Tower fans are awesome devices for the upcoming hot summer days but they’re not infallible. Like any other piece of electronics, they too can malfunction and exhibit certain problems. Below we’ll list the most common tower fan issues you may experience and what they usually mean.
Tower fan overheating
Newer models won’t do this often but it does happen. It was especially common for older tower fans. Overheating happens because the vertical design of the fan can sometimes lead to trapped air between the fan’s turbines. That’s because the space inside the fan is rather compact. If air gets trapped inside your fan, overheating is quite possible. Another cause for this might be that the air’s exit is blocked by a piece of furniture or by dust and debris inside the fan.
Tower fan making rattling noises
Rattling in tower fans is usually caused by one of two possible causes. The first is loose fan blades. This happens over time, typically due to the dust and debris that go through the fan. That’s why it’s important to periodically open your fan and do a routine checkup on its inner workings. The other possible cause is a loosened front grill. This can happen if you haven’t screwed it properly or if the screws have slowly come loose from the fan’s vibrations.
Tower fan not blowing air
If your tower fan seems to be working but isn’t blowing out any air, that’s most probably because it’s clogged with dust, debris, hair, and other materials. Even if the blades are moving, if the grills are blocked, the tower fan won’t pass any air. If you don’t fix the problem quickly, it’s very likely that the fan will soon overheat and/or stop working altogether.
Tower fan stopped working
There are many possible reasons why a tower fan has stopped working. Some of the above problems can also lead to that – overheating, clogged and obstructed fan turbines, etc. Another cause might be a loose power plug. This can sound funny but it’s not that uncommon for the fan’s vibration to gradually loosen the plug until it disconnects from the power outlet. To fix that you can get a new outlet that’s tighter and won’t lose the connection with the fan’s plug.
What to do in these situations?
Thankfully, tower fans are pretty simple devices. Because of that, fixing them is relatively simple as well. All of these problems can be taken care of with some proper tower fan maintenance – simply open the fan, clean it, make sure everything is tightly connected where and how it should be and put the fan back together. Such routine maintenance won’t only fix these common problems, it will also prevent them from happening in the future.
