What maintenance do you do on your fans?

[Hal65]

I run my fans almost all day, even then they last a couple years at least before dying. Curious what you guys do in terms of fan maintenance and whether it does much to keep Thai made fans running for more years without problems.

[cornishcarlos]

Strip them down and clean them once every couple months.. That's it

[worgeordie]

I have had some of my fans running for 20 odd years,because I maintain them,

every 2-3 months,take them apart,wash all the dirty parts, take the shroud off,

Singer light oil put it on the spindle so it runs into the bearings,front and rear,

they might last longer than me, that's floor fans and wall fans Panasonic ,don't have A/c because i don't like.

regards worgeordie

 

[Kwasaki]

55 minutes ago, Hal65 said:

I run my fans almost all day, even then they last a couple years at least before dying. Curious what you guys do in terms of fan maintenance and whether it does much to keep Thai made fans running for more years without problems.

Clean em when dirty if they ain't broke don't try to mess with them.

[Matzzon]

None. Throw em out and buy a new one when it´s to dirty. They are dirt cheap anyway. 

[jastheace]

when they don't sound right, strip and clean, light oil. spares readily available, fan blade, bush bearings and spindles, all for pennies. depends how much time you have on your hands. I have too much obviously. I only fix my own though, I tell other people to take it to a repair shop or bin and replace. hatari ones cheap 'nuf

Edited September 6, 2019 by jastheace

[tonboy]

Fans made 20 years ago are much better quality then the ones made today. That is the truth not only for fans but for all electrical appliances as well as cars, etcetera. Yes, by cleaning the fanblades reguraly you will prolong the life of the electrical motor

[eyecatcher]

31 minutes ago, Matzzon said:

None. Throw em out and buy a new one when it´s to dirty. They are dirt cheap anyway. 

I really dont think the diy housing forum is for you.

[Matzzon]

6 minutes ago, eyecatcher said:

I really dont think the diy housing forum is for you.

Oh, yes it is. Give me some credit. I throw them out all buy myself, and walk all the way over the street to buy new. I even plug in the cable on my own.

[Matzzon]

25 minutes ago, tonboy said:

Fans made 20 years ago are much better quality then the ones made today. That is the truth not only for fans but for all electrical appliances as well as cars, etcetera. Yes, by cleaning the fanblades reguraly you will prolong the life of the electrical motor

Yes, I know. Like my grand father also said, It was better many years ago.

[tjo o tjim]

It is amazing how hard some modern fans are to clean.  Riveted enclosures, glued motor casings, etc don’t really make preventative maintenance easy.  I remember trying to clean a Dyson “bladeless” fan once... harder to repair than a Mac!  

[roo860]

Good going over with WD40.
When you've cleaned all the dust out, airline is useful.

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[sunnyboy2018]

My large ceiling mounted fans get no maintenance except dusting. I did notice leaving them.on led to big lekky bills. I consulted a maintenance engineer who said just to leave them.alone....

[Damrongsak]

6 hours ago, worgeordie said:

I have had some of my fans running for 20 odd years,because I maintain them,

every 2-3 months,take them apart,wash all the dirty parts, take the shroud off,

Singer light oil put it on the spindle so it runs into the bearings,front and rear,

they might last longer than me, that's floor fans and wall fans Panasonic ,don't have A/c because i don't like.

regards worgeordie

 

"Singer light oil ..."  Has to be better than WD-40, which will gum up.  No one likes their sewing machines to get gunked up, and they run for eons.

[Artisi]

7 hours ago, Matzzon said:

Oh, yes it is. Give me some credit. I throw them out all buy myself, and walk all the way over the street to buy new. I even plug in the cable on my own.

Yep, highly qualified DIY - keep up the good work ????

[Just Weird]

8 hours ago, tonboy said:

 Yes, by cleaning the fanblades reguraly you will prolong the life of the electrical motor

How does the cleanliness of the plastic fan blades have any effect on the life of the sealed electric motor?

 

My Sharp fan has a sticker on one of the blades that must weigh more than dust, is it reducing the life of the motor?

Edited September 6, 2019 by Just Weird

[worgeordie]

8 hours ago, Matzzon said:

Oh, yes it is. Give me some credit. I throw them out all buy myself, and walk all the way over the street to buy new. I even plug in the cable on my own.

That's the trouble with the World today,it's a throw away society,

and you are a great example of it.

regards worgeordie

 

[Anythingleft?]

That's the trouble with the World today,it's a throw away society,
and you are a great example of it.
regards worgeordie
 

The items are fabricated to be thrown away
The parts used are cheap, poorly made and rarely available if you try to find them

There is no benefit to trying to repair a 300baht fan when you look at the time and parts cost from a practical point of view
If you are retired and bored then it can be time spent to keep you entertained if thats your inclination

Today is a throw away society, everybodies desire for cheaper products has created this....

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[worgeordie]

16 minutes ago, Anythingleft? said:

The items are fabricated to be thrown away
The parts used are cheap, poorly made and rarely available if you try to find them

There is no benefit to trying to repair a 300baht fan when you look at the time and parts cost from a practical point of view
If you are retired and bored then it can be time spent to keep you entertained if thats your inclination

Today is a throw away society, everybodies desire for cheaper products has created this....

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk
 

If maintained,just oiling the bearings,there is very little else

to go wrong with a fan, keep it clean, oil it, thats it,true some

people don't know how to maintain things,don't know how to

check the oil,water in their vehicle.  Repair,Maintain, two different things.

 

The number of times I have taken fans from our rental properties,dirty

seized up,due to people been too lazy,too stupid,to keep them clean and

oiled,these are fans they have bought,800-1000 THB, 15 mins and i have

them good as new, that's my inclination,

regards Worgeordie

 

 

 

 

[Matzzon]

1 hour ago, worgeordie said:

That's the trouble with the World today,it's a throw away society,

and you are a great example of it.

regards worgeordie

 

Thank you! That is one reason why I choose to stay in Thailand. It always comes somebody and see my fan after only 10-20 minutes. I put it nicely and cover with transparent plastic by the side of he garbage. Actually, I am not a problem at all. I am helping and contributing to a better life for poor people. Your way of looking at things only works in the western world, where not enough people take care of and sort the garbage as well as making use of it.

[Matzzon]

1 hour ago, Artisi said:

Yep, highly qualified DIY - keep up the good work ????

Thanks. Please read my post above. ???? 

Edited September 7, 2019 by Matzzon

[Damrongsak]

2 hours ago, Just Weird said:

How does the cleanliness of the plastic fan blades have any effect on the life of the sealed electric motor?

 

My Sharp fan has a sticker on one of the blades that must weigh more than dust, is it reducing the life of the motor?

Dirt on the blades isn't even. It can cause an imbalance, a wobble if you will.  In addition, dirt on the blades will cause additional friction, which will cause additional load on the motor. Very simple rocket science...  Clean it, lube it once in awhile and hope for the best.

[Just Weird]

5 minutes ago, Damrongsak said:

2 hours ago, Just Weird said:

How does the cleanliness of the plastic fan blades have any effect on the life of the sealed electric motor?

 

My Sharp fan has a sticker on one of the blades that must weigh more than dust, is it reducing the life of the motor?

Dirt on the blades isn't even. It can cause an imbalance, a wobble if you will.  In addition, dirt on the blades will cause additional friction, which will cause additional load on the motor. Very simple rocket science...  Clean it, lube it once in awhile and hope for the best.

Don't be ridiculous.  I'm talking about household dust, not caked on mud!

 

Sharp put a sticker, heavier than dust, on one of the blades at the factory, how about the friction, imbalance (wobble, if you will!) and additional load that causes?  Just how finely balanced do you think plastic fan blades get balanced at the factory, perhaps they're blueprinted?

 

And thanks for the simple rocket science, condescending explanation of "imbalance" for me as "wobble", I had no idea what imbalance was before you came along.

[Beggar]

48 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

 

 

48 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

 

Sharp put a sticker, heavier than dust, on one of the blades at the factory, how about the friction, imbalance (wobble, if you will!) and additional load that causes? 

 

Perhaps they do this on purpose. 

 

Edited September 7, 2019 by Beggar

[Anythingleft?]

Dirt on the blades isn't even. It can cause an imbalance, a wobble if you will.  In addition, dirt on the blades will cause additional friction, which will cause additional load on the motor. Very simple rocket science...  Clean it, lube it once in awhile and hope for the best.

Thats just overthinking household appliances to a whole new level.....



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[Just Weird]

59 minutes ago, Beggar said:

Perhaps they do this on purpose. 

Not quite sure what you mean but, yes, as it came from the factory with a 'don't-stick-your-finger-through-the-guard-into-the-blades' sticker, I'm sure they did do it on purpose.  I left it there to remind me not to do that and it doesn't seem to have unbalanced the fan in any way as one poster suggested it might.

[Beggar]

2 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

Not quite sure what you mean but, yes, as it came from the factory with a 'don't-stick-your-finger-through-the-guard-into-the-blades' sticker, I'm sure they did do it on purpose.  I left it there to remind me not to do that and it doesn't seem to have unbalanced the fan in any way as one poster suggested it might.

So they put the warning sticker on the blade - for whatever reason. But can you read the warning when the fan is on? 

[Daffy D]

I read somewhere that you should not directly lubricate bush bearings.

 

Seems the bronze (or whatever the material is) is made from compressed bronze powder (not machined from a solid piece) and you should only lubricate the felt pad round it not the actual shaft.

 

The difference being that a compressed bearing will have microscopic spaces in it that allows the oil to seep through and lubricate the bush without gumming it up.  

 

I also notice that the newer fans with ball bearings don't seem to last so long as the old bush bearings, they start to be noisy fairly quickly. First time it happend  I went to all the trouble of finding and replacing a new bearing. Now I just stand the motor shaft on end and let some oil seep into the bearing while spinning it and that seems to do the trick.

 

Those bearings are packed with grease that gets dry and the oil seeping in seems to soften it up and bring it back to life.

 

[spidermike007]

I do my best to honor my fans. They are loyal, and I love all the attention. They are good to me, and every opportunity I get, I let them take selfies with me, sign autographs, and make them feel important. 

[NCC1701A]

i hold the ladder while by maid climbs up to clean the ceiling fans.