The problem is not with the motor but with the ridiculously designed gearing that supports the actual fan and blade.In simple terms if you look at the drive belt it transfers the motors energy to this unit.
What happens over time is that the fine dust and pollen etc gets sucked into the workings of the motor and not all goes into the collection box.It carries into the back of this unit and eventually dries out and becomes a source of resistance to free movement(remember when you first bought it and took it out of the box ? you could twirl the blade around so freely when you first fitted it) TRY IT NOW ? The proper fix is tricky and requires either/or a set of med/large "torx" drivers and sometimes some circlip pliers dependant on how clogged up it has become.
Sometimes you can get away with just sliding the motor forward and removing the belt,then using whatever you can think of to squirt liquid behind and between the wheel and casing,(e.g liquid soap/water @60/40 mix and use a plant hand sprayer) leave it to soak in and repeat as neccessary until the detritus softens,keep rotating the wheel (sometimes replacing the plastic fan will help at first until it eases a little) I have used varying methods of forcing the crud out with a little success including compressed air, but a complete stripdown of this item is best and as one might expect is best left to repair shops.
FixMan, February 2008
