Well Folks,
After some searching around, I've found that just about all of ceiling fans installed in the Itascas and Winnes make noise. Some have tightened screws, reversed the operational direction, and other home remedies but, for the most part the noise either remains or comes back shortly.
Well, after returning from a short camping trip recently, ours was making more noise than normal. So, down it came and apart it went. All I could find for a possible problem was a very slight bit of noise in both bearings. Now, I can get the bearings for about $1.00-$3.00 each, depending on where I get them but, it's getting them off that's the problem. You need a micro gear puller to do the job which, I don't have. So, I made some feeble attempts at removing one of them and it didn't work. All I did was move the main shaft a tad in the wrong direction.
So, in the midst of trying things, attempting to remove bearings and some clumsiness in re-assembling the armature and brushes, I ended up breaking several of those tiny wires that are part of the windings that lead down to the commutator. Well folks, that's not a good thing, at all. These are little Taiwanese motors and there's no parts or replacement motors that I can find so far.
And, even finding a complete replacement fan is hard to do, since most of the RV parts supplies stores don't carry any. I even called a local RV repair place here in San Diego that's been there for years and he'd never seen a 12V Ceiling fan. Hmmmmmmmmmm
So, has anyone had to deal with a replacement fan like that and did you find some miracle set up that would take the place of the junk motor that came with the fan? I'd love to do a brush-less set up but, that would take some slight engineering.
Scott
Scott and Karla SDFD RETIRED
2004 Itasca Horizon, 36GD Slate Blue 330 CAT
2011 White Honda CRV EX-L,4WD w/NAV Toad 2008 Caliente Red LVL II GL 1800 Goldwing KI60ND
2008 Itasca Sunova 35J Class A
1997 TJ Sahara, hard and soft tops and AC
Held together via Roadmaster Falcon 2 tow bar and stopped by US Gear Unified Brake system.
Dale & Susan
DaGirls Rv - Della & KoKo(rainbow bridge)
Alfa SeYa 2003, CAT 3126E 330Hp, 08 Jeep Liberty TOAD
Roadmaster and Air Brake System
940Ws MPPT 2800Ws Inv/Chg, 660AmpHour
gatorcq,
Well Sir, we've scowered the i-net, many RV supplies stores and, a few RV repair establishments. I was supprised by the fact that one of the RV repair/parts suppliers here in San Diego had never heard of a 12V Ceiling fan. I guess he does not work on many Itascas or Winnes because I think many, many of them have one.
Anyway, yes, you can buy them all day long on ebay but, most of those, if not all are higher priced than what I can find them for locally but, finding them locally IS the problem. The model/color I'm in search of "White w/Brushed nickel housing etc" is no longer produced by Lasalle Bristol which, is most likely the maker (or importer) of our original unit.
So, we'll see what comes up. I'm also into looking at trying to fit a brushless 12V DC motor to it. That will be a bit of a challange but, a possibility. We'll see.
Scott
Now for the great news. You broke it good. After buying new bearings and carefully repairing mine I patted myself on the back. Only $20 or so for new bearings. Then a few days later. Tick, tick tick. Grrrrr.
I have spent many many hours trying to make that motor quiet. I have the brush thing down pat. My last go round I bought a new fan kit which came with a fancy multi speed control that wouldn't fit in the same hole as the nice little round one. No worries. I just sent it to someone that needed one. I swapped out my old blades and things and just used the new motor.
Now the great news. The new motor has been redesigned. It is apparent they have done something to the bearing holding area but don't know if more has been done. I had glued my bearing in place and the motor still ticked. I believe it is a poor brush holder design. In any case the new motor has been running for months and it is very quiet.
The other good news is I have a web page for you to visit that I thought I lost due to a computer crash but I am crazy about backing things up and found it. If the new motor doesn't look different than the old one send it back and buy a complete fan kit so you get the new style. The changes are around the bearing areas. I have information on where I bought mine.
The 12 volt ceiling fan makes a tremendous difference in comfort level in our mh. We have a tempurpedic bed and they can be a bit warm so circulating is is nice.
YC 1 wrote: Now for the great news. You broke it good. After buying new bearings and carefully repairing mine I patted myself on the back. Only $20 or so for new bearings. Then a few days later. Tick, tick tick. Grrrrr.
I have spent many many hours trying to make that motor quiet. I have the brush thing down pat. My last go round I bought a new fan kit which came with a fancy multi speed control that wouldn't fit in the same hole as the nice little round one. No worries. I just sent it to someone that needed one. I swapped out my old blades and things and just used the new motor.
Now the great news. The new motor has been redesigned. It is apparent they have done something to the bearing holding area but don't know if more has been done. I had glued my bearing in place and the motor still ticked. I believe it is a poor brush holder design. In any case the new motor has been running for months and it is very quiet.
The other good news is I have a web page for you to visit that I thought I lost due to a computer crash but I am crazy about backing things up and found it. If the new motor doesn't look different than the old one send it back and buy a complete fan kit so you get the new style. The changes are around the bearing areas. I have information on where I bought mine.
The 12 volt ceiling fan makes a tremendous difference in comfort level in our mh. We have a tempurpedic bed and they can be a bit warm so circulating is is nice.
YC 1,
You Sir, are a gentelman and a scholar. I was this close (you can't see it) to ordering up a whole 'nother fan or, start trying to figure out how to use a 12V brush less motor and adapt it all to the bottom of the original motor housing. That way, the mounting system would be in tact for mounting it to the ceiling and, the system would also remain in tact for mounting the outer "Brushed nickel" housing to the mount on the ceiling.
But, after diving into that site you sent me, I was a happy camper, (so to speak). I emailed them last night and got a reply this morning. I asked them about an "Improved" motor to stop the infamous "ticking" etc. They called my fan a "Trusty" brand fan. And, they said they (Trusty) had improved the motor recently and that he did not know of the exact date the new ones came out.
He also said "Trusty" and them, had/have a one year warranty so, should any "ticking" occur, then they'd accept it back and would send another one. So, that sounds reassuring anyway.
So, pondering only a few ways out here, we decided to order up a new motor and, hope for the best. A grand total of $68.00 OTD including shipping and, I'm hoping it will be here in a few days. I sure want to thank you for sending the link. I searched, what I thought, was all over the net and could not find replacement parts for those fans. And yet, here you show up with the perfect site. Yahoo.
Scott
Glad to be of service. I keep those things in a folder and on a thumbdrive because the question comes up about different things and I get tired of re-doing the research and really like having it all on my thumbdrive. I have scanned tons of documents so I virtually have a library for the MH. Schematics and all. I have pictures of the fan motor repair and will see I have those on the net just to show folks what it looks like.
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