Noisy Ceiling Fan


  #1  
Old 05-01-17, 12:34 AM
L
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Maryland
Posts: 244
Upvotes: 0
Received 1 Upvote on 1 Post
Noisy Ceiling Fan

My mom's house has a sunroom with glass on three sides, so it gets really hot in summer and she's hardly ever used the room in the 18 years she's lived there. There's a ceiling fan in the room that my sister turned on yesterday and she reports it made a lot of noise so she turned it off.

Can a fan motor bake so much in a hot room that it would get damaged? Is there some kind of lubrication I should do, or maybe let it run for a while and see if the noise goes away?

Id rather not replace it if I don't have to; I won't be down there myself until Friday, so can't report more details until then.

Thanks,
Beth
 
  #2  
Old 05-01-17, 01:11 AM
Gunguy45's Avatar
Super Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: USA
Posts: 19,281
Received 6 Upvotes on 6 Posts
If there is a light kit, first thing is to remove it (the globe I mean, or the bulbs). I've fixed more fans that seemed noisy by just wrapping a rubber band around the globe/shades where the screws contact, than I could count.

If no kit, check that the blades are tight and the fan doesn't wobble at all.

To answer your basic question, yes, if it's a cheap fan being out in a non-conditioned area can expose it to conditions it wasn't designed for and could cause motor problems. Dried out bearings are about the first thing I would suspect. It might be possible to disassemble it enough to put a drop of 3-n-1 oil on the shaft and let it run to the bearings, but I've never tried.

If it needs replacement, make sure you get one for indoor/outdoor use.
 
  #3  
Old 05-01-17, 07:20 AM
P
Group Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: NC, USA
Posts: 27,093
Received 2,009 Upvotes on 1,801 Posts
What type of sound was the fan making? Was it a motor humming (bad bearings or motor is dying)? Was it a scraping sound (fan or motor scraping on the housing)? Or, was it a rattling (loose light bulbs or globe)? What type of sound will help determine what the problem is.
 
  #4  
Old 05-01-17, 08:02 AM
ray2047's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: USA
Posts: 29,711
Upvotes: 0
Received 15 Upvotes on 13 Posts
Does the sun room have windows? If not a ceiling fan isn't going to help. If the sun room does have windows a box fan in one of the windows might be better but probably only AC would help much. I know not a direct answer to your question but you need to consider should you even bother fixing the fan.
 
  #5  
Old 05-01-17, 08:10 AM
L
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Maryland
Posts: 244
Upvotes: 0
Received 1 Upvote on 1 Post
Thanks all!

Thanks for all the fast responses. When I go down Thursday I'll check for myself and report more info after trying the suggestions.

Ray, the room doesn't have windows, it has 6 sliding glass doors (2 on each wall). So the fan would be helpful when the doors are open. There also are some A/C vents, but they are not adequate for the space since there's nothing but venetian blinds covering the doors (i.e., no curtains to keep the heat out). I can try to change the latter.

Thanks again!
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: