Only fans?
this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2026
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Actually, no! I use just a dab of baby oil on my electric clippers which is what originally gave me the idea. It makes me wonder how it would perform as a chain oil for my bike.
Bicycle or motorcycle? As I recall, it's just mineral oil. Would probably be okay for a bicycle, but I'd prefer chain lube or chain wax for a motorcycle.
Definitely bicycle. Yeah, it is just mineral oil. I think the chain oil I use has a bit more viscosity I think, but I've not directly compared.
That, and I believe chain lube has something in it to help it stay adhered to the links instead of just flying off.
Diddy lube tech
lol, I told my buddies they were gonna start calling me Diddy for solving all my mechanical problems with baby oil
Where does vegetable oil come from? Vegetables!
Where does olive oil come from? Olives!
Where does baby oil come from? Oh god... Please no.. Oh my god
Luckily we can excrete our oil, although I'm told that's not fast enough for those over at Johnson&Johnson..
Then why is there no adult oil?
I could probably use some on my knees.
Oh, I thought that was a euphemism.
I'll be a fan if I can get lubed up too
Yeah, grease can become a problem over the years as the waxes in them harden. Oils are often better for the plain bearings found in a small fan. And even small ball bearing tend to prefer oils over grease.
Do your fans have little oil cups? When I was a kid, small fans often had little oil cups to directly lubricate those plain bearings regularly. So many 3-in-One oil cans.
Nah, no oil cups. These fans are your basic modern chinese fab'd steel fan with simple bearings. Fairly certain that they never intended anyone to ever open/maintain these because it is a pain in the ass to do, and in fact, I'm surprised at how much labor is required to (dis)assemble these (too many fasteners IMO).
That's too bad. I have a tabletop oscillator that is 60+ years old that has those oil cups. I'm having it buried with me when I die. That way no matter how hot hell is, I'm going to have my fan!
My trusty Wind Machine ground to a halt this week after 20+ years of faithful service.
I took it apart using this video as a guide. Everything went as shown, but a number of the washers and spacers inside were broken or missing, so I suppose she'll be put out to pasture.
I've been using it the past decade or so in the hallway, so I'm thinking of switching to a tower fan so I trip over it less. Trying to decide between Levoit and Dreo, which seem to do well in Project Farm tests and other reviews. They all seem too "smart" and not just off/hi/med/lo, which seems annoying.
Now that I've taken one apart, I feel more confident in maintaining future fans, so at least I learned new skills from losing this one. I figured if I was already writing it off as busted, I may as well use it as a test run for disassembly.
but a number of the washers and spacers inside were broken or missing, so I suppose she’ll be put out to pasture.
Why would you get rid of something over washers and spacers? Those are relatively easy to buy or fabricate yourself.
What was in there wasn't really identifiable anymore due to age/wear. The first thing that fell out was a bunch of pieces of plastic spacer that kept the rotor and stator in alignment. This is a tilting fan, so without that bit, the blade rattles around if it's not perfectly vertical and held by the magnetic field. I tried replacing it with a spacer I had that looked of similar size, but it was still noisy. The other washer I know was broken, I couldn't ID the material as it was really thin and really brittle, so it could have been fiber, nylon, or metal, so I wasn't sure if it was there for friction reduction, lubrication, or to keep the shaft centered. I replaced it with a metal ring I had.
I did clean, lube, and reassemble the motor, and it spun much better, but now that all the loose crud holding it together was gone, it was noisier than before. The cord is also fairly ratty from being used in high traffic and multiple locations over the years, so that was due to be replaced soon as well. I gave it my best effort to salvage it, but with the new one being $40, I don't want to play with friction/electricity in something I leave running all the time like when I'm asleep or away. If my repair attempt would have had better results, I'd have no issue with still using it.
Now that I’ve taken one apart, I feel more confident in maintaining future fans, so at least I learned new skills from losing this one. I figured if I was already writing it off as busted, I may as well use it as a test run for disassembly.
Exactly! I was in the same boat. Fan already didn't work, might as well pull it apart and see if it can be fixed.
It was surprisingly easy, and as long as you dont drop all the washers/spacers, there are really fewer parts than I pictured.
Getting the front cover off was a challenge due to all the years of gunk on the shaft, but since I was going to degrease it anyway, I used Dawn/hot water and scrubbed all the mess off and it slid out. That front shaft bearing with the rubbery feeling seal was unexpected also.
The video I liked is suuuuuper long (37 min) but most is the fan body disassembly and it had lots of helpful comments and tips for anyone interested.
Did you knock the shaft after reassembly? The guy showed tapping it from a few sides after reassembly to help it settle into, I'm assuming the old wear pattern, and spin more freely, and I felt that did help. I'm assuming it would eventually vibrate back into place on its own, but if a motor had more uneven wear, that might make a bigger difference, but it felt like a handy bonus tip.
I tried replacing my busted parts with washers I had on hand, but the nylon spacer that kept the rotor and shaft centered was in half a dozen pieces, and if the fan wasn't perfectly vertical it still made grinding noise. I leave the fan run 24/7 usually, so it isn't worth worrying about starting a fire or something, so I called it quits as an academic exercise in electric motor maintenance.
I'm glad you were able to repair yours! I was raised really frugally, and I feel bad scrapping so much material, but I don't want to take a chance with unsupervised electronics at this point in my life.