Fantastic Fan

[Dick Simonis]

Quick question....I need to repair my toilet room fan but can not remove the bottom plate from the inside due to the wood frame molding.  Can these be easily pulled from the roof or do I need to pull off the wood molding?  Hate to do the wood in case I can not get it back properly.

Thanks for your input.

Dick

[Gerald Farris]

Dick,
The wooden trim is held up by small nails, about the size of picture hanging nails. The trim must come down to remove the lower fan plate containing the switches and thermostat. You can remove the trim by pulling down on the moldings around the edge with your fingers. You need pretty strong fingers, but it is doable by the vast majority of men. The wood panels between the lower trim and the fan will then come down easily as well as the spacers that are used to adjust the spacing on these panels. After the wood is removed, the fan plate is easy to remove.

Gerald  

[Bill Sprague]

If it is just the motor, I pull mine for cleaning about once or twice a year.

I do it from the top with the vent lid open.  There are four Phillips screws.  I clipped the wires and installed crimp on plug connectors to make it even easier.

[Dick Simonis]

Thanks guys.  I have to replace the brain box and Fantastic sent me a complete lower unit so I need to pull the old one off.  I just tried pulling the trim down and it's pretty solid...will it come off as one piece or 4?  It looks like 4 but seems to wiggle like one.

Thanks.

Dick

[Gerald Farris]

Dick,
The molding around the lower part of the opening should come off as one unit.

Gerald

[LarryNCarolynShirk]

The 4 sides between the frame and the motor plate are all separate.  I put the frame back up with 2 brass screws instead of nails.  I have been in there several times and was glad I used the screws.

Larry

[Edward Buker]

Dick,

I used about a 2inch wide stiff angled putty knife like tool to work it down. It will just take some time. As you work the putty knife in you can line it up with the staples that hold the frame and push the knife in until it hits the staple. That is a good place to get leverage on that staple. Get one to move a little and then work your way around gaining a little on each staple until they release.  My lower frame I think came off as one piece but it was not held together by much. Like Larry, I also used screws to put the lower moldings back on. As you pull the frame down, try and keep some order regarding the vertical trim pieces. There are loose spacer blocks that will start to drop out of position.  See if you can arrange the little block spacers that are behind the thin trim pieces in stacks with some notations as to where they go. I numbered them with a position and numbered the sidewalls where they go. You can use a hot melt glue gun to tack all those blocks back in position which will help in the process of putting it all back together. The flat trim panels can also be tacked with a little hot melt glue also after the fan work is done. The glue in small quantities will tack things but if it has to come apart again that will still be easy to do.

Later Ed