Help me clean my damn fan

June 12, 2009 5:30 PM

How do I clean my fan? Seriously, I read the manual that came with it, and the manual is lying.

We have two Honeywell Dual Action Air Circulators (HT-9700). They are teh awesome. However, they're pretty dirty inside and need to be cleaned.

I read the manual. Of course the manual that came with it was not for the model that we have. It said something about screws in the back. Well, there are no screws in the back of the grills of either fan.

I tried prying the thing off, but that was just going to break it, so I stopped.

I know I could vacuum some of the gunk out and use canned air too, but Philly dirt is greasy, and it really needs to be wiped off inside. How do I get the freaking grills off?!?!?!?!

I am so embarassed to be asking this.

posted by misanthropicsarah to home & garden (8 comments total)

I could be totally wrong, but I had an old honeywell fan, and I actually had to remove the motor box on the back of the fan before I could access the screws to take off the grill . . . does that help?
posted by BadgerKyle at 5:34 PM on June 12

If I had a fan that I couldn't take apart I'd clean it with a spray bottle, a bucket of water, and a few of these brushes.
posted by waxboy at 5:59 PM on June 12

That's a big company, so I bet they have a product service help line that knows where the screws are. Also, maybe the manual for one you have (that's the model listed?) can be found in an online pdf? I had a shot and couldn't find it, though I found this. I find often the screws are hidden, recessed in deep pits, but I don't have this exact fan myself.
posted by Listener at 6:11 PM on June 12

Try grabbing the front cover and rotating it counter-clockwise or clockwise.
posted by davey_darling at 6:14 PM on June 12

No screws at all? I have a Honeywell "single" with basically the same fan element in a base. On the back of the grill, there are four small phillips screws along the edge easily accessed with a small household screwdriver. You don't look along the side, you look directly through the fan, and they should be there.
posted by dhartung at 6:23 PM on June 12

I did notice the product description included the phrase "child-safe plastic grills." There's likely some magic spell you need to cast on the Tuesday following a Blue Moon in order get it apart. It's probably a Honeywell branded product assembled on spec for Target in China & hence there will be no support for the product through Honeywell. Could you exchange it for a new one - a la Wal*Mart?
posted by torquemaniac at 7:57 PM on June 12

Nthing waxboy's brushes. I have side by side in/out fans that fit into old fashioned windows that don't come apart. Soap, ammonia and water, those brushes and a fair bit of time are the only way I've figured out how to get them clean.
posted by x46 at 8:30 PM on June 12

I know this sounds like the last thing you should do, but I cleaned my Honeywell single fan a few weeks ago by blasting it with a hose. I tried prying it open, but it had all these weird hex and square head screws which I didnt have tools to unscrew.

Dousing with 409, letting it soak, then blasting it with a hose to rinse off, it came out looking like new. Of course, shake dry, and make sure all water has dried before plugging it back in.
posted by edman at 10:52 PM on June 12