FANKILLERS, Episode 4: Screwing in Motor Without Blades

[Jonathan A.]

Just thought I'd make the 4th episode about the common mistakes people make on fans.

It discusses about screwing in the motor too far without the blades, or buying a replacement screw if you lost a screw.

Screwing in motor too far without the blade arms on can damage the windings. It's not really made for the screws to be screwed in motor without blade arms on. On most fans, you don't have to worry about it, but just to be safe, just don't screw the screws in motor without blades at all on any fans, just so you won't have a habit of doing so. Use zip lock bags to store screws instead.

Another thing is about getting replacement screws. If you lose a screw, and you can't find the new screw in the same length, buy the longer screw which is closest to the length of the original screws. And use the washers to make the screw in the same length, so it wouldn't screw in too far and damage the windings.

A few collectors here have done that by accident and damaged the windings, at least I learned a lesson from their mistakes.

[fancollector12]

I've never heard of screwing in screws before blades.

[Jean Lemieux]

Oct 18, 2014 0:34:10 GMT -5 fancollector12 said:

I've never heard of screwing in screws before blades.

It's when we store a fan for a while or uninstall a fan and then put the screws back on the motor to not lose them instead of using a bag that will create even more separate pieces. The idea is just to not screw them all the way. Just half inside the holes.

[Jonathan A.]

Oct 18, 2014 1:18:08 GMT -5 Jean Lemieux said:

Oct 18, 2014 0:34:10 GMT -5 fancollector12 said:

I've never heard of screwing in screws before blades.

It's when we store a fan for a while or uninstall a fan and then put the screws back on the motor to not lose them instead of using a bag that will create even more separate pieces. The idea is just to not screw them all the way. Just half inside the holes.

Yeah, but if you keep storing screws in motor instead of bag, you might end up accidentally screwing 1 screw in too far. It's better to lose a screw than to lose windings.

[organistjx]

Do you have any videos of this happening?

[Jonathan A.]

Oct 18, 2014 9:44:14 GMT -5 organistjx said:

Do you have any videos of this happening?

I don't. I just heard a few collectors saying they accidentally damaged the windings by screwing the screws in too far.

[Deleted]

Oct 19, 2014 0:15:47 GMT -5 Jonathan A. said:

Oct 18, 2014 9:44:14 GMT -5 organistjx said:

Do you have any videos of this happening?

I don't. I just heard a few collectors saying they accidentally damaged the windings by screwing the screws in too far.

I've done it, or rather, it was done on a fan that was shipped to me.

[Max C.]

I've had to learn this lesson the hard way. In May 2011, I bought a used in the box Excel/Winco GE-vent fan from the ReStore (prior to me volunteering there). Unfortunately, the previous owners had fully tightened the blade screws into the motor. Therefore, when I attempted to spin the motor by hand to check the bearings, I effectively shredded the windings

After that, I've been very careful about screws in motors. Thankfully with most fans made after the mid-80's, you don't generally need to worry about windings. I've observed that most fan manufacturers around this time period started intentionally building motors in a way so tightening the screws without the blades won't damage the windings.

For storage purposes, I do tighten the screws into the motor. However, I only tighten them halfway to avoid damaging the windings.

[fancollector12]

I keep my screws in the blade arm holes and carefully set them where they won't get knocked out.