Ceiling fan maintenance

[Smurf]

Despite being an electrician for over a decade I've never done anything involving ceiling fans as they're pretty rare down here. Until now...

Mine has a problem that seems to be bearing related - turning way too slow and seems rather stiff when turned manually. It has never been very fast, to the point that I wondered why anyone bothered to fit a slow speed, but I've only been in the house two months so I now think it's been having problems and maybe used to be faster when new.

Do these have bearings that are supposed to be oiled etc? Or just ordinary sealed ball bearings that don't require maintenace? Also, any tips on how to get it apart (the easy way) as it doesn't seem too obvious to me - I can only find one screw so far apart from the light fitting. I'm thinking that I need to remove the light first?

Or are they not worth fixing - just buy a new one? In that case can anyone suggest brand / model? Doesn't need to be the greatest fan, I really only use it to push heat down from the ceiling when the wood heater is going. But I want the brightest light I can get as it's a fairly large room and I want it farily bright.

[dan76]

ive never tried to fix a fan, for the cost of them the labour isnt worth it,have seen quite a few where the bearings have siezed up.dont get a cheap one they are absolute crap. go to a whaolesaler and get an airflow one, they are ok. also now you can get a 22w circular fluoro as the light fitting, much brighter than the old incandescent ones.

[patty]

I have just been down this track if the ceiling fans are just cheapies exactly what dan76 said it is cheaper to replace them with new ones you will find most are just sealed type units and you will have no real access to the bearings..the Hunter fans
use a oil bath where the bearing are constantly lubricated and sometimes need
a top up very rarely though if they are you should find a fill point at the bottom of the shaft close to the motor housing if not the only other way is throgh the top of the shaft donot use lubricants like WD40 as they will gum up the bearings I sprayed mine with a product called INOX to clean them up first then poured a small amount of non detergent based oil through the stem of the fan and let it work its way down into the bearings do not use too much oil as you will find when you turn the fan the oil will sling out onto the blades and then plaster your painted walls

[thatirwinfella]

have you tried wiping the dust off the blades? sounds simple and strange, but it is actually surprisingly common for them to slow when the dust builds up.

[Timmo]

have you tried wiping the dust off the blades? sounds simple and strange, but it is actually surprisingly common for them to slow when the dust builds up.

He said it felt stiff when turned by hand. Usually aerodynamics don't become part of the equation at such low speeds.

Forget repairing just replace it with a decent brand. either that or buy a feather duster.