Abstract
I see this model of tower fan (HYF290) on the street all the time. They’re lauded for being super quiet and have held their premium price for a while now, so why are they so often thrown out?
Turns out they have an egregious design flaw that is very simple to fix, and simple fixes are my jam.
The Flaw
The fan base is made of two parts, held together by a snap ring captured at the top half of the base, around the power cord conduit. This part bears all the destructive force when the fan falls over, and as the parts flex, the snap ring pops out of the slot it sits in.
The Fix
Sometimes the plastic conduit breaks, and sometimes the the snap ring just pops off; either way it’s a bad time. We can’t reasonably repair a broken conduit, and the snap ring groove can’t reasonably be deepened to resist popping the ring out.
If you’ve ever looked inside a hanging lamp, there is usually a hollow, threaded metal tube that connects the pendant to the suspension cable and passes the power cord to the lightbulb. We can do the same thing here, adding a 3D printed spacer to transfer the physical load to the metal tube and hold the two halves of the base together.
The Parts
- Pry tools: https://a.co/d/6sBTeeK
- M12, 30 to 45mm hollow threaded rod with nuts: https://a.co/d/fnbEDfZ
- M12 washers: https://a.co/d/gabRCXp
- Threadlocker: https://a.co/d/8dzS3eO
- 3D printed spacer: https://www.printables.com/model/1175860-honeywell-quietset-base-spacer
- Alternate: 20mm(ID)x28mm(OD) washers
- 3D printed cord pinch: https://www.printables.com/model/1175865-honeywell-quietset-cord-pinch
- 16AWG butt crimp connectors and crimp tool
- Alternate: soldering iron, solder, flux, and heat-shrink tubing
The Procedure
Isolate the base assembly
- Unscrew red ring holding floor support to base.
- Remove 3 bottom screws and 4 top screws from rear housing.
- Using “guitar pick” and “credit card” pry tools, unsnap one side of the housing most of the way, starting from the bottom. Use the guitar picks to move your way toward the top, using the credit card to keep the lower snaps from reconnecting. This will take a while so don’t worry; it’s a pain in the ass for everyone.
- Tilt and lift the rear housing away from the front housing.
- Remove the 4 screws securing the fan motor and base assemblies.
- Pull rearward as you lift the fan motor off the mounts, to also pull the fan spindle out of the top spindle bushing.
- Make sure to hold the base assembly together as you remove it, because the parts that hold it together may be broken. Pull the base assembly off its mount.
Upgrade the base assembly
- Remove the power cord shield. Keep 2 of the screws.
- Cut the power cord about 12in from the plug end. Alternatively you can cut and replace the wire nuts where the power cord connects to the internal wiring.
- Pull the power cord through the conduit in the base.
- Around the bottom of the power cord conduit there is (ostensibly) a snap ring. Underneath the snap ring are a thick metal washer and 2x wave spring washers, in that order. These need to stay.
- Remove the snap ring using a pair of pliers, a flat screwdriver, or just shake it out if it’s already off.
- Add the 3D printed spacer washer, or enough 20mm(ID)x28mm(OD) washers to fill the gap between the thick metal washer and the top pf the conduit (or what’s left of it as it may have broken during a fall).
- Take an M12 hollow threaded rod, add a drop of thread locker at one end, and screw on an M12 nut so the rod protrudes about 1mm past the nut. Add an M12 washer under the nut and insert into the power cord conduit from the top.
- Add a drop of thread locker on the rod near where it exits the power cord conduit, add another washer, and screw on an M12 nut until it hits the bottom side of the base assembly.
!!! Do not route the power cord back through the hollow metal rod. The rotation of the base will eventually cut through the power cord insulation, causing an electrical short and fire hazard. Do not do this. !!!
Re-route the power cord
- Find the indentations in the power cord where it was squeezed by the power cord shield, and place the indents back on the cord shield pinch ridge.
- Screw down the 3D printed cord pinch where the outermost part of the cord shield was, using the 2 screws we saved earlier. Alternately you can cut this section from the larger power cord shield with a Dremel/saw then screw it down.
- Drill a hole in the rear housing big enough to fit the power cord though, about halfway down from the fan motor rear attachment screw hole.
Reassemble
- Place the base assembly back into its mount inside the front housing.
- Tilt the fan spindle back into its bushing near the top of the front housing, and place the fan motor back into its mount. Reinstall the 4 screws.
- Run the power cord through the new hole in the rear housing.
- Snap the rear housing back onto the front housing.
- Gently pull the slack out of the power cord, then zip-tie it against the rear housing.
- Reconnect the plug end to the power cord using crimp connectors. Alternatively you can solder them and add 2 layers of heat-shrink tubing on each solder joint.
- Reattach the floor support to the base.
- Rejoice!