I have a bath fan in a hall bathroom that causes a humming sound that is very loud. It’s like a 30hz rumble as if the house itself is vibrating.
Is there a way to stop this? This fan is pretty old but I've been hearing the sound for a year.
Bathroom – How to Stop the Hum From a Bath Fan?
bathroom
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Best Answer
I have renewed dozens of these fans for customers when they start getting noisy or just plain stop.
Almost all of these motors are shaded pole motors with super cheap “oil light bushings”, this bushing acts like a bearing but doesn’t move. The bushing is a porous bronze that wicks oil from the wick around the bearing. If they are still spinning a few drops of motor oil, or any light weight oil will saturate the wick and keep them running for years. If they are seized I find wd40 or 3in1 penetrating oil work great to free them up. Once free up will work for a while but a light weight oil added and used to saturate the wick will last much longer.
the motor needs to be accessible in some cases removal is required but it’s only a few screws normally. Next you can drip about 10 drops of oil on the inside surface of the bearing/bushing. There are normally a few holes and you can notice the oil disappear from the surface if it takes more than 10 drops great but wipe the excess (especially if you disassemble and soak them in oil) I do this to the front and rear bearings. Then reassemble and have had them last for years. If it’s a quick fix quite often it’s the front one that is the problem it carries the majority of the load so get a few drops on it and that will usually bandaid it for a while.