- Maintenance and Mending Monday - Clean those fans!
After a few months of daily use, our fans were really gross and starting to slow down. Even if you vacuum regularly from the outside, pet hair and dust still gets attached to the fan blades and inner workings, so it’s a good idea to unscrew the housing and clean them out!
I invested in an iFixit screwdriver bit set several years ago to help me with electronics repair and so that I would have a set of tamper torx (torx security) bits for all those things that the manufacturer doesn’t want you to open or repair yourself. It’s been massively helpful for a vast number of things, including this project - the black fan had two torx security screws in addition to the five or so phillips (+) screws holding the housing together.
After opening these fans up I cleaned them as much as I could with a combination of vacuuming and canned air (as well as wiping down the blades), and I was able to put a few drops of my sewing machine oil to lubricate the central shaft so that the fan blades would move easier. Now these fans are much more efficient (and a lot less gross)!