Ceiling Fans - Clean / Lube Motors?

Question

We have a Hunter ceiling fan in the family room where we also have a woodstove. The past couple of years, I've noticed the fan makes a "rum rum rum" sound that seems to be tied to the number of RPMs the fan is doing.

I've looked up inside the motor housing and I notice there seems to be some dust mixed with either cooking fat or motor oil (I don't know which) up in there, and I wonder whether the motor should be cleaned out and/or lubricated?

Does anyone know? And if so, how?

The methods I was considering were:

? blow out with compressed air / vacuum with shop vac ? maybe spray out the motor with that halogenated electrical parts cleaner? ? lube with Corrosion X and/or Super Lube grease with PFTE (both products are dielectric)

Can anyone knowledgeable advise me on this? Should I even bother (the motor housing is not hot, so the windings or whatever are not getting overheated, I don't think)?

Thanks for any ideas.

Jones.

Joe · Accepted Answer

seems to be tied to the >number of RPMs the fan is doing.

No. Fans are commonly made with long life sealed bearings. When the unit ages little can be done to prolong it's life. If you want to do some feel-good cleaning, remove and reinstall the blades one by one and get rid of the gunk. Go ahead and vacuum out the motor crud if that would please you. Turn on the unit and if there is no improvement, then you won't have a filthy fan to deal with as you install the new fan. First check the fan mounting box and supports and upgrade if necessary. Good luck.

Joe

Anonymous · Answer

Lots of the Hunter fans use an oilbath lube system, and may need to be topped-off from time to time. Hunter sells their own "special" oil for this purpose. Don't know what makes it "special", but for a couple of $$$$, I'd stay with their recommendation.

Jones · Answer

Thanks, guys. I ended up calling Hunter on the phone and they said no maintenance is needed or recommended on my particular unit. So, we just cleaned the blades. That alone made a difference!

Ceiling Fans - Clean / Lube Motors?

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