Maxair Fan Closing Issue

[jlspence99]

Mine broke after a few uses. It was still under warranty, and I have a new one I have not installed yet. Realizing these are made of cheap pot metal, is there any way to use the vent/fan to lessen the chance of breaking them? Wonder if raising and lowering the vent cover by hand instead of using the motor would take pressure off the operator? I can't determine if pressure on the operator occurs when at the stopping positions (up or down), or if it's just the load of the vent while it's raising.

Yes, opening and closing manually would put less stress on it. The way the fan works is that it senses increased load on the electric motor as the vent completely closes or completely opens. There are limits on that motor load that provide the cut-off. Yes, the pressure on the operator occurs as the motor is driving against the open and closed limits.

[dryfly]

Yes, opening and closing manually would put less stress on it. The way the fan works is that it senses increased load on the electric motor as the vent completely closes or completely opens. There are limits on that motor load that provide the cut-off. Yes, the pressure on the operator occurs as the motor is driving against the open and closed limits.

Exactly what I thought. The sensitivity may not be too accurate either, requiring too much current overload to activate the stop. I really used mine very little before it broke, so I can't expect much out of my replacement. The fan is in my living area and is about 8' off the floor. I think I will build a PVC stick to open it with to avoid damaging the operator again. Micro-switches would have been better.