It appears that my attic fan has spun its last. It tries to run but I guess the bearings are gone, or the lubrication, whatever. It's original to the house, so it's close to 23 years old.

I haven't gotten up there to get the model number. Any recommendations? And I am guessing that the replacement will be made from the roof? What kind of handyman am I looking for?

It's really easy to do it yourself. Most use the same motors. If you're pretty hand I can walk you through it.

If not comfortable an electrician can do it as long as the original housing and animal guard are in place.

If you are not handy and the housing is compromised then you need a roofer and an electrician and it will be pricey.

The way I do it is buy one of these, remove motor from both new/old fans, compare blades. If exact same diameter simply swap motors. If old blade is smaller, then you need to swap blades or very carefully trim new blades with tin snips making sure to not bend blades, change profile, or trim unequally.

Tools needed socket set (most will be 10 or 11mm or between 3/8-7/16).

Second socket of same size or wrench.

Screw gun

Wire nuts/wood screws

***If no disconnect switch is present, then you may want to have electrician add switch and do motor swap.

Post some pics so I can make sure it's possible to DIY.

These are your three basic setups (these all have problems otherwise I wouldn't take pics, but just so you know what you're looking at):

Single sheet metal screw:



Nut and Bolt:



Lamanco brand, needs either exact replacement or an electrician who knows what pieces and parts to Frankenstein together.




Nutone Brand :

No pics but will look completely different than above even if sticker has worn/fallen off. If nutone, I suggest having roofer replace whole unit. Usually they won't make electrical connections or disconnections.

I have changed ~300 of these motors. I can usually do it in 30 min or less, novice time <90 min.

By trying to run, do you mean it makes a humming noise, but no rotation? could be bearings, or a capacitor.

I would call an HVAC company personally.

Not sure if accessed from roof or attic, I would bet attic personally.

I had the same issue...it gets real noisy when the bearings go.

The frame of mine holds the motor and I was able to get the model number off the motor. It was a fairly common single pole motor and amazon had them (FASCO brand)...pricey at $120 but they last about 5-7 years.

Wiring was easy but the frame that clamped the motor was a bit difficult up there in such a tight space.

EDIT: Mine looks similar to SKINS pics above...but motor is different. It can be replaced as I described but is a PITA.

quote:

Originally posted by Dreamerx4:
By trying to run, do you mean it makes a humming noise, but no rotation? could be bearings, or a capacitor.

When it kicks on, it tries to rotate, gives for or 5 revs very slowly, then halts and hums like a barber shop quartet. It give the impression of a fan motor that's simply worn out.

No repairing it likely, if has a capacitor like is barely visible in my second picture, those can fail and be replaced. At 23 years it's lived a full life and is time to be replaced.

I am not a fan expert at all. But, I saw a demonstrating "Quiet Cool" brand fan and was very impressed. It was moving a lot of air. My goal was to put one of these in the attic to cool house down. Unfortunately when the HVAC came out to estimate, it would not fit "easily" where I wanted it so never got one.

If I were ever to do one, I would use a Quiet Cool brand fan. But the true HVAC experts here might have other ideas.

quote:

But the true HVAC experts here might have other ideas.

Depending on which ones you talk to, many will tell you an attic fan is a complete waste of money and your money will be best spent on insulation and proper roof venting. In many cases convection is better than forced air.

I have installed a bunch of those in decades past but they fell out of favor years ago as not considered worth it. Now it seems the current fad is continuous ridge vents.

Lowes sells a replacement motor but will it fit???
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Air-V...Fan-Motor/1000377375

Some one had removed the motor and discarded it along with the fan blades for the one in our current house prior to us buying it. I bought a new fan and swapped in the motor and fan blades to avoid disturbing the roof by changing out the whole thing.

Yours was the exception for longevity... the extreme heat they are subject to and perhaps with more cheaply made motors now it seems they don't last very long.

Since it appears that a replacement is called for, consider a whole house fan. I lived in an older home that had one and it did a fantastic job of cooling and venting the house. When switched on, it sounded like you just got clearance for take off!
I would guess that newer models make much less noise.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Since it appears that a replacement is called for, consider a whole house fan. I lived in an older home that had one and it did a fantastic job of cooling and venting the house. When switched on, it sounded like you just got clearance for take off!
I would guess that newer models make much less noise.

Man this time of year you could sleep like a baby with one those on. Sounded like a freight train and I can still feel that cool air blowing all these years later.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:

quote:

Originally posted by Dreamerx4:
By trying to run, do you mean it makes a humming noise, but no rotation? could be bearings, or a capacitor.

When it kicks on, it tries to rotate, gives for or 5 revs very slowly, then halts and hums like a barber shop quartet. It give the impression of a fan motor that's simply worn out.

If you can see a capacitor, it would be what I would check first, motor tries to run, heat builds up, and goes out on thermal overload. cools down, and tries to repeat.
Does it long enough, burns our wiring insulation, motor is toast.

Best to replace.

Not hard to do, but if not comfortable, still would call an HVAC company.

This is not same as a whole house fan as has been suggested. If I remember right, you are in Georgia, and a whole house fan would NOT be a good option.

Whole house fans are great north of you, where you can go home after work and evacuate heat out of house with cool air outside... Georgia doesn't have cool air outside :-)

I just did this.
Replace from attic.
65.oo @ lowes for motor.
Have a place to set it on do not to bend blades, they're easy to bend.
Mine has a light switch with pig tail near it. Easy to Turn off power.

I needed attic ventilation in a farm garage where we have the power turned off occasionally.

These solar roof vent fans were simple to install and have done a great job. Obviously this would be for when 24 hour fan service isn't necessary.

quote:

This is not same as a whole house fan as has been suggested. If I remember right, you are in Georgia, and a whole house fan would NOT be a good option.

Whole house fans are great north of you, where you can go home after work and evacuate heat out of house with cool air outside... Georgia doesn't have cool air outside :-)

Memories of the whole house fan we had when I was growing up in KY make me like that option, the noise was great, I can't sleep in total silence, guess it was from that fan running and the hotel rooms with those noisy AC units when I travelled.

I do know it got the bedroom nice an cold on a summers night... Got yelled at a few times getting up in the middle of the night to reset the timer, dad had it on a timer to keep it from running all night....

I installed a whole house fan in the garage, we run it on days when it's cool outside close the garage doors and open the door to the house and it pulls through a lot of air and noise is eliminated in the house because it's location in the garage.

True you can't run it all year, but it does have advantages and it does get cool in North GA enough to run an attic or whole house fan during some parts of the year.

A new fan with the solar option would be nice if it's on a southern facing roof without any shade from trees.

It would be eco-logically sound.