Range Hood Fan Blade Wobbling

Question

I have a Broan PM250 which has recently started making noise which upon further investigation appears to be due to the fan blade wobbling and hitting the plastic housing.

Does anyone have and advice on the best way to fix this?

Things I have thought about:

1. Replace the fan blade (but this model does not seem to have a removable fan blade)
2. Shave part of the plastic housing to prevent the fan blade from hitting it
3. Elevate the motor (there looks to be a small gap under the motor where I could potentially place a shim of some kind into)
4. Replace the motor (costs about the same as a new range hood :( )

I'm not generally very handy and don't want to make things worse so figured I would ask to see if anyone has any advice or experience

Thanks!

Answer 1

The fan blade wobbling is usually a sign that the bearings on the motor that has the shaft that the fan blade is attached to turning in it are very badly worn out. Replacing the motor is usually the cost effective approach at this point in time.

You should be able to get an idea of where the slop is by (with the fan not running) grasping the blade and moving it side to side so it hits the housing, and observing carefully what, exactly, is moving to allow that to happen.

Replacing the worn-out bearings would appear to make sense, until you find that in most areas doing that on a small motor is not a currently available service, the motors are not made to be serviced, and if you could find someone to do it they will usually cost more than buying a complete new motor...

If you are finding a new motor to cost the same as a new range hood you may need to shop harder. Or, you might want to look into an in-line duct fan as a functional replacement that may cost less (you'll need to pick one suitable for kitchen exhaust duty, though) and mount that somewhere up the duct, or even at the end of the duct where it comes out of the house. In that case, remove the current fan and motor, but retain any filters at the intake end.