How Do You Lubricate Oscillating Fans?

[Guest]

this site has everything you could possibly want to know about lubricating a fan...its totally everything you want to know on the lube..lol
http://www.fancollectors.org/info/lube.htm

 

[GirlWonderGrows]

Sorry guys, not trying to flame anyone. I agree with you Ono Nadagin, "always try and fix, repair or replace anything found to be broken" - I'm just saying fix and repair should definatly be on that list. Of course take care of it right away. If you aren't responsable enough to do that, then you should just get a new one.

In my personal opinion, fix and repair are where they belong, before replace. But to each her own! Thank you for that link on fan greasing, it definatly says 'don't use 3 in 1 or wd40' - so I guess I'll have to get some real lube and do it right next time.

GWG

 

[Ono Nadagin]

No worries man

if you are going to lube em I highly recomend lithium grease.... however I recomend buying a new fan and loading it up with a good bit of lithium grease lubrication to extend the life of the new fan rather than trying to extend the already malfunctioning fan.



the main problem with oscillating fans is that the motors bearings and brushes were not designed to take the lateral loads applied by the side to side torqueing motion of the fans... it causes them to fail far sooner than non oscillating fans

 

[DirtyDan]

Fan Lub

Fan Lub

Hey guys, just thought to share my experience with this.

About 3 hours ago I was googgling on how to fix some fans. Didn't get much luck there, as all the websites were to computer fans. Then it hit me! Who better to know how heavy usage can affect oscillating fans then... weed growers! Came here and found this thread!

I have 2 Fans I’ve been using for about 2 years. They’re old, and borrowed from a friend. One is a Standing fan with oscillating head, and the other is a Guitar Amp style fan with rotating grid. VERY OLD. They both started failing about 6 months ago from constant usage. I used to start them by hand as someone commented here, and after sometime they stopped working altogether.

So first suggestion: Graphite powder. I happened to have some left from way back. Tried it on and nothing happened.
Second try was hammering. I've seen some guys at a car repair place hammering motors of car windows and it worked fine. No luck on my fan
Third try was the bad mouthed WD-40. A Couple of sprays and Voila! Started spinning back again.

Mostly the problems were in the shaft that links the fan to the motor. It has a metal "holder" just in front of the motor. After WD'ing it some dirt and rust came out, WD some more internal parts and back as new.

They running fine now, even better then when I got them. So, there you go. Before buying a new one, try some WD.

As for the "OMG it's going to explode" crowd. Please guys, as long as you don't mess with the electrical part of the fan, all its going to happen is the motor heating up. Just don't be too stupid! Turn the motor off once you see its not turning. Wait a little bit and try again. Its not going to explode on you, you'll be able to smell the heating motor way before the temperature get that high. Oh, and of course DONT PUT ANYTHING FLAMMABLE NEAR THE THING, you potheads!

cheers!