My daughter’s ceiling fan is emitting a scratchy kind of sound. I can barely hear it, but it is driving her crazy. I WD-40’d the thing to death with no result. I am assuming a bad bearing and that the whole thing needs replaced. If anyone has easier or cheaper ideas, I will be all for hearing them.
The rotors on many ceiling fan motors are big, 6" or more, and can get out of alignment to the point that they rub somewhere without the bearings being shot. Dust the fan blades to restore whatever balance they have, and give the motor housing a few sharp whacks. This procedure permanently eliminated the noise from two of the four ceiling fans in my house. The other two fans have never gotten noisy.
Take off the decorative motor housing and see if the fan makes makes the noise. The housing is being rubbed by a moving part if it stopped making the noise. Adjust the housing fit by moving it around with the slack between the slots and the screws.
Whenever my fans start making noise, I get out a ruler and make sure the blades are evenly aligned. I put the ruler end against the ceiling just off the tip of a blade and measure, rotate to the next blade, measure, etc. I then adjust (i.e., a little bending) any that are out of level with the others. I then check the pitch. A little harder as I had to check the front and back heights of each blade at the same spot. (I now use a folding ruling like a bevel gauge so it’s only one measurement per blade.)
But… you’re going to have to replace the fan. Why? WD-40. You have got to be kidding me. A. WD-40 is the world’s poorest excuse for a lube. It dries out quickly and attracts dust. Do not ever use it as a long term lube. B. You never, ever use a spray lube, even a good one, on an electric motor. The bearings on such motors take only a drop or two in very specific locations (if you’re lucky* enough that the bearings aren’t sealed).
*Actually, sealed bearings are better since the motor is going to last much longer.
Actually, cleaning the fan blades plus banging on the fan housing as suggested by Squink solved the problem. Now I just have to hope I didn’t totally screw things up by using WD-40.
That’s because it’s not a lubricant. It’s a water-displacer, hence the WD. Sad that people tend to mis-use it and that they’ve begun marketing it in such a way as to encourage people to mis-use it.
Wikipedia has “WD-40 is the trademark of a widely used penetrating oil (cleaner, lubricant and anti-corrosive solution) spray.”
Yes, it was concocted while looking for a water displacer, but it’s a nice lubricant as well.