern such that the leakage is to the side that has not been cleared yet. That might not be possible all the time, nor necessary under many conditions.