Fix (almost) any Lasko box fan from 2001 or later 

No worries! I still need to get myself an air compressor so I can just do that instead lol.

No worries! With the price of these fans nearly doubling in the past 2 years I’m glad to help people keep their existing ones in service

Thanks! Hope it helped! Sorry I couldn't reply sooner, RU-vid decided to mark a bunch of regular comments as spam for whatever reason.

Same, oil ports make it a lot easier! I really want to find one of those recalled 2001-2006 Lasko fans because they used motors with oil ports on them

@@alexthefanguy wish i would have gotten one from 2005-06 my 1st box was in 2008 i bought it then i gave it to my nephew

No problem!

Yep, I trimmed the blades to get rid of that annoying whirring sound they make when they come in close contact with the frame. Honestly I'm somewhat disappointed with the amount of products that they've discontinued lately, especially that Air King model that looks exactly like the late 80's Lasko/Galaxy oscillators.

Lasko needs to back-make those 90s box fans.

It could be that, but it could just not be very well oiled. Try spinning it with your hand, if the rotation doesn’t feel smooth it’s inadequately lubricated.

It's a thermal fuse inside motor housing. Axial type 122TF Cutoff 115C 2A 250V. Might be a tiny flat TF that looks like a flat pack transistor that has same rating.

Put an ohms meter across the thermal fuse. It's probably blown open. I cut back the insulation to test it. If good I'd have taped it up and moved to next step.

Sherlock, thanks!, and that's a great and fitting name you have there, to suit the advice you've very kindly shared here. Well, I disassembled the motor to go looking for a cutoff fuse, and, inside, pulled off the heat-shrink tubing of all the connections to find it. It was an in-line device (like a 1/8-watt resistor in appearance), with a rating of 115 C (deg). I obtained a new fuse on eBay for $1.99, shipped, from a US seller. Will solder it in, and put new shrink tubing insulation on all the connections. Should work! I've never had a thermal fuse open (die) on any of my own fans, because I keep them clean and lubed. They never seize and heat-up, as prob. happened to this fan I found. By the way, my favorite lube for electric fans has for years been the Teflon (TFE) grease in a tube called "Super Lube", from SYNCO, which is a synthetic grease. But, a fluid collects at the top of the tube which is the same stuff, just liquid in form. It's clear in color and about the consistency of 10w30 motor oil. But it has NO SMELL to it, which means it is not evaporating, and so does not volatilize and turn to cement, like other oils or grease. Good, good stuff. A 3-ounce tube is about a lifetime supply (or longer). I "sip" the liquid Teflon liquid exudate from the top of the tube with an eye-dropper and apply it sparingly to motor shafts and bearings. Even when the fan motor heats up after running a long time, there is no smell of any lube coming from the fan, unlike the case of most other oils. The stuff does not dry out. Even though my fans never seize-up and overheat due to my ways of cleaning and maintaining them, I decided to replace the thermal fuse on this latest found one, rather than to not use a fuse and just solder the leads without a fuse in the circuit. Cheap insurance! A house-fire would not be "cool". At all. Many thanks to you for your replies! --Joe / Tucson

@W7DXW be sure to leave leads long. Also you must use a heat sink on leads to solder. An alligator clip will work. Let me know how it works out. Thanks.

The fan I cleaned and replaced TF on was a Lasko common floor fan. TFE is the best. Used it in aerospace tech/mech work for decades. I like the spray for mechanical like car door hinges etc

I’m sure it would also last a lot longer since they take far more time to seize up than a rifle bearing. You’d just need to figure out how to mount it securely and what size bearing it would require. I doubt it would make it quieter though; the excessive noise is just a characteristic of the skinnier blades used in modern box fans..

That was my work, I used one of those binder clip things to balance it a couple years ago

I’d recommend trying to fix the older fan if possible. The blades on those are often much better quality airflow-wise and using them on a newer, less powerful motor (e.g. the ones in pretty much all newer box fans) can put enough strain on it to burn it out. (Assuming the motor shaft is even the same size, older blades were usually made for larger motors) If the blade still won’t come out, try using some WD-40, though you’ll have to clean it afterwards as it can degrade plastics pretty badly. If there’s a black metal ring holding it on, you can probably pry it off with a flathead screwdriver. Those rings aren’t actually necessary so it doesn’t matter if it gets damaged.

@@alexthefanguy Thanks for your reply! I think the older fan is pretty much a lost cause. It's in terrible shape. It has no power cord and I don't know if the motor is fixable. It was another trash find. I know the newer fan works well. It just needs a different blade since the one on it is damaged. We'll try using some WD-40 & see if that helps us to remove the plastic blade from the older one that's in bad shape. I was hoping not to have to buy a replacement blade but if this one won't come off after using WD-40 then I guess we may have to! Or maybe I'll find another trash fan and can still swap the blades. Thanks again for your advice!

@@kimcarr635 no worries, best of luck getting it back in service! Too bad the old one isn’t saveable, but at least the motor will be worth something in scrap copper haha

@@alexthefanguy Thanks! I'll let you know if we have any success with it! Fingers crossed!

Try drinking 🍺 beer

Nope, unfortunately

These use rifle bearings, not ball bearings. I am not aware of any consumer-grade portable fan currently in production that still uses ball bearings.

That was my second attempt to film the video. The first time I did so the fan actually was broken, but I ended up knocking down my tripod and not noticing until I had the fan back together..

Sometimes they do take quite a bit of force to pull out. I'd say give it all you've got, these fans are pretty cheaply built anyways so it's not the end of the world if it ends up damaged beyond repair. If that ends up being the case I'd recommend looking for an older fan (70s or 80s) as a replacement. Those ones were built to a much higher standard and have several quality of life features like little spouts on the motors so you can oil them without popping them open. Hopefully you can get the Lasko fixed though!

I don't know if his is better, but a 21 minute video is shorter than a 37 minute video.

Sorry, when I said red can I meant the black one. I was indeed using the blue can in the video, the spout is red on both types of 3-in-1.

Yes, I know. The title is in reference to the fact that these fans have hardly changed mechanically since that year.