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

In theory it should work.  I don't undrstand how it realy works. Snow blower housings are NOT perfictly round. Only the low spot  (spot with the closest distance with housing )will get wiped. All impeller blades will be worn to this low spot during the brake in period.  So in reality it is never a clean swipe , Only the low spot gets wiped clean. The other areas will still have a gap. How big a gap will depend on the out of roundness of your housing. This area the impeller scrapes clean also scraps off your paint . Your housing will then rust away.   Then what.   Buy another  housing or

BLOWER !!   I believe Hondas pump so good because there housings are rounder and there impeller clearances are tighter from the design of the unit.

I just put a kit on an old Ariens and I can't wait to try it out.

The housing seems pretty even all the way around, but it is not broke in all the way yet.

There was a low spot where the chute opening was welded to the cylinder, but I ground that down first.
It is welded on the outside, so grinding a bit off the inside didn't seem to matter at all.

As for scraping the paint off,  this is a 33 year old snowblower, so it didn't have any paint on it anymore anyway.

Now there is something I didn't do; use a magenetic mount and dial indicator to measure the impeller housing runout. Or for that matter the tolerance on impeller blade length. However, a bit hard to do without removing the belts so it can be rotated by hand. Are the Simplicity impeller housings round?

DavidNJ wrote:
I believe they are square.

Shryp wrote:

Don't be silly they are triangular, a Simplicity exclusive. LOL

Steve_Cebu wrote:
Ahh, my bad.

3 isn't as good as 4, but it is still better than 1.

Posting a question here is a bit like asking a question in a third grade class for the slow kids.

Round, in contrast with 'out-of-round'. That Is one of the tolerances on impeller/housing clearance.

Yeah, does a third grader know how to read between the lines?

aa335 wrote:

The guy really is a Drongo, an Aussie term I picked up while living overseas, lots of Aussie friends where I lived.

Here is the definition as best as I can define it. It's a tough one like the meaning of "Maldita" in Bisayan

Drongo: A person who couldn't get a clue during the clue mating season in a field full of horny clues if he smeared his body with clue musk and did the clue mating dance.

The problem is that they don't have Barry White.

Steve_Cebu wrote:

You have friends?

CAN WE  PLEASE STAY ON TH SUBJECT

I believe it WILL improve performance even if the impeller isn't exactly centered in the housing. Set the rubber wipers so they just touch at their closest point. You have still reduced the gap considerably, even if there's still a small gap somewhere around its circumference.

Do a search, a few people here have installed them and there was even a video posted of the results. Aha! I just tried a youtube search for "Clarence Impeller Kit" and got several hits. Take a look.

Bus,
you are correct that there will probably still be a gap after the clarence kit is installed..
but the gap was MUCH larger before you installed the kit..

Lets say its winter..there is a blizzard..you open your front door wide..lots of snow comes in!
you then close the door..but you dont have a tight seal! there is a slight gap between the door and the frame of the house!
some cold air is leaking through..
but which is better? door wide open or door closed?

Basically your post reads like "I dont understand how a car engine works..that must mean cars cant work"

Scot

I bought kit last year but am waiting to install until after my warranty has expired.  I want to see how much overall improvement my impeller pulley upgrade has had throughout this upcoming season. A short test last season showed that it got me somewhere in the 40-45 foot throwing range.  I imagine this kit may get me to 50 feet.

Many snow throwers have excessively large gaps between the impeller blades and housing.  Some as much as 3/8 to 1/2".  My old Craftsman machines were between 1/4 to 5/16 when new and likely more than that after ten years of service.  Sand and gravel will cause enough wear to increase the gap.  My new Simplicity has a much closer gap.  It looks to be around 1/8" or less.   The Clarence kit reduces or eliminates the gap  when installed and will remain that way until wear and tear removes enough rubber to create and/or enlarge the gap. 

I've never used the kit because my machine throws snow as good as anything I've seen in a hand operated snow thrower.   Anything I've read about the Clarence kit has been positive provided the machine being modified is mechanically capable of dealing with the additional load that the kit will put on the impeller.