| Author | Message | ||
     Chief |
Well not being the type of guy that will steele for the standard answer of "the bearings have gone out" I decided to order a new fan from Dave and while I'm waiting since my fan does'nt work anyway I removed it and took it apart to see what exactly went wrong. Well besides the large amount of debris inside the can it seems that the brushes also gave up with chunks missing and some pretty severe scoring on the armature. I hope someone at Buell is looking at these things and trying to figure out how to make them better so this won't happen anymore. Here's some pics:    Sorry I'm just the kind of guy who likes to figure out why things fail and then a way to keep them from failing. | ||
| Birdmanrh |
How big of a deal is it to remove? | ||
| Chief |
It's not that bad other than you have to remove the rear shock to get it out and then you have to hold your tongue just right to get it to come out of it's hole  | ||
| Xbimmer |
What're you sorry for? Thanks for those pics. Very informative. Helps me to understand why my fan has been rattling since 6k. | ||
| Chief |
6k is about how many miles I have on mine. I think Buell needs to find a better supplier of fan motors. Or maybee they could do like the R/C folks and go with brushless motors. | ||
| Xbimmer |
+1. | ||
| Blake |
Outstanding post! Thank you sir! | ||
| Crusty |
How much is a new fan? Mine is sounding worse by the day, and the dealer won't do anything until it dies. Then, they'll look at the bike, decide that, "yep, the fan is dead", order a new fan, then when it comes in two weeks later, schedule an appointment to replace it. It might be worth while to just do it myself and save the aggravation. | ||
| Galloper |
Strange how dealers are so different about warranty. If your fan does not sound like it did when you first bought the bike (like a hairdryer) it should be replaced. Mine was replaced without any comment. | ||
| Jlnance |
Great pictures! I'm supprised they aren't using brushless motors. Perhaps there is an aftermarket opportunity there? Guys, the fan is a warantee item Don't go replacing it yourself unless you just hate your dealer or something. Buell will replace it for free. | ||
| Az_m2 |
My fan's been rattling for over 10k miles now. I keep expecting it to fail, but it keeps running just fine. | ||
| Warbaby |
Thanks for the pics and info! | ||
| Brad1445 |
Jlnance Posted on Sunday, August 27, 2006 - 07:55 am: Guys, the fan is a warantee item Don't go replacing it yourself unless you just hate your dealer or something. Buell will replace it for free. ___________ If I had a bad meal and the waiter came out and said sorry, when you you finish that meal, your body ejects this meal, come back and I will give you another free. That don't sound like such a great deal to me. I pray every night right after health and world peace that soon someone will offer a fan for this bike that that is less noisy than the engine and reliable. I'll gladly pay for the next meal to get it right. Keep the crappy free meal. | ||
| Chief |
The fan was about $70 through Dave, and I know it's a warranty item but A: I hate my local dealer B: The dealer I bought it from is 2hrs away C: $70 is not that much and it's not that hard to change. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Chief, I would be interested to know, does it appear that the fan self destructed or does it appear that the introduction of foreign bodies caused the meltdown? I'm wondering if it's a design flaw in the brush vs. brushless design, a heat pull through issue, or a foreign object/water problem. If the fan itself works fine, but it isn't sealed correctly causing the fan to fail due to water or foreign objects. Seems like there is a large amount of crap outside the housing as well as inside. Some of that gradoo in there is no doubt metal flakes from the brushes, but there also seems to be a lot of sand/grit/dust. Also, is that rust or some sort of sealant around the bearing assembly? Water both as a magnet for rust as well as a transportation for rust seems to be the most likely candidate. I don't think it's a "heat pull through" issue as nearly all the auxiliary cooling fans pull hot air through a radiator through themselves and out the back. I don't necessarily think it's a brushless vs. brushed issue (although a brushless would be preferred). I think there is a problem with the motor not being sealed correctly. A better sealed motor would prevent FOD. A redesign of the fan blades would also help with the noise. Maybe a reduction gear would be nice as well. Have the fan turn at half the revs. | ||
| Xbimmer |
That might be an idea. Cut the fan speed and increase the blade pitch, lower the turn on temp some. Since the fan would most likely be running more but less frantically it would likely be helping the l/s scoop do its job by creating a negative pressure zone behind the rear cyl. Presently when running the fan is not only trying to pull heat from the head but guess what's 2" away from it also? Yep, that fan is pulling nice superhot air directly through itself from the rear header. How much can that be helping the cooling process, or life of the fan? Isolate the airflow from that header with a simple baffle that only allows intake from the left assisted by the l/s scoop. And yes, here it comes. A STOCK r/s scoop molded to put both air onto the fuel rail (as the weenie stocker does now) and also a blast along the rightside of the rear cyl. There. Problems solved. You all can thank me later.  | ||
| Chief |
Ft_bstrd, the motor itself is completely sealed so if there are any foreign bodies in there it was sealed in by the factory, that is some kind of sealant by that bearing. I strongly believe alot of this is caused by the fan just being to darn hot, it's always pulling very hot air over itself as Xbimmer said and never has a chance to get any cool air to cool itself down. I cant even imagine how hot those brushes must get during the process of just running and on top of that pulling air that is hundreds of degrees over itself. There has to be a way to direct air more effectively around that rear cylinder than a fan, whether the currently offered right side scoop is it or not I can't say. But for god sakes your traveling through the air at over 30mph and you need a fan to get air moving seems silly were the adults here we should be guiding the air where to go not forcing it. | ||
| Windrider |
Chief, Nice Post, thanks for sharing the pics. |
