filthy fan no more?
August 24, 2008 1:51 PM   Subscribe

Help me clean my desk fan!

I have one of these and it needs to be cleaned... badly. The blades are covered in dust which is both gross and not great for my dust allergy.
Unfortunately I can't get the thing opened!
There are four screws on the back, which I removed (after unplugging). There's also two, very tiny, screw like objects keeping the front part stuck on. They have a star shape instead of the normal phillips or flat.

Is there some easy way to get these off with a decent tool collection? I'm not planning on buying any specialty took for it since, well, It's an eleven dollar fan. I'd just hate to toss anything that works fine because it's dirty.
posted by Kellydamnit to Home & Garden (12 answers total)
 
I have the same fan and I use Qtips and Tweezers. Sometimes I take it outside and use a can of pressurized air but make sure you know which way the wind is blowing.
posted by spec80 at 2:05 PM on August 24, 2008


I'm a fan junkie, and what I usually do to clean mine is to take the brush from a dust-pan, go outside, plug the fan in and turn it on HIGH, and then poke the bristles around inside the fan - on the front & the back. Usually does a decent job.
posted by davidmsc at 2:09 PM on August 24, 2008


The star-shaped screw is probably a torx screw. Any decent hardware store (including Sears) will have an assortment of sizes.

But really, I'd just put it under a faucet, trying to get the water on the blades more than on the motor, and then let it dry thoroughly before running.
posted by zippy at 2:56 PM on August 24, 2008


While I'm all about fixing things on my own, I can't help but think that you're going to a lot of effort for a $11.49 electric fan.

Please don't follow zippy's horrifyingly dangerous advice and expose this fan to water. At best you'll destroy the fan, at worst you'll burn down your home and kill you're family. Water won't be enough to clean the fan anyway if it's caked with dust - you need some type of degreaser.

Please just buy a new fan and use this one as a backup or in some other area.
posted by wfrgms at 3:52 PM on August 24, 2008


wfrgms, I think you're being a bit extreme. Exposing the fan to water is unlikely to destroy it, as long as you let it dry thoroughly before operating.
posted by zippy at 6:08 PM on August 24, 2008


wfrgms: "While I'm all about fixing things on my own, I can't help but think that you're going to a lot of effort for a $11.49 electric fan.

Please don't follow zippy's horrifyingly dangerous advice and expose this fan to water. At best you'll destroy the fan, at worst you'll burn down your home and kill you're family. Water won't be enough to clean the fan anyway if it's caked with dust - you need some type of degreaser.

Please just buy a new fan and use this one as a backup or in some other area.
"

Ok, I'm not normally ultra cheap, but I have to say, why spend 12 bucks when the fan just has a little dust on it? And wha?! DESTROY the fan? Um, yeah if the motor gets soaked it might just not work. That's the worst. I think you'd have to run the fan with it sitting in water to be dangerous.

You should be able to find the tool to open the fan like zippy said. Then take a swiffer to the blades. No problem.
posted by CwgrlUp at 7:30 PM on August 24, 2008


Don't forget to lube! And thank you for cleaning an $11.49 fan. To do otherwise would not be un-cheap, it would be wasteful.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 8:42 PM on August 24, 2008


Electric motors aren't that mysterious. It's a magnet on an axle, basically. You don't want to turn it on when it's wet and you shouldn't dunk it in water, but spraying the blades is unlikely to permanently damage it, and once it dries, it won't be a shock/short/fire hazard. You should avoid spraying water directly into the motor housing as this could wash away lubricants.

You can maximize your cleaning power by using a sink sprayer, if available. Or a yard hose attachment. Use an angle that hits the blades and splashes away from the motor.

If you're really skeezy about the water issue, and there's no success getting it open, try a computer dust spray can. A few well aimed (center out, probably) bursts will get rid of most of the loose dust. You can also get a long, thin brush (like a pipe cleaner) designed for cleaning window blinds or refrigerator grilles, and use that to get inside the housing.

If the fan is a constant dust problem, get an air conditioner foam filter at the hardware store, trim it to fit, and attach it to the back with tape. You can then clean this foam filter instead of the fan itself.

ALL THAT SAID, I have this exact fan in a box in my office. It's a great air circulator and is wall-mountable (which I haven't gotten around to). The manual says you can open it with a standard Phillips screwdriver. (It also says DO NOT IMMERSE IN WATER. This suggests that a little water applied with care should not be an issue.)

It's almost as good as a Vornado, which is from a new company, not the one that turned into the Realty Trust, but itself is almost as good as the steel originals. I have one of each and all they need is some annual lubrication.
posted by dhartung at 9:03 PM on August 24, 2008


Are you people insane? It's an electric fan. The dirty blades are attached to an electric motor.

Did any of you even look at the picture of the fan?!?

How do you expect to get that thing under a faucet without water going somewhere it's not supposed to?

Kellydamnit, do not listen to these morons. Do not put your fan under the faucet!

If you can't disassemble the fan for safe cleaning in a cost effective manner, replace it. You don't have to throw the fan away, you can keep it as a backup, or use it elsewhere.
posted by wfrgms at 10:53 PM on August 24, 2008


wfrgms is absolutely correct, you should unplug the fan before rinsing the blades in the sink. Then it will be safe, as long as you make sure the motor is completely dry before you plug it back in. Then you're family will be safe.
posted by Daddy-O at 7:35 AM on August 25, 2008 [1 favorite]


If you can't disassemble the fan for safe cleaning in a cost effective manner, replace it.


don't do that. you don't have to replace stuff when it gets dirty!

we have several of these fans. they are awesome. we do not clean them nearly as often as we should. it is gross.

we use a combination of the air can/q-tip method. we've also tried taking them apart with no luck. you'd think they'd make it a bit easier to get at things to clean!

one of them finally burned out after being on almost 24/7 for 3 years (i do not recommend this!). i may use that one as a guinea pig to see if i can get it open some way without damaging it.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 7:36 AM on August 25, 2008


Response by poster: thanks for the advice everyone. It turns out I do have a star screwdriver set in the house, but the smallest on it (which is maybe 2mm across) is still too big.
Since there are also four phillips screws holding it together I may just drill them out so I can open it regularly and clean it when it's necessary without going through hoops every time it gets dusty. (I live in an urban area on a major road near a busy intersection, so dust happens pretty much any time the windows are open.)
posted by Kellydamnit at 9:12 AM on August 25, 2008


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