How To Repair Box Fan Motor

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Whether the blades aren't spinning or the fan is making tons of racket, most issues with an electric fan are caused by poor lubrication or blockages in the vents. To solve nigh issues with an electric fan, disassemble the fan, lubricate the cardinal pin and bearings, and clean out the vent and motor instance. Repairing an electrical fan can be tough if the trouble has annihilation to practise with the motor itself, which may exist dead if the fan makes no noise when it'southward turned on and the blades don't plough at all after cleaning and oiling the pin. Since electric fans tend to be inexpensive, it'south usually not worth it to bother trying to repair the motor on your own and you should consider simply buying a new fan.

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Plough your fan on to make sure that the motor works. Plug your fan in and turn it on to the highest power setting. If the fan blades move a petty or it starts to turn, the motor is probably nonetheless expert. If y'all don't hear annihilation, put your ear up to the middle of the case backside the blades. Press the push to plow the fan off and on once again, this time listening closely for the motor. If you lot hear it humming or buzzing, your motor is likely all the same functioning.^[1]
- Check the fan in multiple outlets. It's possible that the excursion breaker on an outlet was flipped and the fan simply wasn't getting an electrical point.
Tip: For most table and standing fans, it won't exist worth it to tinker with the engine to endeavour and get information technology to outset again. The motor is probably dead anyway. You're improve off merely buying a new fan if the engine isn't firing. Feel free to detach the engine if yous really want to try it yourself though!
2
Unplug the fan and either unhook the bract guard or unscrew the pin. Pull the fan's electrical cord out to keep it from turning on randomly while you're working on it. Feel around the sides of the blade guards for clips that are property the 2 parts together. If there are clips, unhook them and remove the forepart half. If you don't run into any hooks keeping the blade assembly together, try turning the circular center of the fan counterclockwise. If it loosens, unscrew it and set the front of the blade example down.^[2]
- The pin is the piece of metal in the center of the fan that the blades and case rotate around.
- The blade baby-sit, or blade casing, refers to the plastic or metal case that keeps people from getting hurt by the blades. On well-nigh fans, it either holds together with clips where the 2 pieces meet, or it relies on a cap in the middle to keep the case screwed tight.
- If yous come across screws property the case together, unscrew them with a screwdriver to remove the case that way.
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3
Plough the blades or washer in the center of the fan counterclockwise to remove them. Every fan is different, but the blades are either locked in identify with a small washer on the pin or by the case of the pin itself. If in that location is plastic blocking the middle of the blades, twist it counterclockwise until it comes loose and slide the blades off. If there is no washer, twist the base of the blades while property the pin in place to loosen them off of the pin.^[3]
- Depending on the model of your fan, there may be a latch on the side of the pivot locking the blades into identify. This latch usually slides back and forth to lock or unlock the blades.
4
Slide the back half of the blade baby-sit off of the pin in the eye. Remove any plastic or metal washers that are in front of the back half of the blade baby-sit starting time. Yous may demand to unscrew a few screws to access the back one-half. Remove any washers and slide the back half of the bract baby-sit all the way off of the pin.^[4]
- If there was a plastic washer in front of the blades themselves, and so at that place probable won't be a washer in the back. If in that location wasn't a plastic washer in the front, it's highly likely that it'southward in the back. The washer usually acts as a stabilizer to hold the blades in place.
- If there's some plastic cover or case on front of the motor, unscrew the plate blocking the torso of the motor.
5
Flip your fan around and notice the screws in the dorsum. With your pin and forepart motor generally exposed, turn your fan over to inspect the opposite side of the motor case. On most fans, there will be a plastic vent that allows heat and air to escape from the motor. There volition be screws on the back holding this case in place. Utilize a flathead or Philips head screwdriver to remove the screws. Set up them aside and pry the case off.^[v]
- The case may fall correct off the fan after you remove the screws. If it doesn't, insert a flathead or Philips screwdriver into a vent and pry information technology out.
- On some tabular array fans, the motor volition really be underneath the base. If at that place'southward no bulky caput behind the blades and in that location's a wide base, unscrew the bottom of the fan and pop the plastic encompass off.
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i
Plough the pin on the front end of the fan with your manus to see if it rotates. Utilize your manus to try turning the pivot in the center of the fan. If it's sticking or resisting, the pivot probably just needs lubrication. Over time, the lubricant on the pivot wears down equally the fan blades rotate. Re-oiling the pin will usually solve this trouble.^[6]
- A dried out or sticky pin is one of the most common reasons for blades to stop spinning.
- If they spin easily and there's no resistance, endeavor turning your fan on and see if the pin spins. If it doesn't, the problem isn't the pivot and in that location is probably a short in the motor. In this example, information technology'll probably be easier to get a new fan.
2
Unscrew any washers or bolts blocking the base of operations of the pin. With the pin exposed, there may still be 1-2 metal bolts locking the pin effectually the frame of the fan. Employ a wrench to unscrew these pins and loosen them. You don't demand to remove the completely, just you exercise demand to exist able to become underneath them to reach all of the pin.^[vii]
- If at that place aren't any washers or bolts, only skip this pace.
- Washers in this function of the fan assembly can commonly exist turned by hand.
3
Employ lubricating oil to the front end and dorsum of the pin. Go a canteen of lubricating oil with a thin nozzle for pouring. Get a clean rag and concord it nether the pivot to take hold of any oil that drips. Turn your bottle over at the site where the pin meets the frame of the motor and squeeze the canteen over the front of the pin. Get underneath the bolts by sliding them away from the site that y'all're lubricating. Repeat this process on the backside of the frame to get both sides of the pin.^[8]
- Any type of lubricating oil will work. You lot tin can buy lubricating oil at whatever automobile parts shop or building supply store.
- You lot can article of clothing rubber gloves if you want to keep oil from getting on your hands. Information technology's non toxic or anything though, and are easily wiped off before washing your hands with soap.
Alarm: Utilize enough oil to completely glaze the pivot. You don't desire to become whatsoever oil on the motor itself though. If yous run into it dripping off of the pin, tap it with the cloth to soak up the backlog oil.
iv
Spin the bolts around a lubricated department of the pivot while spinning it. With your pin totally oiled, slide the bolt dorsum into place. Put the cloth down and concur the bolt with your nondominant hand. Catch the pin with your dominant mitt. Slide the bolt back and forth over the lubricated department while spinning the pin by manus. Repeat the process for any bolts on the other side of the pin assembly.^[nine]
- This will ensure that oil gets on the inside of the bolts that agree your pin while information technology spins. If these bolts aren't oiled, in that location volition be friction that prevents the pin from spinning.
- You tin also slide the bolts off and oil them separately if you desire.
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1
Audit the back of your motor case for dust or grime and wipe it off. Turn the fan around and look inside the case surrounding the motor. Employ a clean microfiber cloth to carefully wipe the grit away. Piece of work your manner all the way around the interior of the instance to remove the grit and grime that has built upward in the back of your fan.^[10]
- Poor ventilation can cause dust and estrus to get trapped inside the instance of the motor. This can cause your fan to stop functioning—specially if your fan has an overheating characteristic that causes information technology to automatically shut off if it gets too hot.
Alarm: Do not use water to make clean the area around your motor. If water gets on the motor, information technology could cause an electrical brusk or destroy your fan.
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Spray the plastic vent on the back with compressed air. Accept the vent cover that you unscrewed before you lubricated your fan and hold it away from your motor. Spray both sides of the encompass with compressed air to get the dust out of the hard-to-achieve spaces between the vent's bars. Wipe the encompass down with a dry cloth.^[11]
- If this vent is completely caked in grit or droppings, it'south probably the reason that your fan hasn't been operation correctly.
- If you want to get it totally clean, yous can soak the vent in water and soap before letting it air dry. This is usually unnecessary though.
iii
Plug your fan in and turn it on to see if the pin spins. Before reassembling your fan, plug it dorsum in. Plough it on to meet if the pin spins easily. If it does, you tin can reassemble the fan. If it doesn't, you may need to clean the motor. This tin can be a difficult and intricate process though, and if you're working with an inexpensive fan, information technology'due south usually not worth the endeavor.^[12]
- A lot of continuing and tabular array fans don't accept a removable motor in the first identify, which makes cleaning or adjusting it extremely difficult.
4
Reassemble your fan by putting the blades, bolts, and case dorsum together. Piece of work in the reverse order that yous disassembled your fan. Tighten the bolts on your pin with a wrench and put any washers back before sliding the bract baby-sit back over the pin. Slide your blades on top so that the back blade guard separates the blades from the motor. Put the plastic vent back on the back of the motor case and spiral it back in. Reattach your front end bract guard and lock it in place.^[13]
- Turn your fan back on. If the blades are spinning more slowly than the pin was when you tested it, it'south a sign that your motor is dying. It's operating at a power too depression to completely turn the fan.
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Things You'll Need

Screwdriver

Lubricating oil
Wrench
Fabric or towel

Microfiber cloth
Compressed air
Screwdriver
Wrench

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