Turned my oven on tonight and the fan just hummed and didn?t spin. Turned it off and spun it with a stick poked through the slots and it ran fine after that.
I?m guessing it?s on its way out but was wondering if there is any future in trying to lubricate the bearings or whether to cut my losses any just order a new fan before it fails totally.
If it *is* worth trying to lubricate the bearings, what sort of oil should I use?
Tim
Oven fan? probly phosphor bronze bushings. I'd say 3 in 1 except its gonna be up to 200C.
Silicone spray?
The one I came across is where the fan motor was a modest distance from the fan, where the shaft went through the rear of the oven and so was much cooler than the oven temperature.
In which case anything to hand should be good. You might find that it's crud that is seizing the motor and a liberal spray with oil will assist greatly if only to displace the crud.
From experience, lubrication doesn't seem to work for long. You may well be able to change the bearings though.
The Natural Philosopher laid this down on his screen :
Are you sure they run that hot? Our gas oven fan draws cool(er) air in from the back/rear of the ovens, through the oven and out via the front door. Idea is, it prevents heat build up around the built in oven casing.
Electric ovens just circulate the contained air. As my wife bakes sourdough bread regularly it?s often cranked up to 220C which I suspect is taking its toll.
Tim
Well you are probably right. I had a brain fade and was thinking they were extractor fans - they arent really are they - more circulation fans.
However my comments on bronze bearings stand. The quick fix is a squirt of oil, the better fix is a complete soak on first of all solvent to remove the old hard lubricant, and then soak in oil afterwards - the bronze actually absorbs it.
Needless to say th e latter is mostly impractical and once you have the fan out you might as well shove in a new one
well mine - I had serviced the Aga yesterday so had to use the electric oven to roast my dinner - blows warm air and roast-chickeny smells out the front, so it's not *just* circulating
But you make a point, it's certainly not operating at ambient temps
Somewhere in between.
My experience with model plane motors with bronze bearings also suggests they tend to go bad when the motor has been pushed too hard and got too hot.
But the motor itself is usually outside the oven cavity and its insulation and often has a second fan on the shaft, to keep the motor much cooler.
I've had the same problem, more than once. I use a few drops of three-in-one or whatever is handy. Any oil you use will evaporate over time as the unit gets exposed to quite a bit of heat, so maybe some high-temperature oils would be better, I don't know. Every couple of years the fan in our oven makes noises and starts to jam, so I know it's time to get the back off the oven and oil the bearings again.
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