user serviceable parts!

[zwol]

I've ragged on Kenmore brand products here before, so it seems only fair that I praise their model 85254 air filter for its easy disassembly: all the screws are the same, there are no snap-together joints, there are no inaccessible or even hidden screws, there are a sensible number of internal components (three), and all wires go through plug blocks in sensible places. They get only two demerits, one for use of self-tapping screws into plastic (a perennial complaint) and one for the design error that made me take the thing apart in the first place, viz. the fan rotor is secured to the main drive shaft with one hex nut and no lock washer. I should, perhaps, go buy a lock washer.

Comments

[brooksmoses]

Yay for sensible design!

Since you're almost certainly not going to want to take that nut off ever again, I'd suggest that a dab of epoxy between the nut and threads would be considerably more secure than a lock washer. Probably any sort of glue (Elmer's white?) in the threads before putting the nut on would work as well, too.

(Alternately, the lock-nuts with a nylon insert in them tend to be considerably more secure than lock washers, in my experience.)

[zwol.livejournal.com]

I have this bad track record with electric motors. I fear that if I put epoxy on the nut, within a week the device will somehow ingest a hairball and make one of the motor bearings seize.

I might try the Elmer's though. That seems like it would be enough extra stick, and wouldn't be totally impossible to get off again if it was ever necessary. Thanks for the suggestion.