Electrician info,fan noise

[BKKSTAN]

I have a friend that rents a house that has large hanging overhead fans!one,while running,does not make any noise other than the blades cutting through the air!

Unfortunately,my friend has sensitive ears and the one over his bed makes a continuos whining sound!Which drives him batty and unable to sleep with it on!

His landlords son is an electrician and doesn't want anyone else working on electrical problems in the house,But my friend can not get ahold of him!

My friend would like to know if anyone on the forum knows what makes one fan ''whine'' and how to fix it??

My friend thanks you in advance

[beer monkey]

I am no expert but it sounds like a noisy bearing/motor, would of thought the only option is to replace it, as once a bearing is worn its finished.
I stayed in a hotel once that had a ceiling fan that constantly rocked and subsequently made a knocking noise when it was turning in the dead of night...yeah useless info i know but i will never forget it and it was around 15 years back, drove me nuts, reading the above brought it back from the depths.

[mortiboy]

If It is an old fan,More than likely the grease that was packed in the bearing is hardened,and caked with dirt and dust.maybe wants taking apart and cleaning and nit noy bit of new grease applied
Or depending of the bearing,If ball race,balls trying to race over each other Through wear. Mostly,Full of dried crap is the problem!

[westerby]

It's the bearings.

Like Morti said, give it a clean or get a new fan - preferably the latter.

Electrical assets don't last as long in your environment as they would in Japan, Norh America or Europe.

[saint]

if its compacted old grease on the bearings, a squirt of W D 40 will give him a short term fix ,maybe a week or so

[fremmel]

Here's a good site for ceiling fan problems http://www.ceiling-fans-n-more.com/ceiling-fan-general-troubleshooting-and-FAQ.php

[lighspur1]

I have found hair to get sucked into the motor and bearings on more than a few occasions. (Work at a womens prison that has 12 ceiling fans per dorm). Which will wreak havoc on the bearings. Oiling it will help for few days or week but the best solution is to just replace it and forget it.

[UdonExpat]

He could also swap it with another one in the house that is running silently.

[Ainzo]

I remember, it's been a long time when my friend encountered this problem. His ceiling fan produced unnecessary sound, or it is noisy. Fortunately, they consult to the electrician, what is the cause of this problem, and the electrician said you installed it improperly, and we will are trying to reinstall it.

[mortiboy]

That's good coming from a Thai "electrician'"
How on earth can you not install it correctly? The problem is obviously within the appliance.
Take the damn thing down and .....like I said in previous post take it apart and clean the years old crap out of it.
If not, PM me I do it for you!
These so called clever know it all dummies here pis me off!
You some thing done? .....Do it yourself .....Properly
Most "tradesmen" here are" TAS " Lose facer's

[MALC]

i stripped mine down put some 3 in 1 oil on the shafts can not hear them now and dont get hot

[wokkawombat]

I have ceiling fans in most rooms in my house in Australia. I found a whack on the base of the fan with a rubber mallet solves the noise problem most times. Not real handy if you have a light attached to the fan though.

[bluejets]

Previous post said "get a newie"...probably the best bet.
just for the record, it might well be the controller. When fans changed from the old "choke" type speed control to the new "electronic" controllers, they did so by using thyristors which "chopped" the syne wave at varying points and caused humming and buzzing like one would not believe. Fixes from "soft" rubber on the saddle to many other "brain wave " devices failed miserably and finally they came up with a switched series capacitor which works much like the old choke type. Choke was inductive reactance, capacitor is capacitive reactance.....slow the fan is the result.

[thedude]

Very interesting. I've been in search of the holy grail of silent "swinging" wall fans (with remotes) for years.

Hitari cheap, noisy, crappy. Latest is a Mitsubishi - not cheap (about 2K), quite shnazzy & tight; still, at night, bit of a hummer. Waves of hums. And I don't sleep like a Thai, unfortunately.

Anyone know a fan of this type that is QUIET?!? I.e., doesn't hum, click, buzz, etc...

(Remember I'm talking Wall Fans, not stand up jobbers, which are indeed quieter, but do they have them with remotes, timers, etc.?)

Cheers, electro-dudes

[douglas]

Hi,
I bought a stand up fan with remote control at Home-Pro 2 years ago. Very good has a timer, swing, natural and speed control on the remote.
It's a Hitari cost 1,800B is silent and so far has lasted me over two years with no problems, had to change the batteries in remote once.