How to Prolong the Life of Your Fan

The cool breeze coming from your fan can stop if you don't maintain your fan properly. Remember, that with the air that moves through the fan, comes dust, dirt particles, pollen, and animal hair. You should clean the fan motor at the beginning of summer and periodically, thereafter. The tools you need are a shop vaccum and a screwdriver. 1. Remove the grilles and vaccum them.

2. Wipe dust off the fan blades. If the blades are greasy, use an ammoniated cleaner, like Windex. Caution: Don't use petroleum-based solvents or cleaners to remove grease in the presence of an electric motor.

3. After you have thouroughly cleaned the fan blades, use the shop vaccum equipped with a crevice tool to suck dust out of the motor. Air enters at the back of the motor, so that's where most of the dirt and dust will accumulate. Insert the tool into the air holes on the back of the motor case. The motor is clean when you look at the air holes and see daylight at the other end.

4. The last step is to lubricate the motor with 10 to 20 drops of 3-in-1 oil. Note: The oil holes are usually on top of the motor case or in a dimple on the motor's front and back. If there are no oil holes, it means the motor is permanently lubricated and does not require oiling.