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| Hunter Zephair won't run | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2018 08:33 pm |
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1st Post |
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Robert Mathews Guest
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I am a new member found your site and am hoping I can get some advice. I have a Hunter Zephair model B28 case 32" x 32" it was a window fan used in my home when I was growing up, and for the last 30 yrs or so, I have used out in my shop. last year I noticed it seemed to be running slower than usual, and would speed up and slow down while running. This year when I turned it on, it just hums.I shut it off immediately. I removed the guard, and it appears to have been leaking/throwing grease, not a lot. is there a fix for my old fan? Im not an electrician, but can use a voltmeter etc. without hurting myself. it also says cat.# B2848 by the switch. It has a capacitor? by the switch, almost the size of an old automotive points style coil.
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| Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2018 08:58 pm |
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2nd Post |
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Richard Daugird AFCA Member
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Is it the capacitor leaking? I think they have some kind of oil in them.
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| Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2018 10:23 pm |
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3rd Post |
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Robert Mathews Guest
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it is not leaking that I can see, should I remove it to look closer?
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| Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2018 10:33 pm |
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4th Post |
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Richard Daugird AFCA Member
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I'm no expert, but every capacitor motor I've ever had that quit, a new capacitor fixed it.
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| Posted: Thu Jul 12th, 2018 01:01 am |
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5th Post |
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Robert Mathews Guest
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is there a way to test it?
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| Posted: Thu Jul 12th, 2018 01:33 am |
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6th Post |
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Lane Shirey AFCA Member 
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With a multimeter with a capacitance setting. Maybe you can borrow one. But really, caps are very cheap, so replace it and see.
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| Posted: Thu Jul 12th, 2018 06:01 am |
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7th Post |
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Andrew Block AFCA Member
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Lane Shirey wrote: With a multimeter with a capacitance setting. Maybe you can borrow one. Just make sure you're at the same or higher on the voltage rating.
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| Posted: Thu Jul 12th, 2018 09:41 pm |
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8th Post |
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Tom Zapf AFCA Member
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IT SOUNDS LIKE THE CAPACITOR AND MIKE HEFFERNAN MIGHT BE ABLE TO POINT YOU TO THE RIGHT ONE AS WELL....
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| Posted: Fri Jul 13th, 2018 01:10 am |
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9th Post |
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Andrew Block AFCA Member
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I believe this is not the standard Zephair window fan, this is the larger one.
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| Posted: Mon Jul 16th, 2018 04:35 pm |
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10th Post |
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Robert Mathews Guest
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it has a 28" blade and the case is 32"x 32". My tester is a wavetec and it has a capacitor sign on the ohmmeter scale- so am I looking for just whether is has continuity or if it is open? or will it give me a value, and if so, what should it be? oh- and thanks to all who have responded to this newbie! I just got home from a short vacation and was surprised with the responses.
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| Posted: Mon Jul 16th, 2018 05:05 pm |
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11th Post |
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Andrew Block AFCA Member
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Can you shoot us a picture of the fan? If your tester has the UF sign, then disconnect the capacitor from the fan and test the leads, it will give you the MFD value and if its +/- the value on the cap, then replace it. Or just replace it, they're really cheap.
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| Posted: Mon Jul 23rd, 2018 09:04 pm |
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12th Post |
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Robert Mathews Guest
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| Posted: Mon Jul 23rd, 2018 09:09 pm |
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13th Post |
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Robert Mathews Guest
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my brother has one of these identical fans, so I swapped the capacitors. It now starts and runs. included is a pic of the cap. I wonder why is says 330v? its a 120v fan. 5mfd. What is a good source for a compatable capacitor?
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| Posted: Mon Jul 23rd, 2018 09:11 pm |
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14th Post |
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Robert Mathews Guest
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also- can/should this fan be lubricated, and if so, how and with what?
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| Posted: Wed Jul 25th, 2018 03:13 pm |
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15th Post |
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Levi Mevis AFCA Member
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The Voltage on the capacitor is for surge voltage to protect the capacitor from getting damaged during a power surge like during a lighting storm or a blackout/brownout/powersag. You want to actually use the closest Microfarad value you can find to the original capacitor value (in this case the original was a 5 MFD which doesn't exist anymore) so you'll need a 4.7 MFD 450 VAC Capacitor you can get those capacitors from Grainger for about $2 plus tax. As for lubricating the motor seeing as its a direct drive fan the motor should have a couple of oiling ports on top of the motor at the front and the back of the motor, although looking at the motor in the pictures, it appears that the motor on your fan is a permanently lubricated motor, which is a fancy way of saying "not user serviceable". Last edited on Wed Jul 25th, 2018 03:17 pm by Levi Mevis |
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| Posted: Fri Jul 27th, 2018 04:25 am |
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16th Post |
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Kevin Massey AFCA Member 
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Voltage rating is the maximum voltage the capacitor can operate at. Going beyond can cause it to blow up. That won't protect agains't a lightening strike either. https://www.amazon.com/Genteq-GENTEQ-Capacitor-replaces-Z97F5705/dp/B008OJMPRK
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| Posted: Fri Jul 27th, 2018 05:09 am |
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17th Post |
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Levi Mevis AFCA Member
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Kevin Massey wrote: Voltage rating is the maximum voltage the capacitor can operate at. Going beyond can cause it to blow up. That won't protect agains't a lightening strike either. Actually the voltage rating on those capacitors DO take into effect surge voltage, because on your old radios from the days of tubes and early solid state, radios had what was called a "Death Cap" which ran between one side of the power cord going into the radio and chassis ground. That "Death Cap" acted as a surge supressor in the event of a lightning strike or other type of power surge, so basically if the radio took on more voltage than the 600 Volts DC that the "Death Cap" could handle the capacitor would self destruct, but in the process it was stopping that high voltage surge from damaging critical components in the radio such as output transformers or power transformers or your tubes, and even output transistors on your solid state equipment of which all of those aforementioned pieces of equipment were very expensive to replace. So Technically Capacitors DO protect from lighting strikes, it just depends on how they are implemented in their respective circuits, obviously, on a fan a capacitor is NOT going to be used for surge supression, but in electronics they will be used in such a manner. When I said that I was referring to capacitors in general not just motor run capacitors. Last edited on Fri Jul 27th, 2018 05:12 am by Levi Mevis |
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| Posted: Wed Aug 1st, 2018 08:04 pm |
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18th Post |
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Robert Mathews Guest
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Thanks so much for the reply and the info, guys- wouldn't you know it, the Graingers here in Topeka closed up a few mo. ago. Im sure I can find one, or I could sign up at Amazon, never bought anything from them.
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| Posted: Thu Aug 2nd, 2018 07:46 am |
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19th Post |
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Levi Mevis AFCA Member
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Yeah, the local Grainger store in Elkhart, Indiana closed shop about 2 years ago but they still have an online store.
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| Posted: Thu Aug 2nd, 2018 07:09 pm |
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20th Post |
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David Allen AFCA Member
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Robert Mathews wrote: my brother has one of these identical fans, so I swapped the capacitors. It now starts and runs. included is a pic of the cap. I wonder why is says 330v? its a 120v fan. 5mfd. What is a good source for a compatable capacitor? Hi Robert. Glad you got the fan running and determined it's something as simple as a capacitor. As for the voltage rating of the capacitor, it's complex. The capacitor and motor winding work together to make a rotating magnetic field. The field rotates even when the rotor is stationary. This helps to get the rotation started, and allows the motor to keep working at low speeds. The voltage applied to the capacitor depends on the motor's winding ratio. The motor's main winding and the auxiliary winding (for the capacitor) work similarly to a transformer primary and secondary winding. Because the auxiliary winding of the motor has many, many turns of small wire - and the main winding has fewer turns of heavy wire - they operate at different voltages. The more turns of wire, the higher the voltage. The capacitor and this winding working together can generate more than 300V. This voltage is higher when the motor has no load on it, as well. As for a source of capacitors, I always go to our local air conditioning repair supply company. Look up HVAC supply or electrical supply in the phone book or at yellowbook.com for your town. I would get the same size cap (5uF) but get the highest voltage rating they have. Most of the newer caps are 440V rated. Tell them you want a condenser fan motor capacitor, 5uF 440V and they should be able to fix you up. Hope this helps you to make an informed request at the store! 
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| Posted: Thu Aug 2nd, 2018 07:44 pm |
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21st Post |
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Levi Mevis AFCA Member
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David Allen wrote: Robert Mathews wrote:my brother has one of these identical fans, so I swapped the capacitors. It now starts and runs. included is a pic of the cap. I wonder why is says 330v? its a 120v fan. 5mfd. What is a good source for a compatable capacitor? hey David, I'm guessing that what you described about how this fan's motor works with the capicitor also is how the tabletop PSC motors work as well? Last edited on Thu Aug 2nd, 2018 07:45 pm by Levi Mevis |
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| Posted: Thu Aug 2nd, 2018 07:48 pm |
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22nd Post |
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David Allen AFCA Member
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Hi Levi. Yep that would be true. Basically; I think any induction motor with a capacitor which never switches out of the circuit would work in this manner. Levi Mevis wrote:
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| Posted: Thu Aug 2nd, 2018 07:55 pm |
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23rd Post |
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Levi Mevis AFCA Member
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OK, I thought so, because I have a couple of fans that work that way, a late 1940s vintage Westinghouse PowerAire 16PA2 and a late 1940s early 1950s Hunter Zephair table fan 12" model.
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| Posted: Thu Aug 2nd, 2018 08:06 pm |
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24th Post |
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Robert Mathews Guest
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I went to the Grainger catalog online, and they have motor dual run, motor start and motor run capacitors-which do I want, or does it matter? also alum or plastic case, so I assume it does not need to be grounded? ( the case)
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| Posted: Thu Aug 2nd, 2018 08:07 pm |
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25th Post |
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David Allen AFCA Member
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Robert Mathews wrote: I went to the Grainger catalog online, and they have motor dual run, motor start and motor run capacitors-which do I want, or does it matter? also alum or plastic case, so I assume it does not need to be grounded? ( the case) Hi Robert. You'll need a metal case run cap. The dual run have two capacitors in one housing. The plastic ones catch on fire at random times.
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| Posted: Mon Aug 20th, 2018 04:41 pm |
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26th Post |
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Robert Mathews Guest
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thanks for all the help, guys- got a capacitor from Home Depot $3.75 fan works great!
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| Posted: Mon Aug 20th, 2018 05:22 pm |
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27th Post |
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Andrew Block AFCA Member
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I assume that is a small black box type. What is the voltage rating on those? I always worry about overpowering those on larger motor fans, they're made for dinky ceiling fan motors.
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| Posted: Tue Aug 21st, 2018 01:37 pm |
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28th Post |
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Robert Mathews Guest
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no, it was an oval case alum. I already threw the box away, but I believe it was 370 v
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