I broke the housing and fan blade on my Oreck XL upright with a rawhide dog chew. I am trying to get the fan off..the housing was easy. Help! Lindajof@aol.com

Linda Felter, December 2007

Since the fan blade that you are replacing is made out of plastic, and it's presumably broken, I found using an ordinary claw hammer and some pent up aggression both extremely effective and therapeutic.

TJ, December 2014

I struggled with this, too, on my 20 year old Oreck when the motor gave out. Once you remove the nut, the fan really is only just "stuck" on there. I put WD-40 on the shaft, put I still could not pull it apart with hand strength. Then I stuck two small screwdrivers, one on either side, between the fan and the flat metal plate and pried and it popped off after applying pretty good, but not excessive, force. Bottom line: you need something in that small gap between fan blade and metal disk to pry it off.

fivester, January 2010

If it is a metal blade, once you get the nut off the fan blade freely spins on the shaft but still does not want to come off. I have tried to pry it off with considerable force but it doesn't budge. Any ideas?

Aaron, August 2008

Hi Linda,
The nut that you need to loosen is LEFTHAND thread.
Turn Right to loosen,LEFT to tighten.
Just found this site today. Too late to help??

Vic, March 2008