repairing a table fan

[Sceadwian]

How did you successfully repair it? Your last post said a few drops of oil got it going for a few seconds then it stopped again, what'd you do to fix it?

 

[mdanh2002]

I could make it spin for a few hours until the oil gets dried. For me it's good enough, and consider a successful repair. I never expected to fix it permanenetly

 

[Sceadwian]

I wouldn't bother keeping it then, by the time you need it again it will be completely seized from disuse.

 

[mvs sarma]

Replace the phase shift capacitor 2.2uF by a new one of proper voltage, it would work.

 

[tvtech]

Really.....a whole thread devoted to fixing a Fan. Worth peanuts.

Common guys, we have better things to do. For crying in a bucket. You folks are really bored with buggerall to help with.

Out of here for now.

 

[mneary]

better things to do.

....for example we could comment on dead threads.

 

[gabeNC]

yeah... kinda a slow week.

 

[Mickster]

FWIW, if the OP learned something...other than not allowing a fan to take a fall.....the various contributing member's input has been worth the effort...

EDIT:
I'd rather try to help someone out with a problem, than sit glued to the idiot-lantern watching over-paid prima donna's hoofing a bag of wind around a field for 90 minutes..... ;-)

 

[tvtech]

@ mneary

Now that is a really "bad idea". LOL. You will find stuff that was dead long ago.....

And then suddenly comes back to life. New reply after around a year or so...

Noooo. You people are great.

Cheers folks

 

[Sceadwian]

tvtech, reviving past threads has nothing to do with 'us people' this is the Internet, things like that happen on ALL forums that are heavily trafficked.
I'm a little surprised you would say something like we're wasting time on this thread. I'm 100% with Mickster, that helping anyone that asks for it if the poster actually appears intersted to do some learning themselves is something every good forum user should do. It's only a waste of time if they refuse to do any work themselves.

 

[mdanh2002]

Hi there,

I actually learned more than just not allowing my fan to fall down. Now working full time as a programmer, I have little electronics experience. Yet given the various hints and suggestions in this thread, I myself studied the working principle of a fan (which is just an electric motor), just for the sake of finding out what exactly made my fan stop working. Although I never fixed it permanently (it is now in my junk box), as I mentioned, I was happy to see it working again, even for just a short while, thanks to all replies from helpful members of this forum.

In my opinion, electrotech online is actually one of the (very) few active technical forums where one could usually get a useful reply within a few hours of posting. Members are very active and many are experienced in various electronics aspects. Other forums, for example MSDN Forums where I usually visit, are not quite active. Advanced questions usually do not get a reply until weeks or months later, or are never replied at all...

 

[tvtech]

tvtech, reviving past threads has nothing to do with 'us people' this is the Internet, things like that happen on ALL forums that are heavily trafficked.
I'm a little surprised you would say something like we're wasting time on this thread. I'm 100% with Mickster, that helping anyone that asks for it if the poster actually appears intersted to do some learning themselves is something every good forum user should do. It's only a waste of time if they refuse to do any work themselves.

And you are correct Sceadwian. As a person who is involved on a daily basis with repairs I would however not waste my time on fixing something that is essentially cheap and easily replaceable. Totally different if it was a fan made by General Electric and/or other good vendors at the time and was worth the effort as it has value attached if restored to working condition..

Sorry for being so cynical. We are here to help people learn about electronics. My bad. I lost this Forums focus for a while.

Cheers guys

 

[MrAl]

Hi again,


I've fixed things just for the heck of it on occasion too, just to see if they would work the same once fixed.

Had an ATX power supply that was switching off by itself a while ago, making the computer turn off randomly. Checked it out, found several high ESR capacitors. Bought a new power supply and case, but fixed the power supply anyway and now i have a backup power supply just in case.

 

[mdanh2002]

Once I picked up a toy piano somebody threw away and managed to fix it just by bypassing the switch and re-soldering the wire to the speaker. It works well for a very long time after that. I also picked up common household electronics devices that people threw away and attempts to find out why they stopped working. In many cases it was just simple problem such as loose connection which was easily fixed. I guess things are getting so cheap that noone bother to spend time fixing, not even for the purpose of learning.

 

[Sceadwian]

Neighbors of mine dumster dive all the time, I have them on the lookout for electronics stuff for me, I generally dissemble them for parts. We are most definitly a throw away society though.

 

[BrownOut]

I have a habit of not wanting to throw anything away. I spent ALOT of time repairing stuff when it would just be cheaper and easier to replace it. I also had a fan crap out. It was so old and rusted that I had one heck of a time pulling the blade off the motor shaft. I was an industrial duty GE fan. Anyway, I ended up cutting through the blade's collar with a torch, but I got careless and made a hole in one of the fan blades. It's not too bad and I think I can just clean it up with a grinder and use it. Awile back, I noticed someone hauling a nice, big 60 inch shop fan to the metal scraper. I stopped and purchaced it from him, for 15 bucks. I had to buy a used motor, belt, pulley and bearing, but it's been cooling my shop for about 3 years, and I have about 50 bucks total investment.

 

[Mickster]

We are most definitly a throw away society though.

The days of 'Make do and mend' are dwindling.

The relatively recent rapid advances in technology almost ensure that a newer, better product is on the market sometime before the warranty runs out on the older one...look at practically every aspect of fast moving consumer electronic goods - iPods, mobile phones, TV's etc. - let's take the phone market as an example. Long gone are the times when a phone was simply a device to physically talk to someone. Now we have texting, internet access along with mobile blogging, tweeting, email and a plethora of apps that cross over into what was once desktop PC territory. During all this technological advancement, devices and their component parts have been shrinking and the DIY'er has a hard time even identifying a lot of the stuff, let alone getting a datasheet or making a board...

 

[MrAl]

Hello again,


Brownout you reminded me of something else too, that often the old stuff is better quality and works better than the new stuff anyway, so keep it and fix it for as long as absolutely possible, because the new thing will break down sooner anyway

 

[mdanh2002]

New electronics devices are made to be very difficult, or impossible, to repair on purpose. So when the device stopped working everyone simply throws it away and purchase a new one, helping the manufacturer make profit. These devices are designed not to last more than the warranty period, I believe.

 

[Sceadwian]

New electronics devices are made to be very difficult, or impossible, to repair on purpose.

I'm sorry but that is plain and simply not true.
They're made the way they are because that's the only way they can be made so cheaply, you could make a consumer product that would last a lifetime by properly rating and using extra high quality components and using a board layout and fasteners that allow easy access to components that might end up failing, but no one would buy it because it would cost 5 times the price of existing units. It's the consumer, that's us =) that are actually at fault.