Pedestal Fans Restored at The Asylum

Source: https://makersasylum.com/makerspace/


Goa! One imagines pristine beaches, tall palms swaying in the wind, and beautiful architecture — the old Portuguese villas with wide verandas and tall pitched roofs. Summers can be very humid, and pedestal fans are widely used to ease the edge of the heat.

The Drill Press cafeteria located in Moira, Goa, is a place where people with diverse interests come to exercise their creative or maker urges. Since I recently moved to Goa, I've taken up such incremental repair challenges regularly at the Maker’s Asylum, where the Drill Press Café resides. There were 3 pedestal fans that had broken down there. These fans help life along for the inmates here.

All three had broken down!!💔

Fan #1:
The breakdown happened because it was used outside in the courtyard. This was an Amazon Basics fan. It had ingested a lot of dirt, which caused the motor shaft to seize in the sintered bronze bearings. The failure was gradual over time until it stopped working. I cleaned and greased it to bring it back to life. It is as good as new now.

Source: https://makersasylum.com/makerspace/

Fan #2:
This breakdown was caused by mischief from some curious beings passing through the café. This is an Atomberg BLDC fan — a more modern design with an electronic drive for the BLDC motor. A separate motor takes care of oscillation, unlike traditional fans that use a gearbox driven by the main motor shaft. This fan stopped oscillating. The oscillation motor was jammed, and I just had to open the connecting arm and realign it.

Fan #3:
This fan was accidentally left out in the rain overnight and then turned on by mistake. This is also an Amazon fan. It lost all its magic smoke. It burned up the copper coils, but the local Goa electricians won’t rewind them. I don’t have the patience, time, or copper wire to do the rewind myself. I’ll have to get a replacement motor to fix it. Unfortunately, I haven’t yet had the time to buy the replacement motor, but I will soon enough!

Two out of three is still a good win.💪

A new fan would cost about ₹2,200 each, so a total of ₹6,600 would have to be spent to replace all three fans. At this point, only the cost of the new motor is needed, which is about ₹1,300. A small beginning to many happy repairs as we grow older and more attached to our things.

There’s something quietly fulfilling about these acts of repair. They may seem small—almost invisible—but they ripple out. They cool the air, preserve what’s already made, and nurture a growing bond with the things we use and rely on.


Source: https://makersasylum.com/makerspace/

So here’s to the fans of Moira, now spinning again. To the hands that choose to fix before they toss. And to the gentle art of keeping the breeze alive.

This inspiring piece is contributed by @anool.m, sharing his thoughtful insights and experiences.