Hello,

I've got a 3 1/2 year old home with three 14" vent turbines on top.
Within the past couple of months, they've started to squeak, loud
enough that we can hear them at night and you can hear them when
outside. Do they typically have sealed bearings, or can I apply some
oil to alleviate the squealing? I haven't gotten up on top of the
roof to look at them yet, because the roof is somewhat steep and I
don't have any brackets for my ladder to go over the gutters. Thought
I'd throw a quick question out there to the group, to see if they can
be oiled, or do they need to be replaced.

Van

vwaldoguy wrote:
Hello,

I've got a 3 1/2 year old home with three 14" vent turbines on top.
Within the past couple of months, they've started to squeak, loud
enough that we can hear them at night and you can hear them when
outside. Do they typically have sealed bearings, or can I apply some
oil to alleviate the squealing? I haven't gotten up on top of the
roof to look at them yet, because the roof is somewhat steep and I
don't have any brackets for my ladder to go over the gutters. Thought
I'd throw a quick question out there to the group, to see if they can
be oiled, or do they need to be replaced.

Van

Three years is good live for those things. While there are a few
situation where they are useful, most of the time other forms of ventilation
will work better and cause fewer problems.

I suggest you check around with a roofer or two locally and ask them
about your options. This tends to be dependent on local conditions so the
local experts are usually the best people to contact about the choice of
using them or not.


--
Joseph Meehan

Dia 's Muire duit

On Apr 9, 4:19 pm, "vwaldoguy" wrote:
Hello,

I've got a 3 1/2 year old home with three 14" vent turbines on top.

snip

Just get rid of them. There are static fixed vents that are far less
ugly and more efficient besides. Virtually all of these installations
are 'feel good' devices so that the owner can see something happening
that resembles ventilation. About on a par with the ribbons that cheap
motels used to tie to the air conditioning units to keep the
sweltering public from complaining. Anyone with a rudimentary
knowledge of physics can see the faulty logic in these dvices. HTH

Joe

On 9 Apr 2007 14:19:10 -0700, "vwaldoguy" wrote:

Hello,

I've got a 3 1/2 year old home with three 14" vent turbines on top.
Within the past couple of months, they've started to squeak, loud
enough that we can hear them at night and you can hear them when
outside. Do they typically have sealed bearings, or can I apply some
oil to alleviate the squealing? I haven't gotten up on top of the
roof to look at them yet, because the roof is somewhat steep and I
don't have any brackets for my ladder to go over the gutters. Thought
I'd throw a quick question out there to the group, to see if they can
be oiled, or do they need to be replaced.

Van

Mine had a teflon type bearing and it eventually became almost
frozen after 5 years. Rather than grease it again with axle grease, I
replaced it with a power vent and am much happier with the result.

vwaldoguy wrote:
Hello,

I've got a 3 1/2 year old home with three 14" vent turbines on top.
Within the past couple of months, they've started to squeak, loud
enough that we can hear them at night and you can hear them when
outside. Do they typically have sealed bearings, or can I apply some
oil to alleviate the squealing? I haven't gotten up on top of the
roof to look at them yet, because the roof is somewhat steep and I
don't have any brackets for my ladder to go over the gutters. Thought
I'd throw a quick question out there to the group, to see if they can
be oiled, or do they need to be replaced.

The bearings are probably permanent - not meant for grease or oil. You
should replace the turbines.

Fortunately, this is easy to do and inexpensive - even for the models with
REALLY permanent bearings. Turbines, for the amount of air they move, are a
bargain.