In article ,
Puddin' Man wrote:

On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 06:30:42 -0700, Smitty Two
wrote:

In article .com,
" wrote:

On Jun 19, 9:57 pm, Puddin' Man wrote:
Lube etc old ceiling fan?

I've gotta 24+ year old ceiling fan with a couple light fixtures
attached under the fan.

The fan is making a nasty little grinding noise.

Is it worth it to dissemble (likely a PITA) the fan/lites to
recondition, lube, etc the fan? I've not fiddled any
ceiling fans.

It looks to be a long, hot summer.

TIA,
Puddin'

"Mit der Dummheit kaempfen Goetter selbst vergebens!"
-Friedrich Schiller

Yes, its kind of a PITA to do but you could replace the bearings for
about $12.00 and then you'd have a fan that would probably last for
ever.

OK, so I'm retired and have a little more time to do stuff like this
but I find it very satisfying.

Lewis.

*****

Yeah, I'd give it a shot, too. Aren't we trying to save the planet,
here? Stop throwing away stuff to buy more stuff? I managed to fix one
of my ceiling fans, although it took me a while to figure out what was
wrong. The other one makes a bit of a racket, but even though I took it
apart, never could see what was loose.

Since you have to take it down to buy a new one, why not spend a half
hour to open it up and take a look? Could be a bearing as Lewis says, or
something even simpler like a loose set screw. Probably spend less time
fixing the old one if it's simple, than going out to buy a new one.
Either way you have to do the R & R.

I agree in principle. Thanks for the input.

Howsumever, it's hot as hell, I really rely on the fan, and I
gotta have contingency plans. Maybe y'all can help. If I can't
fix it I have to be in a position to replace it muy pronto.

Are ceiling fan mounts over the decades pretty much standard?
This one is held on a down-tube by a big pin secured by a
little cotter pin.

What'd you run into when you fixed your fan? Are bearings really
available for a 25+ yr-old fan? If so, how/where to find 'em?

Thx,
P


Can't speak to the standardness of mounts, have no idea about that. The
two fans I have are completely different mounts, though. But one way or
the other I assume they all hang from a box, which is hopefully hanging
from something besides drywall.

As well as I can recall, there was something loose in my fan that should
not have been able to come loose. I chalked it up to an engineering
oversight and modified it, but it was a few years back so don't remember
the details. It did take time, and new ones are cheap, and I'd rather
see you buy a fan than an air conditioner... Of course there are some
parts of the country that are more or less uninhabitable without AC.

I've taken many things apart and then thrown them in the trash. Doesn't
take much extra time. Hell, buy the new one first so it's on hand, and
then if you do fix the old one, take the new one back.