One year old Nutone fan motor fails

[Greg1707]

I installed a Nutone 80 cfm $100 fan in Feb. 2023. The motor stopped working. When the switch is turned on it does not spin. If I push the blade it will start spinning. The fan and motor are clean and no sign of damage. The blade spins freely. Any ideas?

 

[LarryFine]

If it's out of warranty, buy a replacement.

Broan-NuTone 70 CFM Replacement Motor Wheel for 695A Bathroom Exhaust Fan C370BN - The Home Depot

Replace the motor of a worn out fan with the Broan-NuTone C370BN replacement motor assembly. It takes 10 minutes or less to install; easily snaps into your existing housing, does not require any wiring.

www.homedepot.com

Broan-NuTone QuicKit 60 CFM 3.0 Sones Bathroom Replacement Motor and Grille/Cover BKR60 - The Home Depot

Refresh your bathroom in less than 10-minutes with the Broan-NuTone QuicKit, replacement motor and cover/grille. This is an easy DIY that does not require wiring, cutting or drywall repair. The QuicKit

www.homedepot.com

 

[junkhound]

Nutone- selling junk 60 years ago, was not even aware they were still in business?

 

[NoahsArc]

Nutone- selling junk 60 years ago, was not even aware they were still in business?

What's your preferred brand?
Supply houses locally go Broan a lot. I'm not really sure what a good alternate is.

 

[Greentagger]

Bad capacitor.

 

[LarryFine]

Bad capacitor.

Not with a shaded-pole motor.

 

[Little Bill]

What's your preferred brand?
Supply houses locally go Broan a lot. I'm not really sure what a good alternate is.

Nutone & Broan are the same.

 

[tthh]

If the fan is too noisy for you, go the extra mile and replace the unit with a Panasonic. Now, a silent fan in the powder room may not be a good idea either

 

[NoahsArc]

Nutone & Broan are the same.

Yes, so what is the best brand?

 

[curt swartz]

Yes, so what is the best brand?

Panasonic!

But, don't get Panasonic fans from big box stores (HD). They are cheap garbage compared to the ones you get from the electrical and HVAC suppliers.

 

[NoahsArc]

I've installed so many broans the past two years. They did always come off a cheap junk.

 

[kwired]

Not with a shaded-pole motor.

Cheapest models still have shaded pole motors. Most the better models I have seen past few years have a PSC motor

 

[Little Bill]

Yes, so what is the best brand?

I was saying they are the same company.
My vote is an in-line Panasonic if you can fit one in. If not, just Panasonic direct mount.

 

[hbiss]

Does this look like your motor? If so, just take the motor apart by removing the two through bolts and oil the top and bottom bearings. You could probably even drip oil in there without taking it apart. Some of them even have oil holes so they can be re-lubricated. I have to do that every few years with mine else it just hums or takes a long time to come up to speed.

-Hal

 

[Jraef]

If I push the blade it will start spinning.

Sign of a broken shading coil in the motor. The shading coil is a little copper ring in the stator that causes a phase shift. It’s a brazed copper ring and sometimes (more often lately), the brazing is bad and it breaks, rendering the coil ineffective, so the motor never rotates on its own.

It’s possible to fix it, but cheaper (due to the time it takes) to just replace the whole motor. My local HD has Broan/Nutone replacement motors (they are the same) for about $25. The only thing to know is the length of the shaft. So take the old one out and take it with you.

 

[hbiss]

Sign of a broken shading coil in the motor. The shading coil is a little copper ring in the stator that causes a phase shift. It’s a brazed copper ring and sometimes (more often lately), the brazing is bad and it breaks, rendering the coil ineffective, so the motor never rotates on its own.

You can see it on the motor above. It's those copper bars. You should be able to see if they are broken.

-Hal

 

[norcal]

I had a Panasonic fan that had got a deal on & bought for a planned bathroom remodel, when the time came it would not fit anywhere & was a Sunday morning, so went to Lowe's & spent $120 bucks for a Broan, to keep the job moving along, it has been doing fine in the 4 years it's been installed, combined with the humidistat has been money well spent, the Panasonic still sits on the shelf, awaiting installation in another bathroom to replace a $12 special.

 

[MTW]

These are the ones I like, 20 years and still purring like a kitten.

https://shop.fantech.net/upload/assets/E1575_VENTILATION_SOLUTIONS_BATHROOM-V2-0921.PDF?857d8fc1

 

[hbiss]

These are the ones I like, 20 years and still purring like a kitten.

Yup. I have one for my downstairs bathroom installed in a crawlspace above. Runs 24/7 for probably 20 years also.

-Hal