My office fan went from squeaking a little when I first turned it on, but then the quieting down once it warmed up, to full on constant high pitched whine that didn’t stop.

Last year I had ineffectually sprayed some white lithium grease in between the slots. It maybe helped delay the problem a little, but this time I decided to take it apart and see if I could actually get the grease in where it needed to go.

Turns out there’s a nice little nipple/reservoir at the top for this very purpose. The white lithium grease straw fit perfectly in the little hole at the top.

A few sprays later and a little cleanup made my cheap fan I bought back in 2010 whisper quiet once more.

  • Bronzie@sh.itjust.works
    7·
    2 days ago

    Think we have the exact same fan.

    Greased up the joint last summer and the high pitched whine has been gone since.

    Good job!

    • yaroto98@lemmy.worldOP
      8·
      2 days ago

      Yea, especially since my first reaction was to just start shopping for a new one. Decided to try ripping this one apart first. I broke two of the little plastic clips holding the back on, but didn’t care as I was about to buy a new one anyway.

      Fixing it felt better than a new one would have.

  • Bluewing@lemmy.world
    2·
    2 days ago

    Pop that bearing holder open and buy a new bearing. It looks like a cheap little commodity ball bearing, but plain oil impregnated bronze bearing are also available. It will probably run carefree again until the motor burns out.

    • HerbGrower@slrpnk.net
      1·
      2 days ago

      How difficult are bearings to replace in things like this, how universal are they? Or is it more a case of just sticking a new one in and making it fit.

      • Bluewing@lemmy.world
        4·
        18 hours ago

        Bearings are commodity items. So measuring a bearing for ID, OD, and height/thickness and going a search will get you a replacement. Sometimes you might get an obsolete bearing configuration or size, but that’s rare and generally only happens when working on very old or very odd equipment.

        How easy are they to replace depends and you only get to find out when you go to replace said bearing the first time. This fan doesn’t look too hard though. The photo shows a plastic bearing block screwed to the fan body and holding the bearing and motor in position. I would certainly investigate further. Other equipment can present other problems that you need to take into account. A welded bearing housing would be a repair nightmare.