Attic Fan

[Puddin' Man]

About 25 years ago I installed a little t-stat controlled gable fan in my little MO bungalow attic. Maybe 12 years later, it was causing bad static on tv, radio in the room under the gable.

So I installed it in the detached garage in back (for same purpose, cooling in extreme July, Aug. heat). It's still running.

Now the gable fan I replaced it with (Cool Attic 1500, in service since '96) ceases to work. I lubed it as best I could. It's getting elec. power from the tstat. Motor just refuses to turn over. Fan blades are not locked, turn by hand, a bit tight, 'tho.

I figured it just burnt up 'till I remembered the older one still runs after 25 years. Why should the newer one go south?

Any ideas? Should I just pull the Cool Attic, take it apart to confirm motor is burnt up (or whatever)? Or just order a replacement?

Thx, P

"Law Without Equity Is No Law At All. It Is A Form Of Jungle Rule."

[Zyp]

They couldn't sell you a new one if the old one kept running. :)

[RBM]

Newer attic ventilators seem to be real garbage. Unlike the older models, it seems that two or three years is all they last for. The motors are really low torque, so anything from bird nests, bees, bats, or a slight bit of oxidation will prevent the fan from turning causing it to overheat and burn out. The only thing you can test or service is the thermostat. If you have power to the motor side of the stat, and it doesn't turn, toss it.

>

[J O E]

I've had my gable fan for more than 40 years, and it's still going strong.

You say you lubed yours as best you could - I assume that means you dripped some oil into the holes provided for that purpose.

Too little ... too late. Given that the windings have not burned out - you need to take it apart completely - remove the long screws that hold the whole thing together.

Then give the bronze oilite bushings a good cleaning with mineral spirits, or the like, and when re-assembling ... lubricate the front and rear shafts with the same oil you use for the yearly drip-hole lubricating - squirt some oil into the front and rear bushings, let soak, then pour out the excess.

Make sure the shaft spins freely after re-assembling ... sometime this requires careful torqueing of the screws - sometimes a sharp rap with a hammer, on the body of the motor.

I have resurrected a couple of neighbor's jammed gable fans that had been neglected, and lectured them about lubing the damn thing every year.

Can't overlube - the excess will just run out the bottom ... but the wicking material surrounding the bushing should be saturated. If kept lubricated, the steel armature shaft will never actually touch the bronze bushing, but float in a film of oil.

Joe

Yeah, I know ... webtv and all that crap -

[ransley]

Are any consumer grade apliances made like they were 25 years ago? That 25 yr old fan may have cost the same as a new one now, it was made to last now they are made to last the warranty period.

[Hipupchuck]

The US makes garbage. Some of it forced by OSHA and the EPA. Nothing works right nor lasts like it used to. Rebuild an old one.

[ilbebauck]

The American Corporate philosophy is to get the product out asap and to start realizing a profit asap, first and foremost. In the process, quality and engineering is lost or at best is a secondary issue. This is the way things are made and its the Consumer that takes the hit. That aside, run alot of oil in the motors oiling holes AND run oil down the shaft of the motor so it goes into the top bearing real good, then keep spinning it by hand till it loosens up. Apply power to the motor and run it a couple hours. Stop it, re-oil, then youre good to go for THAT season. Remember, the motors are cheap and they see alot of heat/dirt/moisture...so oil it each year.

[AZ Nomad]

The US makes almost nothing. Everything is made in china.

[Art Todesco]

Many of the newer fans have an over temperature fuse device in the motor. It is a fusible link which melts above a set temperature and also above a set current. A friend just called me to discuss the one he just worked on. There was a little square device, about 1/4", buried in the motor windings. It was marked 5A and

130 degrees C. Apparently, a raccoon had pushed in the protective screen and stalled the fan blades. The link opened and the fan stopped working. I did some googling and found a manufacturer of the part.

Your problem might, of course, be different .... maybe.

[stan]

Our fairly low experience with these domestically installed electric motors; typically in fans, bathroom exhausts, cooking hood exhausts, microwave oven fans, old phonograph motors and attic cooling is that they run a lot of hours. They don't get lubed often enough because they are often inaccessible and hard to get at. Consequently it is often the bearings that wear out or burn up; not the windings. Our bathroom fan is basically 39 years old but has been rebuilt a couple of times using pieces from other motors, in one case the bearings from an old phono motor picked on on bulk garbage day! The windings are original. Agree some fan motors are garbage others much better. BTW we fixed a 230 volt 4500 watt workshop type portable heater which someone threw out because of a burnt out fan motor by installing a powerful 115 volt computer fan in series with a 3 microfarad AC capacitor across the 230 volt supply. So one can think of old computers, as sometimes, a source of certain types of fans.

[trader4]

So, even if the motor winding is burnt out or open, a little oil is gonna fix it right up eh? Wow, all the good motors I've tossed over the years.....

[trader4]

All the attic fans and similar small electric motors I'vs seen for many decades have motors that are not intended to be oiled.

Consequently it is often the bearings that wear

[Hipupchuck]

The US makes garbage. Some of it forced by OSHA and the EPA. Nothing works right nor lasts like it used to. Rebuild an old one.

This was in my sent folder but never arrived here yesterday.