My Favorite Fan

[autowasherfreak]

I bought this fan about a year ago at Wal-Mart, mostly for the looks and I needed one too.  I use it practically year round, I don't like a warm bedroom during the winter, so it has gotten quite a bit of use over the past year.  Well, last night when I got home from work I turned it on, and it didn't want to start, so I used a screw driver to move the blades and it still wouldn't start so I left it on and about 5-10 minutes it started running.

 

Is there anyway to oil these modern fans?  I did clean the guards and blades tonight, and blew the motor out with my compressor and running fine.  It started right away when I turned it on.  It's annoying to think that it's only going to last a year.

 

 

[volvoguy87]

Sorry.

When I was in college I lived in dorms without AC for 4 years. I burned up a fan every year. Today's fans just aren't built for constant high-speed running like the old ones were. You cannot oil modern fans and the bearings just wear out and seize up. Now, I use only vintage fans that can be oiled with Zoom Spout, either through oil ports or in oil cups.

Some box fans, however, still have oil ports.

Good luck,
Dave

 

[autowasherfreak]

I didn't think they could be, but thought I would ask anyway, LOL.  Tonight it started up right away, hopefully I can get a few more months use out of it (crossing fingers).

 

I love the vintage look of this fan and that the guards and blades are metal.  Guess I will have to start looking for a vintage fan to replace it with.

 

 

[arbilab]

I've had this $16 box fan for 5 years and a lot of that time it ran 16hr/day. No oil holes, think it's ball bearing + capacitor, really pretty elegant engineering on the motor but otherwise flimsy plastic. The one before it lasted 20yr, also run pretty hard, sleeve bearings, one day it did what yours did, not start, figured I'd gotten my use out of it. But if that happened at a year, I'd be peeved.

 

[cfz2882]

oiling

though it's not meant to be oiled,you can still get some oil into the front
bearing by tilting the fan back,and using a zoom spout,dribble some oil along
the shaft into the bearing-that method worked for me with a fan just like the
one pictured-it gets used in the shop as an "expendible"fan,got it for free because
it had fallen over and broke the plastic piece the holds the guard to the motor-
there were some unused screw holes so i just put some screws in to hold the
guard.

 

[autowasherfreak]

It's been starting right up every time I've turned it on.  It' seems to run a lot better after I cleaned the guards, blades, and blew the motor out with the compressor.  The guards and blades weren't really all that dirty; I had just cleaned them a couple months ago.

 

 

 

[petek]

New fans are crap, that's why I collect vintage ones . Here are a few of mine and just looking at them makes me happy.