I have a four year old box fan that occasionally needs to be
"hand-started" to get going. It takes a couple of flips, like hand
starting a propeller.

I'd like to disassemble and degrease the fan and motor and re-assemble.

There has to be millions of this kind of fan out there. It's the type
with a 3 speed plus off rotary switch.

Can the fan & motor assembly be disassembled enough to clean and re-grease it?

Thanks.

--- Joe

On Apr 6, 5:55 pm, (Joe) wrote:
I have a four year old box fan that occasionally needs to be
"hand-started" to get going. It takes a couple of flips, like hand
starting a propeller.

I'd like to disassemble and degrease the fan and motor and re-assemble.

There has to be millions of this kind of fan out there. It's the type
with a 3 speed plus off rotary switch.

Can the fan & motor assembly be disassembled enough to clean and re-grease it?

Thanks.

--- Joe

I had the same problem. 3 or 4 years ago I took the grills off of
mine. I cleaned all the disgusting dust and grime off, first with a
vacuum cleaner then I used a rag dampened with windex. I was careful
not to let any liquid go into the guts of the thing. After it was
cleaned up I saw 3 small holes on either side of the motor in close to
the shaft. I took some 10-30 motor oil and applied just a few drops to
each hole as I manually turned the fan with my hand. It felt better
right away. I didn't want to spray oil all over the house so first I
let it sit for a few hours on ether side with a rag to catch the
little bit of oil that dripped out. Then I took it out in the drive
way and ran it for about 15 minutes on high. I didn't notice anything
coming out of it and it's worked great ever since.

"Joe" wrote in message
...

I'd like to disassemble and degrease the fan and motor and re-assemble.

You need Oilite type oil.

In article y0HRh.4708$hO2.1414@edtnps82, "Homer J Simpson"
wrote:

"Joe" wrote in message
...

I'd like to disassemble and degrease the fan and motor and re-assemble.

You need Oilite type oil.

I never heard of Oilite, so i googled it. It's an oil-filled bushing. I
still have no idea what "Oilite type oil" is.

Any suggestions as to dis-assembly or cleaning the bushing?

--- Joe

"Joe" wrote in message
...

I'd like to disassemble and degrease the fan and motor and re-assemble.

You need Oilite type oil.

I never heard of Oilite, so i googled it. It's an oil-filled bushing. I
still have no idea what "Oilite type oil" is.

Any suggestions as to dis-assembly or cleaning the bushing?

You need a solvent to clean the bearings. There is a special oil for porous
bronze bearings (Oilite type oil).

Disassembly - you are on your own!

Homer J Simpson wrote:
"Joe" wrote in message
...


I'd like to disassemble and degrease the fan and motor and re-assemble.

You need Oilite type oil.

I never heard of Oilite, so i googled it. It's an oil-filled bushing. I
still have no idea what "Oilite type oil" is.

Any suggestions as to dis-assembly or cleaning the bushing?


You need a solvent to clean the bearings. There is a special oil for porous
bronze bearings (Oilite type oil).

Disassembly - you are on your own!





I've had good luck with Marvel Mystery Oil, you can probably get by with
any light machine oil though, it's just a fan, nobody will die if the
bushings seize again.

"James Sweet" wrote in message
news:Q10Sh.535$jG5.389@trndny09...

You need a solvent to clean the bearings. There is a special oil for
porous bronze bearings (Oilite type oil).

Disassembly - you are on your own!

I've had good luck with Marvel Mystery Oil, you can probably get by with
any light machine oil though, it's just a fan, nobody will die if the
bushings seize again.

True, but if the bearings develop a slight slop the speed goes way down.

James Sweet wrote:
I've had good luck with Marvel Mystery Oil, you can probably get by with
any light machine oil though, it's just a fan, nobody will die if the
bushings seize again.

I've used Singer sewing machine oil over the years on fans just like this.
The fans are nearly identical, the brand changes over the years. I think
the last brand name was Lakewood.

--
Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast.
That's why stereo has two channels.

On Apr 6, 5:55 pm, (Joe) wrote:
I have a four year old box fan that occasionally needs to be
"hand-started" to get going. It takes a couple of flips, like hand
starting a propeller.

I'd like to disassemble and degrease the fan and motor and re-assemble.

There has to be millions of this kind of fan out there. It's the type
with a 3 speed plus off rotary switch.

Can the fan & motor assembly be disassembled enough to clean and re-grease it?

Thanks.

--- Joe

Why don't you just buy a new one. Why spend all day dicking around
with a fan only werth twenty dollars.

Hi!

Those things are permanently lubricated the factory but what the
hell you can give it a try

Is there ever an instance where that isn't a total joke?

I've seen lots of fans that were intended to be oiled periodically and never
were, but ran for years (sometimes a decade or three) before needing
attention.

As for so-called "permanently lubricated" fans (and other devices) I have
lost count of the ones that I've had to oil because they seized up or got to
be very noisy. Computer fans, regular fans, exhaust fans, etc...

....this says volumes about the quality control of then and now.

#1 Offishul Ruiner of Usenet, March 2007
#1 Usenet Asshole, March 2007
#1 Bartlo Pset, March 13-24 2007
#10 Most hated Usenetizen of all time

Why? (I realize that I may regret asking, but there you go.)

Pierre Salinger Memorial Hook, Line & Sinker, June 2004
COOSN-266-06-25794

What are these?

William

Brittany Martin wrote:
On Apr 6, 5:55 pm, (Joe) wrote:
I have a four year old box fan that occasionally needs to be
"hand-started" to get going. It takes a couple of flips, like hand
starting a propeller.

I'd like to disassemble and degrease the fan and motor and re-assemble.

There has to be millions of this kind of fan out there. It's the type
with a 3 speed plus off rotary switch.

Can the fan & motor assembly be disassembled enough to clean and re-grease it?

Thanks.

--- Joe

Why don't you just buy a new one. Why spend all day dicking around
with a fan only werth twenty dollars.


There are two models. The cheap model needs to have its bearings
cleaned and lubed periodically. The OP, on the other hand, claims he
bought the expensive "premium model" (two or three times the price)
which advertises that its bearings are "lubricated for life." Hence his
question about how to proceed.

On Sun, 08 Apr 2007 23:54:04 GMT, William R. Walsh wrote:

As for so-called "permanently lubricated" fans (and other devices) I have
lost count ....

Probably found in the same list as so-called No Maintenance car batteries.

Jonesy

Hi!

Probably found in the same list as so-called No Maintenance car batteries.

Funny...I actually *did* pry the top off of a Delco Freedom maintenance free
battery to add some water when some of the cells appeared to be low. It was
a trick to get it back on, but I proved to myself that it could be done.

William