Cool! I do this all the time! As someone who collects antique and vintage fans,I just want to let you know that the "Spray foam" stuff is actually dried oil wick. What you do is soak it in 3 in 1 blue can oil in addition to lubing the shaft like you did and it will help keep it oiled for longer. What you did is fine,but is more of a temporary fix. If you soak those wicks, it will last for much longer. Just never grease these bearings. It might work for a bit, but they aren't meant o be greased and it will eventually seize up again. Those Lakewoods are actually pretty decent, one of the last brands that made their fans in the USA.

I’ve got three of these (2 are monsters like that) out in the shop I picked last fall. One is a penguin 10” personal fan, (a mini clone of that one) one monster on a high stand and the other is the floor monster one like that. Same basic maintenance including adding a knob to the stand one which luckily I had a set screw knob for. I’ve been hosing fans off forever making neighbors scratch their heads even saying they’d be afraid to plug it in again. My response is “how else am I gonna dry it off? ” lol Never had one pop on me yet. In this throw away world it’s never tough pickens if you have any basic knowledge of how things work. Amazes me the stuff people give up on OR will pay another to do... stay handy my friends! Thanks for the midweek peek Mustie!

Sometimes when I’m yelling at the screen, I can’t get your attention. Actually the yellow fiber IS for holding oil. The yellow material is an injectable oil impregnated cellulose, and the sleeve bushings are oilite type. It looks like they didn’t put enough of the yellow fiber material to keep the bushings wet.(probably on purpose to kill the fan in a couple years so a new one will be purchased). Adding some cotton wick and soaking with light oil will keep that fan running a long time.

I love the fact that you're not just a mechanic with gas engines, but a general handyman who specializes in mechanics.

So, i have this EXACT fan. it's been sitting in my room for like 10 years because i didn't wanna throw it out because of it's all metal construction and it has the same issues. at least i know what to expect now and what i'll need when i tackle this project. Thank you.

I'm a really old timer so here it goes to you young folk. I loved seeing you rescue a usable piece of equipment from the land fill, great work! Although my methods would of been different. First a history..... the fans in the old old days used a fiber wick. If possible the wick was located over the shaft. The wick was easy to remove and we would simply apply a few drops of 3M oil to the wick and replace it. You do this once or twice a season and the fan would last forever. Gravity would insure the shaft was lubricated. I still have some of my fans from the 1950's and they run whisper quiet. I'm sure someone already told you below but I'll just say that the stuff you think is dried up grease or glazing is a material sometimes called permawick (the company name), It's purpose is to hold lubricant to keep that shaft lubricated. It's supposed to be there and you picking at it made me cringe. If I saw things correctly on the video you did not oil that permawick material before you replaced the bearing. At this point the oil you put on the shaft will last only a short while and you'll be back to square one soon. You need to add a few drops of 3M 1/4 HP oil to the permawick and you should be good to go for awhile. Speaking of the shaft, I would not of used a wire wheel on that shaft. That shaft is already experiencing issues and I would not add to them. You just introduced 1000's of micro scratches to it. I would of opted to use another method to clean it up. I would of tried elbow grease, oil and a rag first then perhaps an fine or ultra-fine grit sandpaper as a last resort. Never go to the wheel first. Take your time.

This video couldn't have been timed any better! I have a fan of a similar variety (3 speed floor fan, clamshell motor) that's been in regular service for 15 years and the other day it wouldn't chooch. Unwilling to give up on it, I used this video as a tutorial, cracked the case open, cleared the dust out and applied copious amounts of skateboard bearing fluid to both ends of the rotor. Now it chooches like new! You've saved me tossing something that needed a bit of intermediate service and hopefully it'll last for another 15 years! Thanks!

Nice ! In a throw away society I love seeing videos like yours Mustie1. Now I feel all warm and fuzzy as well as motivated to go out and fix some old stuff of my own. Sweeeeet!

I had a similar thing with the electric windows on my Vauxhall Cavalier, after 30-odd years the original grease Bosch packed the motors with had turned into something like half dry snot. Cleaning that out and adding fresh grease fixed it like a charm.

Mustie, I was a hoarder before you, now I’m a technical hoarder that collects and repairs all, Thank you !

I appreciate that your videos do not contain politics, current events, nor opinions. It’s refreshing to enjoy some wrenching, problem solving, and some New England country side. Keep up the good work.

Thank you for posting these type of midweek videos. You have given me so much confidence to get off my couch and not rely on others. So far I fixed my craftsman weed trimmer. Clutch was rusted on. But I got it. I fixed my stove, and water hose. And looking for another small project to tackle. thank you again. ✌☮

I found a dyson bladeless fan in the bin worked fine just needed a clean on the inside now works good as new

I regreased a fan a few months back. I was happy I didn't have to just toss it out. Cheers

God bless you man my daughter fan just stopped working

9:47 you can use a felt battery post protector to create a felt donut to put around the bushing to hold oil. That's generally how those sintered bronze bushings in fans were designed.

10:20 and 15:50 You should carefully "back off" the screws by hand to make sure they're "seated" (i.e., turn them counter-clockwise to feel for them to "drop" so that the threads aren't gonna cross) before you screw them in, especially under power.

Thank you again! Tractor stalled out I replaced the fuel line and filter. Runs great now. Never a thought in my mind to attempt that before watching your channel!

Found a nice early 80's fan like that I got to overhaul that my neighbor tossed it ,it didn't last 10 seconds on the curb ,took it before he made it inside his house

These are the best fans I have found for the money. Thanks for showing how to fix at least for a while. Stay safe and keep shopping.

I take my house fans out about once a year and hose all the dust and dirt out of them. motor included. let it dry and put them back to work. I must be doing it right cause I've had the same fans for so long the stores I bought them from are long out of business. hmmm, just realized I put those stores out of business by not buying new fans.

Mustie gets another fan lol 😆 So addictive watch junk work again from the master 🤣 Well done 👍🏻 cheers Stevie 😎🇬🇧

Funny, I have the same exact Fan (Bought it new years ago), and I just got it out today because here in NY,..it's in the high 90's. Works like a Tornado,..blew my papers all over the room, lol. Those are great fans.

Thanks for the inspiration! I thought my dehumidifier was dead until I saw your video. Took that fan out, cleaned it out similar to what you did here, and it's back in action with maybe 15 minutes of work. I was already pricing new ones, so you saved me at least $200. Thanks.

Mid-week Mustie1! Gonna be a good day.

Sintered Bronze bearings known as Oil lite bearings. I worked on a ton of machines when I was at Xerox, and these copiers had 100s of these pesky bearings. Mistreated, and these bearings made you pay. We started using Teflon impregnated bearings and things got better but still any side load, and these bearing would fail fast.

It's called "permawick" - an oil reservoir for shaft lubrication in a sawdust type medium, frequently used instead of felt. It is NOT grease. I have used this product many times in electric motors with bronze/brass bearings/bushings.

Thanks for posting this video. I had an oscillating fan that had pretty much stopped spinning--but the oscillating function still worked. I was afraid it was the "startup capacitor", which was going to be hard to track down to replace (man, do I miss those Radio Shack stores, and their bins full of discrete electronic components!), but after checking everything with a multimeter, all the electricals seemed fine. I disassembled the motor, cleaned everything very well, and liberally re-lubed the journals with 3-in-1 (this fan had similar wicking in the journals) and tried it out before fully reassembling and it worked great. Much quieter too. This fan was probably 10 years old--but I saved it from the landfill, and got it back to nearly-new condition in an afternoon on my day off! Added bonus, my wife and father-in-law had their belief that I can fix just about anything, reinforced once again...

3:10 "let's go poke at that with a stick..." More Mustie words to live by!

1:59 That pause, checking to see if the set screw had loosened, or if the allen key had snapped. Been there...

I just found this channel about a month ago. Has gone up 3000 subscribers in that time. Way to go well deserved, great teaching experience and also very entertaining.

That foam you where picking at is the sponge for the bearing oil. Your suppose to saturate the foam with oil also so that it stays lubed for a while until it dries out again. Oil soaks through the bronze cintered bearing.

I was JUST thinking I hope there's a Mustie video today. I don't know why. And there by the grace of God...

Great fix Mustie. That's exactly what i do. Many fans come with a bronze or copper bearing and a felt washer with some lube from the factory. After many revolutions, the felt becomes dry and causes the shaft and the bearing to overheat and basically seize. I swear they do that on purpose so you end up buying a new one every so often. Sometimes you can just saturate the felt with some oil and ptfe, others, you have to sand/polish the shaft as well and they can operate again, for a while. Some models can be fitted with a suitable sealed ball bearing which is how the old-timer fans were made and those literally lasted forever. Another freaking item to add to the already long list of household maintenance items; 'Oil the fans monthly'. LOL

I found a similar Hawaiian Breezeway fan at my local transfer station, brought it home, cleaned it up everywhere except for the majority of the insides of the electric motor. Thank you for this video. It has the exact same thing wrong with it, it just won’t spin at all because of how gummed up the bearings are. I hope that you are doing well.

I found an almost identical fan in the trash. As long it hums (whether it turns or not) it is just a matter of cleaning and lubing. Resaturate the felts surrounding the sintered bearings with #10 oil. If it doesn’t hum, the thermal fuse imbedded in the windings likely has melted due to slow RPMs, in which case you can replace it or at least short it out. (It is not needed to prevent fire IF you always keep the fan lubed, but those inheriting it won’t know that.) The hardest part was removing the six 2 mm machine screws holding the grille halves together. Three were immovable and had to be drilled out. All in all, no fan can’t be revived, and will last forever if kept lubed. Lucky for me that I know this, because I have found four fans this summer alone.

When you showed the boats at the end. I expected you to pan the camera around and have the raft floating there that you found in the trash, lolol.

I have a white Honeywell that ive had since I was very young, the ones they still sell today (black now) I've had to take it apart 3 times now. Lubed it with used motor oil and its been good for a year now lol. Runs all night every night. That fan has had lots of use. I'll use it til I can't anymore.

Helpful video to troubleshoot my floor fan.. and Thanks for your efforts to help all of us searching KZfaq (at lower resolution, of course) find out what 1 or more problems might be around/inside the fan. Today I was FREE of yard work, sooooo... I love to tinker and clean things... now my floor fan has been "renewed" to spin freely in place and attempt to keep the humidity here at bay another day or more... Thanks Again!!!💖

I have an old furnace blower as a fan and it works better than any store bought fan that I've ever owned lol.

I have two vintage fans, one from the '20's the other from the '50's that both have oil cups on each end of the motor. I rewired both of them and they have run fine for years.

A 1/4" wing nut and a dab 9f JB Weld works perfect as a selector knob on those switches.

My fan doing same thing! Nice work. Aim the fan towards the ceiling when your air conditioner is on, pushes cold air up for more efficient cooling. Ya'll be cool

i found the same fan when i was doing curbside pickup,works great, just had to tighten the two nuts that make it pivot.use it in me garage to move air around!! i have kept the same fan running behind me wood stove for 25 years by cleaning it like U did. once a year i would take it apart oil and clean the bearings!!! good catch!!!

On some old electric motors they had a packing material that held oil, when the bushing heated up it lubed the bushing by warming the material and the packing would give up the oil stored with in. You had it right when you did your description of old electric motors. Good fix by the way. The oil that was used was non detergent 10 or 20 weight.

Greetings: Those are sintered (aka oilite) bearings. They are designed to store oil for the life of the bearing. I would be inclined to wash out all of the excess died lubricant then relube with oil for the bearing; and I tend to use moly grease on anything. The action of the air-flow pushes the rotor rearward toward the rear bearing. I would lube any rubbing surfaces.

Good job, I approve. I haven't purchased a box fan in years, I find them in dumpsters, usually quite dirty (yours was so clean!) and generally the motor is gunked up. I don't bother opening the motor, just put some oil (3-in-one or sometimes light motor oil) on the spindle and spin it to get the oil to migrate down the shaft. Sometimes the controls won't work (blown fuse?) and it isn't worth my time to deal with that. The last one I found was very clean but had a blade broken off (someone had dropped some dominoes into the cage). But because they are so common (e.g. Lasko), I just put on a compound blade from another fan. Works perfectly with no other changes

reusing something and giving it a second life is always better than recycling or tossing it, glad you gave this fan some more life!

I saw you and 5150mxVW and you both had me cracking up. Vintage Vee Dub. I love it when you two make the VW world live again. I am your biggest Fan! Sorry couldn't resist.

I don’t know if you’ll read this but I really appreciate videos like this one and the one where you fix the “hot pot”. We are a throwaway culture and it’s horrible the things people just ditch instead of putting a little work and research into. You’re the man Mustie! Hope to meet you in person someday. If you’re ever on your way to FL and happen to find yourself in East Tennessee look me up!

That one was about my speed and I learned a thing or two. Nice Yankee ingenuity. Thanks Mustie!

I had the same problem with a smaller motor. I removed the motor, disassembled it and soaked both bearings in transmission oil for a couple of days. Put it back together and it's still running. That was about two years ago. You did the correct repair.

I've always used a few drops of bar and chain oil. Sticks to the metal, high RPM tolerant. Usually lasts the whole summer.

I just rebuilt a very similar fan, might even be the same one. You have to add more oil. I find it amazing how little dust it takes to substantially lower the effectiveness of a fan. You basically have to clean them at least once a week. As the effectiveness goes down, the cooling of the motor goes way down and they start going through oil.

Love the videos and how you film the thinking process as well as the fix. Keep up the great work!

I will never look at another fan again the same way, as now my mind will think back to this video and I will say to myself, wait a minute bub, this can be fixed real easy like, lol. Thanks for another great video buddy! The FREE education you provide is priceless and well worth the time to review!

Mustie- I stumbled across one of your videos at the start of lockdown here in the UK while I was looking into how to fix a chainsaw. I’ve been hooked ever since- this is a fabulous channel. Earlier todayI watched the New Garage video and was delighted that this KZfaq stuff has brought you to this point. I’ve learnt so much and you’ve inspired me to pick up the spanners again. Thank you and well done.

Another item with the most liked price tag on it = for free. 😁 Very well done, Sir. This big fan is a really nice machine. Congrats. I always wonder how much good stuff people throw away. I hope that you grabbed at least the case with all the electric tools in it (shown at the end of the video). I would love to find something like that. But over here in Germany everyone wants money even for defect stuff... sigh. Thanks a lot for making teaching recording editing uploading and sharing. Best regards luck and health.

THANK YOU DARREN !!! I believe you could fix anything. Your head's on straight, so to speak, unless its when you're going cross country on something dangerous! You fixed your Daddy's boat, on here, one time. Is he percolating along good? I appreciate all you do. In the past, my Dad, made a tool, you might think about making for yourself. Get a 5/16" wooden dowel 6" long and some fine spring wire. Heat the wire 1/2" from the end and bend over double. Then cut off 2" long and heat the other end and bend an 1/8" L . Drill a hole up the end of the center of the end of the dowel. Run the end into a pencil sharpener a little. Then Mix up some epoxy and fill the hole and shove the doubled end of the spring-wire up in it. You'll have a pencil with a fine piece of spring-wire coming out like the lead, but have a 90 degree bend on it, an inch and a half sticking out of the handle. Take the rest of the epoxy and put it on your finger and coat the tip of the wood you put into the pencil sharpener. Also coat most of the shaft of the handle. This little tool will get LOTS of use, as you can pick out hair from around fan motor shafts, fish out things dropped in oil sumps, retrieve bearings or nuts or hose ends, or reach thru a hole to pull something thru. Dad had one, a long time ago. I've got to make another one, as I don't know where his is. Thanks for the pretty BAY view.

Mustie, I really enjoy your videos. They are well done. I thought I knew pretty much about fixing things, but I have learned so much from you. The Toyota transmission fix was a classic lesson on how to create-a-fix. I didn't realize it helps you if you get a thumbs up, so I have to go back over all the videos and do that. I thought the beaver overhaul was also awesome. Keep up the good work. I'd much rather watch your videos than the news.

The ending got me right in the feels man. I don't miss being a lobster fisherman but I miss the ocean, the wharf and my boat. Ah, memories.

The gooey stuff is the remnants of a spongy material that absorbs oil and keeps the bearings lubed.

I thought that clip at the end was my home town for a minute. looks so similar. And I enjoyed seeing something other than a motor getting fixed.

Thanks for the video, I was able to fix my fan in half an hour. I'm so glad I didn't have to throw it away.

Synthetic ATF has worked great for breathing life back into old electric fans like this. I used both Amsoil universal synthetic ATF and full synthetic Dexron VI because I had both laying around, but might be expensive to buy a whole bottle just to squirt a few millilitres into a fan (I use a syringe).

"Lets poke at it with a stick...…." Famous last words.

You have an excellent sense of how mechanical things work. Top marks to you.

You remind me of me....I pick up stuff all the time and resurrect them. All it takes is a little knowledge and tools. Great stuff.

For small electric motors with simple bushing bearings the best kind of lubricant is either a dry carbon powder (also called locksmith lubricant) or talcum powder. That way no dirt cakes to the bearings over time. Alternatively a silicone or lithium grease works well, but it's only suited for relatively small slow-turning electric motors (like a fan)

Sometimes I am BLOWN away by the COOL things that can be found on the side of the road, that are a BREEZE to fix. Just some humor from a Mustie1 FAN! 😁👍 Edit: Oh and yes i have just found myself watching fan repair at 1:10am ... I'm sure someone reading this is too

I've had the same issue with a fan I've found on the side of the road. It's good for a couple of hours with oil, then the problem reappears. I've removed all the old grease and put wheel bearing grease. Way better! That recessed thing is packed with grease, but after getting hot for years, it starts to loose it's property and dries. If you would like to do the best job, I would suggest you scrape all that old grease and repack it good with bearing grease. Then it will last for years!

HEY, 👋😊 I had the exact fan. I found it out by someones trash and took it home. Plugged it in and flipped the switch.. POW 💥 LoL 🤣😆 Cha-cha dog took off for the house running. He's such a chicken 🐔 anyways. After the pop, the fan quit and smoke bellowed out of the motor. Don't believe there was much more fixing to this fan and pitched into the spare parts ben .

I was taught at a young age to use gun oil on fans to keep them oiled and running smooth, just a drop or two is usually more than enough for many more years of service. I even have done this with PC case fans, my current one that I fixed has been going strong for 4 years now. I use Hoppe's 9 since it seems to be the longest lasting and doesn't gun up when it gets warm.

Classic example of: one man's trash, is another man's treasure.

Those high velocity metal fans really move the air. That is a nice one because it has a nice serviceable motor on it.

I have three fans which I have to check and clean out and hope I can get them working again so I don't have to throw them away. One fan just quit working recently and I would like to get them working before putting them away for the Winter. I am glad that you got that fan working and hope it gives you many Summers of use before it has to be cleaned again.

The bearing is called a fluid film bearing, the principle is the same as the engine's rod bearings, when two surfaces are moving with respect to each other with some sort of oil (or any viscose fluid) between them, the viscosity will cause the oil to create a small layer with high pressure which can endure some amount of thrust force depending on the amount of oil, viscosity and relative speed of the two surfaces. The bearings in small electrical motors like this one, normally don't need constant lubrication. They are made with a method called powder metallurgy and normally can absorb a certain amount of oil, the yellow material is probably an absorbent to store some excess oil for the bearing, so, i would replace it with cotton or wool or anything like that and add some oil to the bearing when the motor start to heat up again.

And all this time I thought I was your biggest fan Mustie Fixes all ! LOL

That’s the large industrial fan, sold at BiMart. It’s shabby put together, but will last you for years. Nice repair job.

My comfort air fan was locked up, I used a shop vac to suck out dust and dog hair, saturated the spongey cotton with silicone lube and reassembled and had to give the motor shaft a tap to firmly seat it against the rear housing, working like new again.

That particular fan is my favorite. Mine is stone cold dead. I haven't tried to resurrect it yet. Hopefully it is just a fusible link sort of deal. They don't make that fan anymore and I don't think you can find a replacement motor for it anywhere.

That special lubricant-impregnated bronze used to be called Oilite Bronze.

Thanks Mustie. When I searched for videos several came up, but as soon as I yours I knew I'd found the one I wanted!!!

God bless old fans. I have tinnitus and always need one running in order to sleep. Thank you Mustie for saving this one.

How Mustie1 lost his fingerrs...

This is a treat ..thank you

My Dad fixed fans as a hobby after he retired. He used white lith grease sometimes. I still have about 10 of the fans he worked on, 5 or 6 antique brass

I was given a nice Bissell bag-less vacuum with a light on the front by someone who sad it quit working good. It had two foam filters and a hepa filter at the exhaust. They foam filters were matted with dirt and hair, they had a long haired dog, and the hepa filter was full of dirt. The brush had so much dog hair wrapped around it that it was rubbing on the housing. I cleaned all of the filters, removed the brush and cut out the hair and put it back in with a new drive belt. I have been using it for over ten years now with no problems, just routine maintenance.

u'll cook the winding. it is an a.c. induction motor. when spinning there is a lot of back voltage in the coils or windings. when fan does not turn, there is hardly any backvoltage and the coils or windings can overheat.

And you just took the temper out of your Allen wrench with that torch...

Metal fan blades! The whole fan is metal! Those are THE best fans! I have two I did exactly what Mustie1 did. Mine are both running great after several years. Great project! Thanxz

I thought they was not chance of this working again. Well Mustie, you prove me wrong again. Great work once again. From the UK.

Up next: I found this nuclear reactor on the side of the road.... Love you man!

It’s weird, every fan I have ever found in the trash came back to life with very little effort.

I watched because my fan is acting up, thank you for your video. I'm jealous if you live near Motif #1, my favorite scenery. I live in Western MA, and as soon as you started panning the scenery, I knew right away it was my most loved scenic spot!! Lucky you!!

Mustie, that baby is all metal, chrome cage, aluminum blades, and has great air flow velocity, and, it looks great...!!!!!! I would definately use that find, in the house.....too nice for a shop fan.

I had a very similar fan.... the grease dried out. Every year or so I need to re-grease the bushings.

It's like a sensed it..... a new Mustie1 video is online! Allright!

I learned about small motors from Mustie during the pandemic. Yesterday I got a "FREE" Patton floor fan like this one from the curb. Looked like a cat lady had it on the floor for 20 years. I have cleaned it, oiled it. Runs great but motor gets too hot to touch for long. I will take motor out tomorrow. I still have not found the carburetor.

People dont try too fix anything anymore im glad theirs dudes like you reminds me of my papaw he threw nothing away if he coud not save it he saved every bolt screw and part possible