Vornado fans - practical to clean, vs. stupid hard
Dropping you all a post about cleaning my friend's very dirty Vornado OSCR37 37" oscillating tower fan. This particular model was current circa 2018. Hopefully they've made changes to subsequent models, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for that breeze. Ha.
If you don't have the time, energy or interest to read this post, here's the punchline: This tower design fan is not made to be cleaned. As much as I am a FAN of Vornado fans (I have four), this one was not designed to be properly and adequately maintained, and I would never purchase it. These products move air that WE BREATHE. A design that does NOT allow convenient and THOROUGH cleaning is not healthy. I called Vornado last year and asked them about cleaning this model. Their cust. svc. told me it's not designed to be taken apart by unauthorized peeps.
The other Vornado's I have are easily opened up, some without tools even, and can be cleaned with water & soap if desired. This tower fan, even when disassembled, doesn't lend itself to a good, wet cleaning. I supposed I could have 'bagged' the bottom motor section, and bagged the top controls, and sprayed and brushed the large, upright impeller, while trying to keep water out of the electricals - but it was 100° and I was losing my cool. lol
Last year I cleaned this same tower using compressed air only. (KOBALT 5.5gal 'handtruck'-style compressor) It was so filthy. Blown out in a narrow drive where high walls on each side create a kind of venturi effect / wind draft. The clumpy dust that spewed out was so thick and nasty I was happy that it was blowing anywhere other than towards me. I also used a thin brush for any vent holes. It was a huge improvement, of course, considering that my friend was actually coughing from using the fan in her room, breathing all the accumulated nastiness that it was re-circulating around. But still, the large cylindrical impeller, with its fine, fins/blades, could not really be blown out to my satisfaction.
When I initially inspected it last year in bright sunlight, I eventually ID'd some recessed tapping screws holding the front vent panel, inaccessible with any screwdriver I owned. This time after a trip to the homestore, I used a reachy #1 philips cabinet screwdriver to unscrew the hidden fasteners. My plan was to JUST remove the vent panel, and then apply compressed air directly to the impeller this time. And with better access, use some brushes to better effect as well.
But that's not how this fan comes apart. I (had to?) removed
-- the base,
-- handle,
-- all screws from the vent,
-- the four large fasteners that are part of one side of the motor mount,
-- a few more from the bottom where the panel says Vornado,
-- and a few more from underneath the lip of the top control panel.
The top touch panel, BTW, has no external, visible mounting or fasteners.
I was scared sh_tless I was gonna break it. But after you wiggle the large two halves of the body apart, the control panel gets looser, somehow, and eventually I was able to shift one side of it up and find two more screws under the edge that finally allowed the two halves to separate.
Now, after having completed this hours long task, I'm thinking that, had Vornado provided a customer guide to disassembly for deep cleaning (they don't), it's quite possible I could have skipped one or two fasteners here and there... but I got it apart, cleaned, and back together, with care and by 'going easy'.
As I reassembled it, I realized it was gonna be just as hard to seat those vent screws with the two halves apart as when assembled. So I left them out. The two halves, and the vent, fit together very snugly and surely, before any screws are replaced. It's like a jigsaw meets mortise and tenon design. The fan was tight as a drum when I finished, and there was no buzzing or rattle when I tested it. If it turns out a rattle does develop, I saved the screws and I can put them back.
I'll wait till the temp drops to 95°.
Dropping you all a post about cleaning my friend's very dirty Vornado OSCR37 37" oscillating tower fan. This particular model was current circa 2018. Hopefully they've made changes to subsequent models, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for that breeze. Ha.
If you don't have the time, energy or interest to read this post, here's the punchline: This tower design fan is not made to be cleaned. As much as I am a FAN of Vornado fans (I have four), this one was not designed to be properly and adequately maintained, and I would never purchase it. These products move air that WE BREATHE. A design that does NOT allow convenient and THOROUGH cleaning is not healthy. I called Vornado last year and asked them about cleaning this model. Their cust. svc. told me it's not designed to be taken apart by unauthorized peeps.
The other Vornado's I have are easily opened up, some without tools even, and can be cleaned with water & soap if desired. This tower fan, even when disassembled, doesn't lend itself to a good, wet cleaning. I supposed I could have 'bagged' the bottom motor section, and bagged the top controls, and sprayed and brushed the large, upright impeller, while trying to keep water out of the electricals - but it was 100° and I was losing my cool. lol
Last year I cleaned this same tower using compressed air only. (KOBALT 5.5gal 'handtruck'-style compressor) It was so filthy. Blown out in a narrow drive where high walls on each side create a kind of venturi effect / wind draft. The clumpy dust that spewed out was so thick and nasty I was happy that it was blowing anywhere other than towards me. I also used a thin brush for any vent holes. It was a huge improvement, of course, considering that my friend was actually coughing from using the fan in her room, breathing all the accumulated nastiness that it was re-circulating around. But still, the large cylindrical impeller, with its fine, fins/blades, could not really be blown out to my satisfaction.
When I initially inspected it last year in bright sunlight, I eventually ID'd some recessed tapping screws holding the front vent panel, inaccessible with any screwdriver I owned. This time after a trip to the homestore, I used a reachy #1 philips cabinet screwdriver to unscrew the hidden fasteners. My plan was to JUST remove the vent panel, and then apply compressed air directly to the impeller this time. And with better access, use some brushes to better effect as well.
But that's not how this fan comes apart. I (had to?) removed
-- the base,
-- handle,
-- all screws from the vent,
-- the four large fasteners that are part of one side of the motor mount,
-- a few more from the bottom where the panel says Vornado,
-- and a few more from underneath the lip of the top control panel.
The top touch panel, BTW, has no external, visible mounting or fasteners.
I was scared sh_tless I was gonna break it. But after you wiggle the large two halves of the body apart, the control panel gets looser, somehow, and eventually I was able to shift one side of it up and find two more screws under the edge that finally allowed the two halves to separate.
Now, after having completed this hours long task, I'm thinking that, had Vornado provided a customer guide to disassembly for deep cleaning (they don't), it's quite possible I could have skipped one or two fasteners here and there... but I got it apart, cleaned, and back together, with care and by 'going easy'.
As I reassembled it, I realized it was gonna be just as hard to seat those vent screws with the two halves apart as when assembled. So I left them out. The two halves, and the vent, fit together very snugly and surely, before any screws are replaced. It's like a jigsaw meets mortise and tenon design. The fan was tight as a drum when I finished, and there was no buzzing or rattle when I tested it. If it turns out a rattle does develop, I saved the screws and I can put them back.
I'll wait till the temp drops to 95°.
