eurekafansquid
Well-known member
Dust is getting in my fans, I can barely even feel the air because of the dust on the exterior, Does anybody have a solution to this?
Fans
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royalfan103
Well-known member
You can take apart the fan, then vacuum or wash the fan cage. But if you're gonna wash it let the fan cage dry before using. Is it one of those cylinder fans?
eurekafansquid
Well-known member
most of them are tower fans, one is a pedestal fan
royalfan103
Well-known member
Are you trying to clean all of them or just one? I'd vacuum them because I know fans are easy to vacuum out.
suckolux
Well-known member
My tower fans I clean twice a season. I take it outside and with the leaf blower, holding it, I blow it backwards reverse air flow. You can't believe the crap! Vacuum after, and I keep my place clean. Good luck!
Cleaning a fan is a good thing
So I discovered our pedestal fan seemed to be running fine but it just didn’t seem to put out much airflow. I thought well it’s a bad blade design...so I was going to give it away to our niece who can’t afford much and get something else so since it was mildly dirty I thought I’d open up the cage and take off the blade and clean those parts before we have it to her. After cleaning I turned it on and was really surprised at the difference in the airflow, it really blows the air much better now so I ended up not bothering to change it out. I hadn’t mentioned anything to my niece yet so it was t like I was going back on my word. Also, it ended up much quieter with less of a shhh sound when on.
So clearlly if you feel like a fan is not very effective, give it a thorough cleaning including washing the blades after vacuuming them and it should be an improvement.
I have to keep some fans under my house for crawl space air movement and they get very very filthy and they have to be cleaned frequently in order to allow them to do the job properly.
Seems cleaning fans of all sorts should be something that should be routinely done on vacuums to keep suction at peak but often they are difficult to get to. I was able to clean the dust out of my Electrolux canister motor easily with a compressor but more difficult to get to the fan blades so didn’t do those but I bet if I did suction airflow would be improved and even restored to like new quality.
Jon
So I discovered our pedestal fan seemed to be running fine but it just didn’t seem to put out much airflow. I thought well it’s a bad blade design...so I was going to give it away to our niece who can’t afford much and get something else so since it was mildly dirty I thought I’d open up the cage and take off the blade and clean those parts before we have it to her. After cleaning I turned it on and was really surprised at the difference in the airflow, it really blows the air much better now so I ended up not bothering to change it out. I hadn’t mentioned anything to my niece yet so it was t like I was going back on my word. Also, it ended up much quieter with less of a shhh sound when on.
So clearlly if you feel like a fan is not very effective, give it a thorough cleaning including washing the blades after vacuuming them and it should be an improvement.
I have to keep some fans under my house for crawl space air movement and they get very very filthy and they have to be cleaned frequently in order to allow them to do the job properly.
Seems cleaning fans of all sorts should be something that should be routinely done on vacuums to keep suction at peak but often they are difficult to get to. I was able to clean the dust out of my Electrolux canister motor easily with a compressor but more difficult to get to the fan blades so didn’t do those but I bet if I did suction airflow would be improved and even restored to like new quality.
Jon
kirbyklekter
Well-known member
Those dusty fans
Be sure to put a drop or two where the bearings are. The bigger fans usually have an oil port, like a little half round cup with 'oil' over it. If the fan oscillates left and right, the rear bearing most likely gets it's lubrication from the gear box. Virtually every fan I've pulled from dumpsters and trash heaps needed nothing more than a little oil to bring them back to life,
You can buy a zoom spout oiler,has a retractable tube of 7" for easier reach and the oil is right for what you're doing. Try not to spill any oil on the windings, just wipe them off if you do. This will keep your fans going for a long time. Just a drop or two will do. If you remove the fan blades be sure to wash them in sudsy water to remove even the oil from your hands. Dust will build up faster on oily,dirty blades. I service mine about twice a year, only takes 15 or 20 minutes.
If you can't find the bearings, just unplug the fan and spin the blades by hand and watch inside for the moving shaft, it will go through or stop at a bearing. Post a pic if you need help . Billy
Be sure to put a drop or two where the bearings are. The bigger fans usually have an oil port, like a little half round cup with 'oil' over it. If the fan oscillates left and right, the rear bearing most likely gets it's lubrication from the gear box. Virtually every fan I've pulled from dumpsters and trash heaps needed nothing more than a little oil to bring them back to life,
You can buy a zoom spout oiler,has a retractable tube of 7" for easier reach and the oil is right for what you're doing. Try not to spill any oil on the windings, just wipe them off if you do. This will keep your fans going for a long time. Just a drop or two will do. If you remove the fan blades be sure to wash them in sudsy water to remove even the oil from your hands. Dust will build up faster on oily,dirty blades. I service mine about twice a year, only takes 15 or 20 minutes.
If you can't find the bearings, just unplug the fan and spin the blades by hand and watch inside for the moving shaft, it will go through or stop at a bearing. Post a pic if you need help . Billy
