Not the best picture as it's straight on – here's another from http://www.fan-and-blower.com/axial-fan-ebmpapst-bg2012/
I believe the one in my Bosch fridge freezer is on its way out as it's sporadically making a loud grinding noise as if it's become unbalanced / started rubbing against something.
There is a spare motor available but I'm wondering, if I order it, how I detatch the fan and re-attach it to the new motor's shaft. The fan seems to be crimped on with a metal collar, but is in a recessed area in the centre of the plastic blade assembly that can't be easily reached. The collar isn't a continuous ring – it's a few mm gap short of a full circle.
I believe the plastic fan may no longer be available so I don't want to risk breaking it by jabbing around with bottle-nosed pliers. Is there a standard name for this kind of mounting? What do I use to do it neatly?
I appreciate that the answer may be "just pull it off, and push it on!"
EDIT: here's a (bad, but hopefully not too misleading) drawing:
Best Answer
You need a pair of retaining ring pliers.