Wherein Scrottie Saves the Day

[rebeccmeister]

After yesterday's head-scratching, I had a conversation with scrottie this morning about how fan motors work. He took a class on small engine repair sometime back in high school, and so I often happily defer to him on such problems, when they arise. After all, my general default is to just use non-motorized alternatives.

He pointed out that there really aren't a lot of moving parts that can wear out on these little shaded pole motors, so chances are pretty good that the thing is squeaking because something's wearing out a bit, and the whole thing can be resolved simply with the aid of a little 3-in-1 oil.

He was right. Also, I love it whenever I can find a video of a dude-bro explaining how to do a repair (thanks, dude-bro!).

When I dug around in the fan that had been squeaking (the one I photographed yesterday was actually working fine), I found a few remnants of small, broken threads wrapped around the shaft (I didn't actually take the motor apart because the fan blades are pressed on there pretty well). I think the threads are bits of nylon, from the nylon that had been used for box covers. That would explain why I never had any problems in Texas - I didn't make nylon mesh lids for my cricket boxes there.

I might still get a spare fan motor or two, just in case.

Comments

bathroom ventilation fans, how to destroy

[shellynoir.livejournal.com]

I run them 24 hours a day, because I like things DRY. I sometimes vacuum the little grille thing without turning them off and the resulting dust storm pretty much destroys them right away. It's like when planes fly through volcanic ash clouds. So, so bad.

Re: bathroom ventilation fans, how to destroy

[rebeccmeister.livejournal.com]

Hmm, maybe you, too, should replace your bathroom fan with a muffin-style fan! ;-)