What maintenance do you do on your fans?

[poohy]

I stand wearing my skimpy manikini on my balcony waving to them each morning!

Edited September 7, 2019 by poohy

[Artisi]

1 hour ago, Beggar said:

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

Only if you're a very quick reader. 

[NanLaew]

9 hours ago, roo860 said:

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

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

Which airline do you recommend?

[NanLaew]

3 hours ago, Just Weird said:

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.

...said the man who's obviously never seen a 'wobbly' plastic fan blade break while it's running.

 

Clue: The fan cage isn't only to stop your fingers getting broken.

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, NCC1701A said:

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

Pictures or it never happened.

[NanLaew]

I only buy Hatari brand fans as spare parts for those are readily available at Amorn. Returning to the clan cave after several years, noted that some floor fans were slow and noisy. Replaced the start capacitors (50 to 80 baht at Amorn), cleaned the housing, cage and blades, replacing one that had a cracked hub and they're good for another +million hours.

 

I've never had to replace a motor or grease a bearing (they're sealed anyway) and some of these fans are over 12 years old. However, the gearboxes are the next weak link. Once again available at Amorn but make sure you get the ones with an alloy metal casing. The plastic cased ones don't last.

[Suradit69]

16 hours ago, Hal65 said:

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.

I put the dead or dying in the bin and buy new ones. Pretty sure someone will extract the binned ones and recycle them for fun and/or profit. Win-win situation.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 7, 2019 by Suradit69

[how241]

16 hours ago, Matzzon said:

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

Just clean them when dirty and make sure fan blade is tight. They get loose although I don't know why. They have a reverse thread that should tighten, not get loose.  Look for sales.  I buy them for 299-399 for the 16"  on sale. Buy 2 or 3.  I think the bearings are sealed so I don't know if oil will help. I don't oil them. 

[sometimewoodworker]

3 hours ago, Daffy D said:

Seems the bronze (or whatever the material is) is made from compressed bronze powder

Technically it's a sintered bearing and while many use an oil impregnating process not all do. WD40 is not a good choice, light machine oil may be useful if the original lubricant has dried out.

[Destiny1990]

If you have a good maid then she will handle that.

[Matzzon]

14 minutes ago, how241 said:

Just clean them when dirty and make sure fan blade is tight. They get loose although I don't know why. They have a reverse thread that should tighten, not get loose.  Look for sales.  I buy them for 299-399 for the 16"  on sale. Buy 2 or 3.  I think the bearings are sealed so I don't know if oil will help. I don't oil them. 

I have done all that in the past. Even change the black rectangular condensator when they started to go slow. It works fantastically well, but nowadays I just let others that need em pick them up outside and use them as well as repair them. Same with computers, phones, freezers, refrigerators and TV.

[AAArdvark]

17 hours ago, Matzzon said:

they are dirt cheap anyway

Was that a pun?

[Tomahawk21]

12 hours ago, roo860 said:

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

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

airline good idea,  wish i had one, i clean with water and dry but still go rusty

 

[Seeall]

18 hours ago, jastheace said:

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

I thought Hatari good, all 3 died within years, fancy remotes prob not good idea..

[Don Mega]

I toss em in the bin after 12 months and buy new.

[jastheace]

5 minutes ago, Seeall said:

I thought Hatari good, all 3 died within years, fancy remotes prob not good idea..

they're cheap enough to 'donate' at end of life. parts readily available if that's your thing to repair them. other brands available....

no, they're not the best, but probably the most popular

[thailand49]

I have close to twenty fans throughout the house majority some standing some mounted on the wall run by remotes. The only brand I buy is Hatari and currently replacing all the wall mounts ones that are string operation instead of remote the remote one seem to break down like the swing feature etc. so not I just keep them simple.

Once a month majority I clean soap them down and rinse off take me 5 minutes to do one!  Many of the fans I have are close to 10 years and still looking and running like new. I spray a bit of silicone where the blade is attached never mess with the motor.

[atyclb]

can spray electrical parts cleaner on the rotor while spinning. would be careful not to let spray stream touch hot wire.  use teflon high tech lube on bearings and spinning parts. 

 

clean all dirt and dust first.

[xtrnuno41]

Like some sad , take it apart, wash and put some oil on bearings.

Also look at the end of motor which has cooling fan for motor.

If that one gets dirty, you have less flow to cool motor and temp will go up and 

at one point will break down motor. That is with many motors.

IF you have computer, you also should clean inside the fans and outlets.

You should take apart cpu fan, video card and outlet fan, fan of power supply and clean all. DOnt forget to put new thermal paste back on cpu cooler.

However it is maybe "frightening" for someone dont know about this, but it is essential. You have to handle carefully.

[kevin612]

None, not working will buy new one.

[johng]

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

I'm reminded of the "nice beaver" sketch from a Naked Gun movie.

[Jaxxper]

We just clean and oil our floor fans regularly. Ceiling fans seem to go on forever so service of them is just limited to cleaning the crud that the blades pick up.

[crazykopite]

I have Mr Ken ceiling fans fully remote 6 speed super super quiet they are ac to dc cost 5,000 baht+ but worth every baht as I use them a lot I just wipe them with a damp cloth once a month best fans I have ever owned and because the reduce to DC there is less wear on them they are wooden but sprayed in a beautiful silver colour. Had them in for two years and they are as new as when purchased. The shape of the blade gives better air flow and you can also change the direction of the fan rotation by remote control

Edited September 7, 2019 by crazykopite
Picture

[Artisi]

4 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

Technically it's a sintered bearing and while many use an oil impregnating process not all do. WD40 is not a good choice, light machine oil may be useful if the original lubricant has dried out.

Some sintered bearings are  impregnated with graphite - not sure if used in fan motors. 

[Artisi]

34 minutes ago, crazykopite said:

I have Mr Ken ceiling fans fully remote 6 speed super super quiet they are ac to dc cost 5,000 baht+ but worth every baht as I use them a lot I just wipe them with a damp cloth once a month best fans I have ever owned and because the reduce to DC there is less wear on them they are wooden but sprayed in a beautiful silver colour. Had them in for two years and they are as new as when purchased. The shape of the blade gives better air flow and you can also change the direction of the fan rotation by remote control

What won't wear on DC? 

Air flow is a function of the aerofoil design of the blade, properly designed - good, badly designed - bad. 

Edited September 7, 2019 by Artisi

[Matzzon]

4 hours ago, AAArdvark said:

Was that a pun?

No, I realized that after I posted. ???? 

[Just Weird]

9 hours ago, Beggar said:

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

Only if I spin my head at the same speed as the fan blades, why do you ask?

[Just Weird]

7 hours ago, NanLaew said:

11 hours ago, Just Weird said:

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.

...said the man who's obviously never seen a 'wobbly' plastic fan blade break while it's running.

 

Clue: The fan cage isn't only to stop your fingers getting broken.

Those breakages are not caused by dust-induced imbalance!  Thanks for the superfluous clue that I didn't need.

[RideJocky]

Dust accumulation on the blade and shroud generally will not cause imbalance, as it typically collects evenly. But dust on the blade and or shroud absolutely increases the friction which has a significant negative impact on the performance and the longevity of the motor.

Every blade from every reputable manufacturer is tested and spun-balanced before it is sold.

Most of the sleeve bearings used (as others have stated) are typically powder-metal, oil-impregnated. This is usually done by loading the newly sintered bearings into a tank of oil and pressurized for a period of time.

For high-temp applications we used bearings with 2% moly disulfide powder mixed with stainless powder.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[sometimewoodworker]

2 hours ago, Artisi said:

What won't wear on DC? 

Air flow is a function of the aerofoil design of the blade, properly designed - good, badly designed - bad. 

They are brushless motors.