Cool. I added your video to the end of my article on fixing the fan

@bmetal2

8 жыл бұрын

+Matthias Wandel, woodworkers in Canada rock!!!

@IBuildIt

8 жыл бұрын

+Matthias Wandel Thanks, and thanks for all of the interesting videos :)

@SMU_3L

8 жыл бұрын

+onlyfornintendo Can you even read? If so, check out the description

I guess it is the natural tinkerer in me but I have never thrown a fan out because of the common issue fans are plagued with. It could be that I hate throwing things out. Either way, thanks to you and Matthias for doing a video like this to show people how easy it is to fix a simple thing that has only one moving part.

@alysononoahu8702

9 ай бұрын

Me too...

LOL! This is woodworkers fixing fans week!

I too have a box fan which I bought maybe 15 years ago. Every spring for the last 5 years or so I've opened all the fans in my house and cleaned them for the warmer season. Each fan also get a few drops of 3 in 1 oil on both bearings. If any of them doesn't power down smoothly during operation through the summer months I will add another drop or two of oil. Doing this every year has become a routine for me and has prolonged the fans use. You will get many more years out of that fan with regular maintenance and don't trash it if you no longer wish to use it.... DONATE IT ! Someone will appreciate having one that they maybe cannot afford.GJ for posting this.

Thanks, you validated my own repair philosophy: compressed air and lots of oil. Plan B is gentle persuasion with a hammer. I feel good now.

I did this to a couple of my fans a few months ago. This is amusing. I approve of the prospect of additional fan videos.

I had a floor standing fan with dirty blades that just wasn't moving very much air. I cleaned the blades and it made a HUGE difference in how much air was moved so, yeah, clean blades work a LOT better.

Good to see that you have get this blower running again. I think we need more fixing and repair vids!

This is great! Matthias releases his video one day and you've already fixed a fan the next. Something really satisfying about watching knowledge being shared and used like this.

Cleaning the blades makes a big difference!!! Really does

With a little more disassembly, I've done this on bath fans, an impact driver, and my clothes dryer, adds years of service. Beats a trip to the store.

Fan sales will drop drastically in the following months. :D

@JohnSmith-ki2eq

8 жыл бұрын

+hunjoey Winter : )

@jebowlin3879

8 жыл бұрын

+hunjoey Fans are out of season at the moment, people are still wanting them, but you realy cant get any right now anyway, js :D

Just did this to my fan. Wasn't working so well, not its back to running smoothly. Thanks to you and Matthias for this!

Yeah! Lubricate the shaft.

I'm glad the oil got your shaft working again.

Thanks for the video! I've tried many different types of oil on a continuous duty fan extracting humid air from my basement. None of them worked for more than two months till I tried automatic transmission fluid. Going strong after five months..

Always good to see one of my favorite youtubers inspiring another one of my favorites. :-)

With that type of motor, the bearings are sintered bronze, you shouldn't use grease, but as you only want another year out of it, not a problem. The bearings are in a cup that has a felt washer behind them which is normally soaked in oil, the bearing takes up that oil. Normally there is a small hole that you can lubricate it, put plenty of 3 in one in there. Sometimes the bearing gets stuck to the shaft and turns in the cup, but you can take the motor apart and free them, then clean up the shaft. I've repaired many of those, except for the ones that have seized and overheated.

I also watched his video and I was just as surprised as you. I have a few fans like that so I'm going to try that this spring. Take care and be safe. Thanks for sharing Roy

Great to see new life in the old fan, I'm sure it will serve you well for quite a awhile.

John, instead of throwing it out in a year or two, turn it into an air filtration unit for the shop - take care of the larger particles - it's paid for, all you need to do is strap on a filter to the intake sideScott

@IBuildIt

8 жыл бұрын

+The 2 Car Garage Shop I'm already working on one, but more sophisticated and using a better quality fan. It can be seen in the thumbnail of this video on the floor leaning against my lathe stand.

Thanks! just fixed two fans, one like the one you had on video that someone threw out on the street, and a small black fan that had got jammed after falling to many times on the floor. Win win. Appreciate the help

They are pretty easy to fix, especially the older models that use more robust engines. I have about 16 years worth of life out of a cheap fan (then) just because each time it stops, i take it apart and wd40 the bearings. In the more "modern" ones they stopped putting sintered bearings and use straight up brass or a cheap alloy, because in addition to getting gunked up they also get loose and that's when you throw it out. As to how effective the thing is? If you run it and stop it often, it's not too good, once the bearing gets damaged it will continue to get worse faster and faster. But if you run it nonstop, which i have one of in my bathroom, not gonna die, hasn't yet.

That was FANtastic. Very COOL video. I'm a big FAN of your videos.

many years ago I was sent to find a replacement for a bathroom vent fan and I ended up at a fan rewiring shop that was more interested in how things operate than hiding the truth. He showed me that modern fans do not stop working but run out of lubricant. His solution was to drill the bearings and add oil but he noted the old time fans ran forever that had oil tubes-- JUST USE 20 WEIGHT NON DETERGENT OIL, detergent oil leaves a film that gets sticky or gummy and sticks the fan rotor.

John thinks to himself "ok that's good thanks Matthias, but now I need to make a knob and handle".

Thank you @IBuildIt ! You saved the day for me.

Thanks for the vid John. I'm a FAN of your work too. lol :)

@IBuildIt

8 жыл бұрын

+RetroWeld Ha! It's FAN appreciation day :D

cleaning the blades absolutely makes a difference. ive got a fan ive had for like 10 years (its a bigger more expensive model than this. LOL). every couple years it pretty much stops moving air. i clean the blades and it blows like a champ.

I make it a point to do this to my fans once or twice a season. Keeps them working like new for several years.

Shoot, I'm behind. I haven't even done the lawnmower video, and now I need to do a fan also? ;-)

@IBuildIt

8 жыл бұрын

+wordsnwood Maybe fix a fan so that it will cut grass! :D

A few months ago all the creators were mowing their lawns, is this the new must-do video?

Tape a 20 X 20 filter on the low pressure side. Clean your air and keep your fan clean

our local refuse recycle centre is always full of fans after the summer (yes even in Scotland we get three days of warm weather) I seems people rush out and buy fans and then dump them when the winter comes, looking at them I think most end up dumped as the fan rubs against the guard surround so easy to fix because they have fallen over .

In my experience, cleaning the blades makes an enormous difference to the flow performance, especially at low fan speeds.

If the fan wouldn't be worth saving because of its broken casement, you could make your own casement from wood. Or you could go further and make your own wooden fan with the motor of it. Would be a fun project.

Two hints for fans. 1. Simplest wood dust collector is a box fan, a square filter that's the same size as fan, and two bungie cords to hold filter onto the intake side of fan. At work they were doing a lot of drywall sanding. Everyone laughed when I rigged up this fan, until they saw the 1/8 inch layer of drywall dust on the filter that occurred in the first couple of hours. 2. My old squirrel furnace fan motor is really old and was squealing. I just added a couple of drops of oil onto a cloth covered shaft bearing, been good for two years now. I didn't even know it had a cloth covering made for that.

Thanks for the info. It blew me away.

That fan now needs an I Build It-style handle and knob.

Zoom Spout oil is my favorite for fans. Lasts a long time.

Pretty handy about things, just not cleaning anything. Rip the chord from the wall. Half wipe the dust and mold off the blade.

been keeping all my fans on life support for years with regular maintenance, when you're done with this in the basement you can tape a furnace filter to it and use it filter the air in the shop....

Good info -- thank you sharing!

can't wait to get out to my garage to see if this little trick works.

I need to buy that lubricant spray. Currently I use only Selley's RP7, and even though it works okay, it will gunk up again and seize the motor again. Maybe RP7 for initial unseizing + degreaser + silicone lube?

I had to do this to the fan I use for my DIY dust collector. It used to 'moan' when I would turn it on. Now it works great.

Mine was slow and I opened it up and cleaned all the collected dust and grime from ot being in a window which is facing a construction site. These fans coils and capacitors are very important and when they wear down you start to have problems. Anyway take your fanz part and clean it through including the covers and it should start running better. If you start a fan and it doesn't come at all then you need to completely take it apart. Download a PDF of the schematics and print it out of you have a printer. Most of the time all you have to do is clean thoroughly and its should start working.

I miss those D shaped blades BRING THEM BACK!!

That's funny, I bought a fan 3 years ago, one of the "tower fans", and I haven't done anything to it. It runs at night in our bedroom, the wife likes the white noise (helps her to sleep), I'm kind of surprised it's survived being on for 11,000 hours so far.

I used to garbage pick and honestly, never found a fan like that that was not easily fixed the same way.

My box fan quit about ten years ago, filled with more greasy sawdust and yuck than I wanted to fuss with. Nothing to lose right? I ran it through the dishwasher just to see if it would clean up. Looked pretty good and turned a lot easier, so I blasted the water out with compressed air and re-oiled the heck out of it. I repeat every couple of years. Paint's starting to come off, but it still works.

Note the nut that holds on the blades is reverse threaded!

The mistake is that you didn't disassemply motor to clean the dust from the coils and better lubrication. After few hours of turning will stuck again.

The canadian craftsman synergy is strong.

Good job!

I wonder who will be the next one to post a similar video... Steve? Jay?

@JayBates

8 жыл бұрын

+Dennis Padul Not me. I don't have any portable fans.

@Durrdalus

8 жыл бұрын

+Dennis Padul Izzy Swan with a fan blade making jig?

@utkanf

8 жыл бұрын

+Dennis Padul +jimmydiresta will make a fan with blades made out of axes !

@seigeengine

8 жыл бұрын

+Jay Bates You have no idea what your life is lacking.

@DennisPadul

8 жыл бұрын

Remember the time when someone made a video about mowing the lawn?

I just watched Matthias's video and left a tip for doing what both of you are doing. Go back to his and take a look at my comment and give it a try some time. I'm not being critical in any way, just trying to share my experiences with you to shorten your frustrations. keep up the great videos. I watch you all the time.

I did it and my fan I was going to trash works fine! Thanks!

I left my box fan running in the window while i went shopping and it rained while I was gone so the fan got a little wet. I turned it off and took it out of the window to let it dry for few days. When I plugged it back in and turned it on, it wouldn't work. Is there a simple fix or should I just buy another one?

Felt a breeze after you turned the fan on ;)

@IBuildIt

8 жыл бұрын

+FastEasySmartTOOL Now, that's good camera work :)

Incredible job 😎😎😁👍

You sir have incredibly speedy screw driver fingers :)

hey do u still have that boxfan?

Merci beaucoup,,, Thank you so much

Strange, I fixed one of my "broken" fans just before Halloween too... W-D 40 to the rescue! I'm surprised you just didn't build a new one out of scrap wood you had laying around for another masterpiece...

I wish we could get those box fans here because I want to make a simple portable air filter by attaching a furnace filter to it. Maybe that's a future use for your's instead of going in the garbage. Best Wishes, Brendan.

@IBuildIt

8 жыл бұрын

+baconsoda I'm already working on one, but using a better quality fan. It can be seen in part of this video on the floor leaning against my lathe stand.

@baconsoda

8 жыл бұрын

+I Build It Ah, thank you. Even more to look forward to. B

@Slaters_RC

8 жыл бұрын

+baconsoda you can buy box fans with a filter on them. I have one.

@baconsoda

8 жыл бұрын

+Mr1998jeepcherokee Thank you, I'll search UK and Ireland with that additional info. Best Wishes, Brendan.

Will you stop using that nice table saw as a work bench! Ha! Love your videos.

FANtastic

Woah, I just tried to turn on my fan last night and it was stuck too! Weird. I just fixed it in a few minutes. Thanks John and Matthias!

@IBuildIt

8 жыл бұрын

+Steve Carmichael Just watched yours Steve - fanominal! :)

3-in-1 oil is probably better for the fan bearings than Lithium Grease. The motor speed is probably wanting a thinner lubricant than the grease

I've been down this road. It's a temporary fix. Once the bearings inside on the shaft heat up enough to get hot and seize they're on borrowed time. You may get to lube it up a couple more times, but eventually it is going to grenade on you and the motor will not spin anymore. Walmart... $16... 20", 3 speeds... the "tight-wad's typhoon"

Hey John, I've been meaning to ask: Every time you use an air tool I never hear a compressor. Do you have it outside, hidden, what gives you all that silent air?

@IBuildIt

8 жыл бұрын

+Bud Prine In the corner. I just don't film anything when it's running.

Its amazing what a little lube on the shaft can do from time to time :)

I don’t have the oil for it what do I do?

How big is your shop?

hi, a lot of guys use this type of fan with filters on for dust control,maybe you will get another year out of it for that ?

I WATCHED THAT VIDEO TOO AND DID A CLEANING AND LUBE ON MY SMALL OFFICE FAN....RUNS MUCH BETTER...

Make it better than knew and add a two foot (24 inch) square furnace filter. Then you will cut down on dusting and have a safer work area. Thank you for the great video ! tjl

Nice

my fan fell and it made this wierd loud noise now it wont work right when it fell stopped working is thier reason? all the components are in place

@FLS713HTX

3 жыл бұрын

Same happened to mine, took it apart and cleaned it up real good and made sure the motor was running and spinning I used WD-40 and cleaned until it starting spinning real good, then I cleaned the blade and put it all back together and it was good as new.

i watch both of you and you both do the same thing wandel's was smaller, lol

Well John, that's good to know. Thanks. JimE

My experience with this kind of fix is its temporary at best. It certainly wont make it as good as new but will give it alittle more time before it craps out completely.

None of my fans have a bolt in the middle to remove the blade or a single screw to remove the blade. How can take my fans apart?

Dan Rojas from GreenPowerScience uses a fan to catch mosquitoes and NightHawkInLight used Dan's technique for a video on his channel. Did you ever try levitating a screwdriver with compressed air yet, their videos on NightHawkInLight and Applied Science.

You need to make a wooden replacement handle. ;)

Hey l stay in a motel and they only turn the cooler on at night and I have a box fan they gave me to but it fucking sucks is there any way to make it spin faster and make it more cool please I'm dying from heat so any advice is extemly appreciated

Can I barrow the air pump?

It needs to be cleaned more than it needs oil. I throw mine in the shower and hose it down motor and all. Let it dry then a little oil and your good to go. If you put a bunch of oil on it dirty it will just gum up faster.

i like those D blades

how do you get that shit in there in the first place, i have a fans that are old as heck and i dont have a problem with gunk on the bearings/shaft

That box fan is actually very old. We can tell because your box fan has D shaped blades. D shaped bladed box fans have been discontinued since about 1999. All new plastic box fans have the thinner flower pedal blades. You name the brand. Lasko, Galaxy, Holmes, Lakewood. All the newer ones have thin flower pedal blades.

@metal422life

7 жыл бұрын

I think he was talking about himself mostly. Referring to his age in comparison with the fan. fan is not as old as his so, therefor it is not that old lol just finding random things on youtube and putting a input in

Big fan! Get it? Who's your favorite youtuber?

Looks like your retract a bit was jamming on you. The one I had was the worst for jamming

0:48 I think he was talking about himself mostly. Referring to his age in comparison with the fan. fan is not as old as his so, therefor it is not that old lol just finding random things on youtube and putting a input in

So, the next Jack Houweling video will be a fan fix also? Oh, come on John, that was a joke just to make you laugh.

Why not make a air filter of it?

I usually just use some WD40 for lubing motors :D

"good as new", I bet it's better than new. The lube from the factory probably isn't much of a shake, lol

Wish I had a dirty fan.