During those stinking hot days when the Alto is at home in the driveway, I open the windows and turn on the fan to keep some airflow happening inside. I popped back out to check how hot it was, and discovered that the fan had stopped. Odd.
Checked the distribution panel fuse, all OK. Checked the little glass fuse on the fan, again all OK. Pulled off the screen to rotate the fan blades, seems fine, so motor not seized. Removed the roof vent cover opening knob, and unscrewed the bottom plate to expose the guts. Grabbed my trusty multi-meter and first checked that the roof vent cover switch was working properly, all OK.
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| kinda grubby... |
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| fan was overdue for a good cleaning |
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| fan removed by loosening set screw, 3/32" allen key |
Power was present at the various terminals, but still no fan operation. On the back of the speed control switch, I spied a resistor/fuse looking component bridging two terminals, so I tested its continuity, and it was NOT OK. A quick google determined that this was a single use thermal fuse. Given the age and dusty appearance, I was not able to exactly identify this little piece, so the next step was to see if an entire switch replacement was an option. Sure enough, Amazon soon had this very part on its way to me. The shiny new part arrived the next day, and installation was super simple. Moved the wire terminals from old to new, installed the switch and nut, pushed on the knob...done.
Turned the fan on and we were back baby!
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| thermal fuse is the little silver tube |
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| the part number |
What caused the thermal fuse failure remains unknown...perhaps the motor is on its last legs after 14 years of use, and some sort of overheat tripped the fuse, but it sure runs nice now. Changing out a $40 dollar part is a lot less cost and effort than buying a new fan, so it will be a cheap longevity experiment.
So if your Fan-Tastic Fan stops running and the usual suspects check out fine, be sure to check this tiny hidden thermal fuse. Always worth investigating.
