I'm trying to fix a simple fan at home. Inside the fan, there is no circuit board. There is only a transformer a switch (on high, low, or off), and I assume that there is a motor. I believe I can fix the fan if I knew what color the wires stand for. I turn the fan on, It doesn't move. It's a sound like the motor is trying to spin or something. A brown wire and a black wire are simply twisted around each other and not conmnected to anything. I think that they came lose because they were improperly soldered. Can anyone help?

 

Have you tried giving the fan blades a little "push" to see if the fan starts turning?

Aside from the possible electrical/wiring issues, if the above seems to help, or even if it doesn't, it may be that the fan is too dirty. This is a common problem in PC power supply fans with a copper or bronze bearing.

To fix this type of problem, you need to dismantle the fan and shaft from the housing and bearing (usually there's a C-clip on the shaft). Clean the fan with a rag, but also thoroughly clean the shaft and bearing hole with rubbing alcohol or MEK or some form of degreaser like that on a Q-tip . The process of cleaning will dry out the bearing, the trick is to soak a clean Q-tip with some transmission fluid, and apply it to the bearing so it soaks up the tranny fluid. Also, apply a thin coat to the motor shaft -- wipe away any excesses -- then reassemble. I've found this to work well on many a PC.

Of course you may have different problem, but starting with a clean fan wouldn't hurt.

 

Hi,

Don't use MEK on (most) plastics, it will dissolve and/or degrade it very fast - besides, it rots your brain as well, so luckily it's not that easy to come by in civilized countries.