Ventilator Problem

[Archive7]

I bought two years ago a 40 cm ventilator on a stand. It has a remote and timer.
Worked very well in my bedroom during the past summers.
As we are going to have very hot weather starting tomorrow and during next week, I thought I would better clean it up and get it ready to cool me while trying to sleep.
The damn thing doesn't want to work now. Murphy's law strikes again.
Tomorrow I am going to take it to pieces and my question is if it is normal for a ventilator, even made in China, to go dead like this after only two years?
I have a French made ventilator that is still working after 30 years.
What can I do with the motor to make it work again? Does it need lubrication for example with light oil?
Thanks for your help.

 

[archive10]

I have one which after storage needs a gentle nudge (sometime a bit robust) to get going after not having been used for a while.
My guess is on bearings (nylon) for the main propeller shaft, and the associated silicone lubrication drying up.
NOTE: This may not be the solution for you; I have no idea what your fan bearings are made of
I have bought some silicone lubrication, so when it does it again, I shall try and dismantle it enough to be able to apply the lubricant.

Unfortunately, and in contrast with the rest of Europe, we have had cold, damp, windy weather for the past month, so no need to turn the damn thing on yet...

 

[2cvbloke]

Is it totally dead or does the fan motor hum? Do the blades turn easily (little to no pressure required to spin the blade) or are they quite stiff? And last but not least (and does happen to the best of us, some more than others!) is it plugged in and switched on?

 

[Channel Hopper]

Did you pay the punkahwallah in the past two years ?

 

[Terryl]

Un-plug it from the wall and check for continuity with an ohm meter on the AC plug with the fan on.

If you get nothing then it's a trip to Walmart, all the smoke has been let out of it.

 

[Terryl]

See all things that run on electricity use smoke to make them work, to test this drop a handful of coins in a toaster when it's on, all the smoke will be let out of it and it will quit working.

 

[2cvbloke]

Unless it's a run capacitor that has crapped out (symptom: humming motor, but no fan rotation), cheaper to get one of them than a whole new fan...

 

[Archive7]

I spent sometime this morning dismantling the ventilator in order to finally get to the motor.
It is stuck solid when I try to rotate the shaft by hand. Put a drop of light oil which didn't help.
I can either throw the whole damn thing for recycling or try to keep it until I have time to take it to pieces again.
Chines rubbish didn't last long and it was expensive at the time.
I have a French made ventilator still working after 30 years.
Will look to buy a new one this week. Unfortunately they don't sell Rowenta fans locally (only electric irons), a well known German manufacturer (now part of a French Group). I am tempted to order the latest model from Germany but it is too expensive because of the shipment cost.

 

[Terryl]

Don't use oil, use some WD-40, it will penetrate better then oil.

But if the bearings are froze up it may be time to bin it.

I have had some luck with an overnight soak in WD-40, but you need to completely immerse the motor in a bath of the stuff, then a short bake in an oven on the lowest setting to dry it out a bit before you try and use it.(check for shaft rotation first)

Some times when a fan is used near or in a kitchen the vapors from the cooking oil can get into the motor, along with some dust and a bit of non-use and you have a good cement

 

[2cvbloke]

When I got my current fan (a cheap chinese thing bought in a sale), it barely worked when I first tested it, lowest speed, the fan barely even turned, highest speed, I could fart a more ferocious breeze, so took it to bits, found the motor amazingly had bronze sleeve bearings, but the twits in the chinese factory greased them (bronze bearings need oiling!! Sealed ball and roller bearings are the greased ones!) with some thick an unpleasant grease, so I wiped off all the grease I could, soaked & cleaned the bearings in a solvent with cotton buds, dried, soaked them in 3-in-1 oil, and it's never failed me once in the 4 years I've had it...

I swear they intentionally do things wrong with appliances and electricals to make us buy new replacements every year or two...

 

[Archive7]

I am going to bin it, as I don't have the time or the space to have it lying around doing nothing. That's 100 Pounds gone down the drain.
This time I will probably buy a cheap ventilator and if they last only one year then that is OK with me.
I found online products under the name Morphy Richards, but as the company in the UK don't offer any ventilators from their websites in Europe, I can only assume that what they sell locally are products made in China and they use the famous brand name in order to market them better.

 

[2cvbloke]

Another option to look at is a vintage fan, they were built properly and a lot of them have lasted for decades and will continue to do so with simple maintenance (oiling the bearings usually), may require a new power cable depending on the condition though, but that's a one-off minor inconvenience...

 

[Archive7]

Just to wrap this up thread, I bought a new ventilator with the brand name Morphy Richards, which is just a gimmick by the local distributor, as the famous UK manufacturer doesn't produce ventilators AFAIK.
At least it has a remote and a timer which is a must have features for me in the bedroom.
Will order the latest Rowenta ventilator model from Germany when I can afford it, as I believe they have better quality than the garbage they sell locally.

 

[Archive7]

I am just wondering if it would be possible to buy only any motor assembly to replace the defective one that I have. It doesn't have to be the exact one that I have.
I think for a 16" (40cm) stand ventilator, the base, stand, propeller and guards are usually standard and should fit any motor assembly and it is be a pity to throw away the whole thing when the motor fails.

 

[2cvbloke]

I am just wondering if it would be possible to buy only any motor assembly to replace the defective one that I have. It doesn't have to be the exact one that I have.

It's possible, but finding a good match for something most likely made in china would be a PITA, and the motor would probably cost more than a whole fan depending on where it is bought from...

Myself, I'd be pulling the motor apart to try and resurrect it (assuming it's not all riveted together, which is also a PITA to deal with!), the motor shaft may be stuck, but it could be freed up and made to work with a little time cleaning up the bearings if they're bronze sleeve bearings and some decent oil, given you have bought a new fan, it's a case of nothing to lose, if the motor's shafted, you still have a fan, but if you get it working again, you have two fans...

 

[Archive7]

It's possible, but finding a good match for something most likely made in china would be a PITA, and the motor would probably cost more than a whole fan depending on where it is bought from...

Myself, I'd be pulling the motor apart to try and resurrect it (assuming it's not all riveted together, which is also a PITA to deal with!), the motor shaft may be stuck, but it could be freed up and made to work with a little time cleaning up the bearings if they're bronze sleeve bearings and some decent oil, given you have bought a new fan, it's a case of nothing to lose, if the motor's shafted, you still have a fan, but if you get it working again, you have two fans...

Thanks for your reply.
I am sure that any complete motor assembly with cord and housing can fit into the stand pole, because the diameter of the pole is standard.
It is just a pity that these are not offered as a replacement parts in general, as it would cut down on recycling the mechanical parts.
Not sure about the cost of the motor relatively to the other mechanical parts. The cost of a complete ventilator in a shop is affected mostly by the shipment cost and the weight of the product and the mechanical parts weigh heavily.
For example a Rowenta model shipment cost from Germany costs 70 Euro but if they can sell me only the motor assembly then it would be a lot less, perhaps 30 Euro as a guess.
But you are right. It might be worth the try just for fun. Now I am less stressed than few days ago.

 

[2cvbloke]

I was thinking more of the actual motor inside the housing itself (see pic as an example), rather than the whole fan head, but a whole fan head, yeah, you could probably find one where someone's crushed the base leaving the whole thing unable to stand (happened with a fan I used to have, cheap, thin and poor-quality steel base, one minor trip and that was that, no more stand!)...

 

[Archive7]

I gave the ventilator another go today.
I bought beforehand a small bottle of light oil which is supposed to be used with small appliances like sewing machines. Didn't think I would need grease.
So got the motor out. It looks like a good motor well built and not cheap looking.
Opened the cover of the gear box and took out the small parts inside.
Then I squirted few drops of light oil along the shaft joints at the front and back and holy cow it started to turn quite easily.
So I put few more drops, reassembled the motor and connected the mains cord wires to the motor terminals.
Switched on without the propeller just to see how it behaves. It worked well for few minutes.
Then I noticed that that the bloody motor has become quite hot.
I had no idea during the past two years how hot the motor gets because the cover is relatively large so it seems to run cool, while in fact the motor must have been sweating like mad inside.
This might explain why the motor got stuck afterwards.
So I am not happy about this issue and probably will not use the fan after all, but at least I am happy to got it working in the end.

Here are some photos showing the motor and few parts.
Thank you all for your help.

 

[Lazarus]

May I suggest you cool the motor with a fan ......

 

[PaulR]

Is it possible that when assembled the air is drawn over the motor to keep it cool?