Bathroom Fan and Wall unit Air Conditioner Fan - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Captain Pike · 04-10-2006, 05:24 PM

Found the forum again! Lousy bookmarks were lost, 3 years of them, gone. And I find this place again, and sent off donation. (All hail the contributions of fellow good people.) Anyways, had a weird saturday, both fans died on me.

The bathroom fan stopped turning, cleaned off the dust bunnies, hacked up a lung... (don't stand underneath one while cleaning)... I've WD40'd the spindle, still nothing. Took it out of the housing, plugged it in, then tried manually spinning it, and I can hear the motor try to spin it, but no spin. When I do try, it seems to thump inbetween spots, no clicking, but it spins easy inbetween the spots. Motor seems to work harder trying to spin it up, but still nothing.

And same day, turn on the wall unit AC, same story. Motor starts, cooling portion kicks in gets cold, but no fan turning. I can reach in and shove the fan blades, and it has that same action as the bathroom fan. It thumps into place, then the motor works harder trying to spin the fan. I'd have to dismantle the thing to get to the motor, or for cleaning the inner inner parts.

Any advice on this? I'd rather fix these than buy new.

kazoo · 04-14-2006, 05:43 PM

Most bathroom fans have replaceable motors-go to an electrical supply shop who carries the brand, as in NuTone, Broan, or other. They should be able to obtain a direct replacement assembly for you. Ditto on the wall unit, but go to an appliance parts house for that motor. If you strike out, and there is a motor dataplate, as in motor HP and RPM, you should be able to obtain a replacement motor from WWGrainger or Johnstone Supply. Both companies sell only to the trades, so if you don't have an account with them, find someone who does.

Captain Pike · 04-15-2006, 12:55 PM

Will give it a shot. Thanks for the suggestion.

streak_56 · 04-17-2006, 02:47 PM

seems like kazoo has this one in the bag.... its way cheaper to get the motors in a store than to try to fix the motor..... I had an unfortunately throwing accident with a vaccum motor.... anyways. Get the specs on the motor or take the motor itself in.

Sion · 04-19-2006, 05:43 PM

sounds like bad bearings in both motors. IF you are mechanically inclined enough to take them apart, replacing the bearing CAN be cheaper than replacing the motor. but not always.

Captain Pike · 04-27-2006, 05:13 PM

Bearings in the bathroom fan seem okay, for the three that were intact, one seems to have cracked and dug it's way into others which are . New motor is needed for that, hopefully I won't have to make a larger recess in the ceiling... only time will tell.

As for the air conditioner, it's a Camco model AE608R-2 S/N BX4 99600. I've dug around on the net and the only information I could find is that GE bought out Camco. As for getting to the motor plate on the <insert expletive here> thing, it appears that I have to dig out the outside housing from the stonework on the outside of the condo. I tried going from the front... that's a no go. I may have to redo the stonework anyways if I can't get a replacement motor and replace the whole thing.

kazoo · 04-29-2006, 06:14 PM

The one item not included in my previous post is the possibility of a start/run capacitor failure. Look at the wiring/circuit diagram to see if a start/run capacitor is included. They do fail and can render an otherwise good motor inoperative.

Sion · 04-30-2006, 07:04 PM

don't forget to check the fratzenjammer circuit.

those go bad all the time.

Captain Pike · 05-29-2006, 05:27 PM

I got spare fratzenjammer circuits out the wazoo. I inherited the lot of them from my crazy inventor uncle... but seriously, I managed (finally) to get the air conditioner back up and running. WD40'd the <expletive> out of the axle, and it got up and running again. I let it run for about an hour, then oiled it. It's running smooth now. Fun part of removing it from the recess was that it was installed when they did the drywall... add too close weather stripping around the drywall and wala wala washington, I have a running air conditioner but now I have to replace the drywall around the unit. I swear it never ends.

Found a replacement fan for the bathroom, went with el cheapo, and sure enough, the fan blades fit like a very tight glove next to the tube for the air outlet. Which brings me to my next problem. Now that I have the replacement fan mounted on the old bracket, it's vibrating... I need a way to stabilize it in order to run it, as you all can imagine what an unbalanced fan would do ... especially with that tight a fit. If I were to go with the housing that came with it, I'd have to open up the ceiling by about an inch all the way around.

I've considered crazygluing a shim next to the sides of the motor (some handy plastic guards it has on it) and attach those to the bracket. But now I'm thinking the whole bracket would vibrate with it.

I've remounted the fan onto the old bracket about 4 times now, loose, snug, tight, and <expletive> that's mounted really tight. The fan itself maybe too powerful for the bracket? Any ideas?

04-10-2006, 05:24 PM	#1 (permalink)
Captain Pike Upright	Bathroom Fan and Wall unit Air Conditioner Fan Found the forum again! Lousy bookmarks were lost, 3 years of them, gone. And I find this place again, and sent off donation. (All hail the contributions of fellow good people.) Anyways, had a weird saturday, both fans died on me. The bathroom fan stopped turning, cleaned off the dust bunnies, hacked up a lung... (don't stand underneath one while cleaning)... I've WD40'd the spindle, still nothing. Took it out of the housing, plugged it in, then tried manually spinning it, and I can hear the motor try to spin it, but no spin. When I do try, it seems to thump inbetween spots, no clicking, but it spins easy inbetween the spots. Motor seems to work harder trying to spin it up, but still nothing. And same day, turn on the wall unit AC, same story. Motor starts, cooling portion kicks in gets cold, but no fan turning. I can reach in and shove the fan blades, and it has that same action as the bathroom fan. It thumps into place, then the motor works harder trying to spin the fan. I'd have to dismantle the thing to get to the motor, or for cleaning the inner inner parts. Any advice on this? I'd rather fix these than buy new.

04-14-2006, 05:43 PM	#2 (permalink)
kazoo Psycho Location: Where the night things are	Most bathroom fans have replaceable motors-go to an electrical supply shop who carries the brand, as in NuTone, Broan, or other. They should be able to obtain a direct replacement assembly for you. Ditto on the wall unit, but go to an appliance parts house for that motor. If you strike out, and there is a motor dataplate, as in motor HP and RPM, you should be able to obtain a replacement motor from WWGrainger or Johnstone Supply. Both companies sell only to the trades, so if you don't have an account with them, find someone who does. __________________ There ain't nothin' more powerful than the odor of mendacity -Big Daddy

04-19-2006, 05:43 PM	#5 (permalink)
Sion Dumb all over...a little ugly on the side Location: In the room where the giant fire puffer works, and the torture never stops.	sounds like bad bearings in both motors. IF you are mechanically inclined enough to take them apart, replacing the bearing CAN be cheaper than replacing the motor. but not always. __________________ He's the best, of course, of all the worst. Some wrong been done, he done it first. -fz I jus' want ta thank you...falettinme...be mice elf...agin...

04-29-2006, 06:14 PM	#7 (permalink)
kazoo Psycho Location: Where the night things are	The one item not included in my previous post is the possibility of a start/run capacitor failure. Look at the wiring/circuit diagram to see if a start/run capacitor is included. They do fail and can render an otherwise good motor inoperative. __________________ There ain't nothin' more powerful than the odor of mendacity -Big Daddy

04-30-2006, 07:04 PM	#8 (permalink)
Sion Dumb all over...a little ugly on the side Location: In the room where the giant fire puffer works, and the torture never stops.	don't forget to check the fratzenjammer circuit. those go bad all the time. __________________ He's the best, of course, of all the worst. Some wrong been done, he done it first. -fz I jus' want ta thank you...falettinme...be mice elf...agin...

04-15-2006, 12:55 PM	#3 (permalink)
Captain Pike Upright	Will give it a shot. Thanks for the suggestion.

04-17-2006, 02:47 PM	#4 (permalink)
streak_56 who ever said streaking was a bad thing? Location: Calgary	seems like kazoo has this one in the bag.... its way cheaper to get the motors in a store than to try to fix the motor..... I had an unfortunately throwing accident with a vaccum motor.... anyways. Get the specs on the motor or take the motor itself in.

04-27-2006, 05:13 PM	#6 (permalink)
Captain Pike Upright	Bearings in the bathroom fan seem okay, for the three that were intact, one seems to have cracked and dug it's way into others which are . New motor is needed for that, hopefully I won't have to make a larger recess in the ceiling... only time will tell. As for the air conditioner, it's a Camco model AE608R-2 S/N BX4 99600. I've dug around on the net and the only information I could find is that GE bought out Camco. As for getting to the motor plate on the <insert expletive here> thing, it appears that I have to dig out the outside housing from the stonework on the outside of the condo. I tried going from the front... that's a no go. I may have to redo the stonework anyways if I can't get a replacement motor and replace the whole thing.

05-29-2006, 05:27 PM	#9 (permalink)
Captain Pike Upright	I got spare fratzenjammer circuits out the wazoo. I inherited the lot of them from my crazy inventor uncle... but seriously, I managed (finally) to get the air conditioner back up and running. WD40'd the <expletive> out of the axle, and it got up and running again. I let it run for about an hour, then oiled it. It's running smooth now. Fun part of removing it from the recess was that it was installed when they did the drywall... add too close weather stripping around the drywall and wala wala washington, I have a running air conditioner but now I have to replace the drywall around the unit. I swear it never ends. Found a replacement fan for the bathroom, went with el cheapo, and sure enough, the fan blades fit like a very tight glove next to the tube for the air outlet. Which brings me to my next problem. Now that I have the replacement fan mounted on the old bracket, it's vibrating... I need a way to stabilize it in order to run it, as you all can imagine what an unbalanced fan would do ... especially with that tight a fit. If I were to go with the housing that came with it, I'd have to open up the ceiling by about an inch all the way around. I've considered crazygluing a shim next to the sides of the motor (some handy plastic guards it has on it) and attach those to the bracket. But now I'm thinking the whole bracket would vibrate with it. I've remounted the fan onto the old bracket about 4 times now, loose, snug, tight, and <expletive> that's mounted really tight. The fan itself maybe too powerful for the bracket? Any ideas?