The Best Time to Replace Your Fans

Last month, we published an easy-to-use checklist to facilitate ordering a replacement fan or parts. Of course, the obvious question is knowing when a fan needs to be replaced.

Sometimes accidents happen and you end up in an emergency situation with one of your fans out. Ideally, you want to avoid that stress. We recommend replacing fans and fan parts before they are too far deteriorated. You can proactively schedule your replacements by looking out for some of these signs and avoid the hassle and potential losses that are often linked to emergency equipment replacements.

If you see any of these signs, it’s time to order a replacement fan or fan parts!

1. Cracks in the propeller – While a crack might look like it’s just superficial, if you see any cracks on your propeller, it is time to replace it.

2. Motor draws high amps – If your motor is drawing excessively high amps through the system, this can be a sign that the motor bearings are about to fail. This usually indicates you need to replace the motor.

3. Excessive noise – Has the fan gotten progressively louder and louder? This is not normal and could signify a number of problems. For example, if the fan starts rubbing on the housing, it can damage both the propeller blades and the housing itself.

4. Structural welds in fan housing are cracked – This is typically indicative of inferior welding, excessive fan vibration, or mishandling/dropping the fan at some earlier time. We see this most often on the light gauge orifice ring fans—particularly at the mounting pad area and where the support rods are welded to the motor base. This is especially bad when the orifice ring and support rod are made of aluminum weldment. You should consider replacing the fan housing with a new weldment of the more robust Eldridge design.

5. Loose rub ring – The internal non-sparking rub ring is essential to the certification of the fan for use in a hazardous area. If it has come loose or is missing completely, then either the entire housing should be replaced or a new rub ring should be installed before continuing to use the fan.

6. Clogged fan guard – In many applications, the fan guard can become corroded by environmental factors. In some applications, the guards can become coated in oil and dirt causing a total blockage. Depending on the individual case, the guard can either be cleaned or replaced with a new fan guard that meets ABS and DNV standards while at the same time providing minimum resistance and impedance to the air flow.

7. Ring detached/missing – Old-school ring fans are used quite often in offshore applications. Its weakest link is that the rings are constructed with very light-gauge spun metal and over time the rings actually disappear! The fan might still be held in place within the deck coaming or against a bulkhead opening by its supporting rods and mounting pads, but but the prop shroud or ring is totally missing. A fan in this condition is a disaster waiting to happen. You’ll need to replace the fan. Eldridge Fan offers a robust replacement with a true structural housing.

All fans require routine maintenance and replacement from time to time. You can be proactive when it comes to fan operation and maintenance offshore. Eldridge sends our ventilation engineers to locations around the world and offshore to inspect machinery space ventilation and fan issues. By scheduling a fan inspection ahead of routine maintenance or shipyard inspections, you can get your fans replaced during the scheduled down period and avoid losing valuable production time.