Alex Koh Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 I have been having this issue with my vortalex where front bearing drys up after about 4 to 6 hours of running. When it happens I notice there is a scratching noise and the spin down time is reduced which is concerning since I use this fan throughout the day every day. All I have done was replace the oil wick and the old oil after cleaning the cup (Used F1 white wool wick from McMaster Carr). Any ideas on what what is going on? IMG_4428.mp4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lane Shirey Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 (edited) There’s not much wick protruding from the spring. Are you sure it’s touching the bearing or shaft? The wick isn’t the problem, that’s where I get all of mine. if there’s no hole in the bearing for the wick to touch the shaft, then the pores of the porous bearing may be clogged. There are postings in the old forum on how to heat the bearing to clean the pores out. Edited January 19 by Lane Shirey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Koh Posted January 19 Author Share Posted January 19 10 hours ago, Lane Shirey said: There’s not much wick protruding from the spring. Are you sure it’s touching the bearing or shaft? The wick isn’t the problem, that’s where I get all of mine. if there’s no hole in the bearing for the wick to touch the shaft, then the pores of the porous bearing may be clogged. There are postings in the old forum on how to heat the bearing to clean the pores out. That photo was not an accurate represention of how I installed it. I did adjust the position to make sure it was touching the bearing, and cut it to the same length as the original. When I took a look at it again I noticed green stuff showing up on the tip. So its likely the pores are cloged up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Koh Posted February 18 Author Share Posted February 18 The problem has gotten worse. I didn't have a heatgun handy so I instead resorted to take appart the bearing assembly and degreased the parts and inside housing. There were still some grease stuck in the poures and I foolishly tried a scotch brite pad on a small spot. Now a small fraction of the outsied bearing has scratches and it didn't clean anything. Still I reassembled it hoping it didn't affect much and added another new wick. After all of that I still continue to hear scratching noises and am at witz end on what to do about this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lane Shirey Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 On 2/18/2024 at 10:48 AM, Alex Koh said: The problem has gotten worse. I didn't have a heatgun handy so I instead resorted to take appart the bearing assembly and degreased the parts and inside housing. There were still some grease stuck in the poures and I foolishly tried a scotch brite pad on a small spot. Now a small fraction of the outsied bearing has scratches and it didn't clean anything. Still I reassembled it hoping it didn't affect much and added another new wick. After all of that I still continue to hear scratching noises and am at witz end on what to do about this. Try soaking the bearing in a jar of lacquer thinner overnight. Just make sure to let the bearing sit for a while to fully dry before reinstalling. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Zapf Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 I TOO AM WONDERING IF AFTER HEATING UP THE WICK IS ALLOWING THE SPRING TO TOUCH THE SHAFT? SCRATCHING NOISES ARE NOT USUAL. IS THERE ANY TYPE OF SPACER IN FRONT OF THE SHAFT ON THE INSIDE? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Koh Posted February 29 Author Share Posted February 29 On 2/22/2024 at 6:26 AM, Lane Shirey said: Try soaking the bearing in a jar of lacquer thinner overnight. Just make sure to let the bearing sit for a while to fully dry before reinstalling. Lane, I don't have any laquer thinner. Will carb cleaner work just as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lane Shirey Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 On 2/29/2024 at 5:24 PM, Alex Koh said: Lane, I don't have any laquer thinner. Will carb cleaner work just as well? Can’t tell you if that’ll ruin the bearing in any way. Every store has lacquer thinner. Just pick up a can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lane Shirey Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 If all else fails, you could always drill the bearing so the wick touches the shaft like the older versions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sherwood Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 I always put oil on the inside of the bearing before I reassemble any fan. I would not use carb cleaning on the bearing. If it soaks into the bearing that might cause a problem. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Koh Posted March 11 Author Share Posted March 11 I ultimately bought the laquer thinner and sat the bearing parts in there for 48 hours and reassembled the bearing and it didn't change anything. I looked into it further and found that the oil wasn't migrating into the sleeve as fast as it should. On my other ge fans when you observed the oil flow without the blade you would see a large ammount surrounding the point where the shaft sticks out of the bearing. This was how it behaved on all of my quietblades and vortalexes. But this didn't have any. What odd is when I took the bearing appart again to look there was a thick layer of oil surrounding the outside. The oil is getting transfered fine but its refusing to make it into the actual sleeve. I'm not sure on what can be done other than modtification (drilling a hole for the wick) or replacement of the bearing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Andersen Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 (edited) This is probably more work than you want to mess with but it might be the oilite pores are clogged. Solvent sometimes won't get down into it without damaging more than you want. Oil is often best removed by other oil. There are old forum threads about it and it worked for me. Put some zoom spout oil in a metal container and leave bearing submerged in it. Put the container on a hot plate and heat it to around 250 degrees for as close to 24 hours you can get. Obviously leaving hot oil somewhere unattended while you sleep is bad but maybe you can split it over two days. The new oil will pull out a bunch of old oil and the bearing absorbs the new. It can be so bad you need to replace the oil and heat it more. When the bearing stops bubbling it should be good to go. Ive done this to 3 or 4 GE bearings. If you want to go crazy when the oil cools you can try pressurized impregnation and put it to about 60psi and force more oil inside. Or you can try the vacuum method. But the hot plate method is probably good enough on its own. Here's one thread I had saved. https://www.afcaforum.com/forum1/54589.html Edited March 11 by Trevor Andersen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Koh Posted March 12 Author Share Posted March 12 5 hours ago, Trevor Andersen said: This is probably more work than you want to mess with but it might be the oilite pores are clogged. Solvent sometimes won't get down into it without damaging more than you want. Oil is often best removed by other oil. There are old forum threads about it and it worked for me. Put some zoom spout oil in a metal container and leave bearing submerged in it. Put the container on a hot plate and heat it to around 250 degrees for as close to 24 hours you can get. Obviously leaving hot oil somewhere unattended while you sleep is bad but maybe you can split it over two days. The new oil will pull out a bunch of old oil and the bearing absorbs the new. It can be so bad you need to replace the oil and heat it more. When the bearing stops bubbling it should be good to go. Ive done this to 3 or 4 GE bearings. If you want to go crazy when the oil cools you can try pressurized impregnation and put it to about 60psi and force more oil inside. Or you can try the vacuum method. But the hot plate method is probably good enough on its own. Here's one thread I had saved. https://www.afcaforum.com/forum1/54589.html Interesting read Trevor. Do you know if this can be done without removing the bearing itself. I also have this same issue happen with a Diehl (looks like this) which has oilite bearings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Andersen Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 (edited) 2 hours ago, Alex Koh said: Interesting read Trevor. Do you know if this can be done without removing the bearing itself. I also have this same issue happen with a Diehl (looks like this) which has oilite bearings. I'm not sure. Id hesitate putting any old pot metal in a hot oil bath. I dont know if that Diehl has any. Another problem may be contamination. If the housing/bearing carrier is even stripped down and cleaned first it still might also have old substances mix into your oil bath. Cast iron has pores, that's why you can season skillets. I would worry about seasoning my fan lol. Might make it leech oil forever. If the attached parts are steel you might be ok. Edited March 12 by Trevor Andersen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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