Oiling Roof Turbine Vents

[vwaldoguy]

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

[Joseph Meehan]

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.

[Joe]

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

[deke]

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.

[HeyBub]

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.