Hi ALL!
Firstly i apologize to 3dIY4 and INCC63 for not replying to their helpful response to my capacitor question due to a problem(i rarely had an internet connection, so i changed providers a month ago 🙂 ).
I opened up a home electric fan motor and took out the stator (bad field windings) and traded it in for a rewound one. A-So i put the motor back together and find out that the propeller shaft gets stuck (really hard to turn). It wasnt like this before i opened up the motor.
I`m told that its because when putting the motor back together, the propeller shaft does not align properly in the front and/or rear bushings because the bushings themselves can go out of alignment.
I recall seeing a repairman knock some part of the motor with a hammer which i presume is to put the bushings back in alignment. So 1-Where exactly do i knock on the motor? 2- Should i use my rubber hammer or a regular carpenter hammer? 3-How do i go about knocking on "whatever", a few light hits or one solid hit, or how?
B- 2nd Question: I noticed something tiny connected between one terminal of the capacitor and one end of the wire that goes to the wall outlet plug. It measures nearly 1/2 inch long and diameter is a hairline over 2mm. It has the markings 2A and Tf 115 degrees C and a reversed triangle.
Can i safely assume this is some kind of thermal safety switch that cuts off the current like a fuse (presumably at 115 degrees C temperature)? If it is a thermal safety switch and i cant find one, i assume i can do without it anyway, right? THANK YOU!
patrick
Re: 2 other Electric fan questions
No problem PatT. It would really help PatT if you took pictures and posted them here.
Bushing are one of the parts that vary quite a bit from one unit to another, IIRC. I do remember that some actually align naturally because they are balls with a hole in them. In fact, I suspect the shaft is crooked but that is quite an improbable mistake to make.
Anyway, the thing you saw the repairman doing was probably knocking the shaft out of the rotor. You can buy shafts from repair shops and remove the old one and install the new one yourself. I've done this using a piece of wood and a carpenter's hammer. You'll need to support the rotor though so it shaft can get out. A hole in a table does this nicely.
My suggestion however at this point in your fan repair "career" is to have the repairman do it. You can have the fun of assembling. Just make sure your watch the repairman carefully so you can have that fun too the next time. Worn out shafts and bushing are a common thing. A sure symptoms is the fan has a hard time starting and/or gets stuck and needs "a push" to get going.
Quite honestly, I think the repair shop will not even charge you to have a new shaft installed as long as you buy it from them.
Bushing are a bit harder but as I said, it depends on how they are mounted.
Re: 2 other Electric fan questions
Ok thanks a lot Incc63, i`l go try the repairman then. Oh, how about an answer to my 2nd question if its a thermal safety switch?
Re: 2 other Electric fan questions
Ok i decided to bring the little thingy i saw connected to the power line to an electronics supply, and they confirmed it as a thermal fuse. I then got a new thermal fuse (mine was open) and asked advice on the seemingly very hard rotor movement.
He told me that just before really tightening the screws that put together the motor housing, that i tap a few times near the area of the bushing, and it worked!
Now another mystery has me confounded, the propeller definitely turns very fast (i judged this from looking at a sorta stroboscopic effect and listening to the high pitched whirr), but the air blown is so weak (high feels like low and low feels like...). The propeller on it looks like a replacement from hell, and not a standard looking one, and no its not one of those high tech aerodynamic propellers (i`ve seen those before), so i`m practically sure its the propeller, i`l bring the fan to a parts place and try another propeller.
Re: 2 other Electric fan questions
Hi! i know this is an old thread...
1. for the tight or stuck-up rotor: hammering the motor housing will align the bushings with the rotor. a light tap will do (the handle of the screwdriver you are using will do). tighten the housing screws a quarter turn/s each time while you're doing this. do this until you can spin the rotor shaft freely, say more than a second. if it stops spinning immediately, it is still not aligned. if you got the alignment good, you can now tighten the screws fully.
keep in mind the horizontal play that the rotor shaft needs... 2mm max horizontal play is ok. you may need to place some plastic washers if the play is more than that. placement of the plastic washers at the front or rear of the rotor core depends on the alignment of the rotor core to the stator block.
2. your are right about the thermal fuse (thermal cutout fuse). that's a safety feature of motor operated appliances. usually if we bring a fan motor to a 'side street' repair shop and they find the motor as 'dead set'. most of them would just put a jumper in-place of the TCO and will charge you for the cost of the TCO - that would bee dangerous! best is to bring or return the fan to an authorized service center for TCO replacement and full-check of the fan motor (to check if the winding and/or the capacitor is not also damaged).
* about fan motor and blades, usually the motor is designed with the load (blade) in mind. so a replacement blade may not work with an existing fan motor, and vice versa. the motor may be overloaded if the blade is heavier than the original one. you may also have the problem of a non-balanced fan blade (vibration). sometimes when we buy a replacement fan blade from 'side street' repair shop/s, the fan blade is poorly stored. the contour of the blade would be compromised causing it not to deliver enough or satisfactory air/wind (plus the vibration).
HTH
Re: 2 other Electric fan questions
you may also have the problem of a non-balanced fan blade (vibration). sometimes when we buy a replacement fan blade from 'side street' repair shop/s, the fan blade is poorly stored. the contour of the blade would be compromised causing it not to deliver enough or satisfactory air/wind (plus the vibration).
I had that unfortunate experience. Our fan's blade broke because it snagged onto the loosely fitted frame (after cleaning). Since I pass by this we-repair-any-fan-while-u-wait shop on the way home, I decided to pick up a propeller that looks like the one I broke. It was dirt-cheap, looked cheap, felt cheap, but I thought, how can I go wrong with a commodity like a fan propeller?
Big mistake. After installation, it spun like the Tasmanian Devil on steroids. Decided to live with it until it one day exploded into sharp fragments. Luckily, no one was hurt but my pride.
Re: 2 other Electric fan questions
I had that unfortunate experience. Our fan's blade broke because it snagged onto the loosely fitted frame (after cleaning). Since I pass by this we-repair-any-fan-while-u-wait shop on the way home, I decided to pick up a propeller that looks like the one I broke. It was dirt-cheap, looked cheap, felt cheap, but I thought, how can I go wrong with a commodity like a fan propeller?
Big mistake. After installation, it spun like the Tasmanian Devil on steroids. Decided to live with it until it one day exploded into sharp fragments. Luckily, no one was hurt but my pride.
Malakas din sa electricity ang unbalanced propeller because the motor needs to exert more effort.
Re: 2 other Electric fan questions
[ Disclosure: This is the third thread that I am posting this message, I hope I don't get banned for spamming; but I just want to be helpful to folks who seek information on the repair of their stuck electric fans -- no, I am not related to the shop owner nor to the repairman outside the shop. ]
It used to be the bushing needed replacing, nowadays as I have observed it is the rotor shaft.
If you can get to Arayat at the Cubao junction of EDSA and Arayat in a side street on the wet market side of EDSA parallel to EDSA and ask around, there is a guy there outside a small shop supplying fan parts, he regularly fixes stuck fans by replacing the rotor shaft, and you pay the shop as of last month, 150 pesos only -- and you can choose to give a tip to the repairman.
This repairman has a missing right hand that is why he covers his right wrist with a small towel as he works.
Yrreg
