Why Your Rechargeable Fan is Not Charging

Understanding the problems of rechargeable fan have become vital based on the increasing use of it in most African countries as a result of the unstable public power supply. Based on previous publications, some problems of the rechargeable fan had been discussed, however, when it comes to dealing with why the rechargeable fan is not charging little has been said about it.

There over twenty brands of manufacturers making rechargeable fan currently and the major brands such as Binatone, Fanafrik, Qada, and others can be seen in almost all the electronics markets in Africa especially in Nigeria.

Understanding the quality standard of each brand, the categories of their rechargeable fan which ranges from rechargeable table standing fan, wall fan, and normal floor standing fan, etc. these sets of rechargeable fan have different battery range and charging capacity.

Before we proceed further, let us discuss on the working principle of the rechargeable fan. They are the type of electric fan that can convert the alternating current (AC) coming from the public power supply or home electric generator into a direct current (DC). For this reason, the electric motors being installed on them are usually DC powered motors.

When you connect the fan charger into the electric socket, it directs the AC to the lithium-ion charger installed inside the fan, the charger converts the AC to DC before sending it to the lithium-ion battery for storage. Since the lithium-ion battery can only receive DC, you will need the charger to get the battery charged by converting the alternating current (AC) from the electric socket into a direct current (DC) that the rechargeable battery or rechargeable batteries would use.

Since all modern rechargeable fan are equipped with Lithium-ion batteries having different capacity of power output, it is important to study the manual to understand how the charging system works. The bigger the size of the fan motor, the bigger the fan, as well as the battery, needed to power it. The duration the manufacturer intended the fan to last after every recharge will also help in determining the size of the battery the fan will use.

At average, some of the rechargeable fans can last up to six hours after being fully charged and operated at low speed. While it can last up to four hours after being fully charged while operating at high speed. However, that is not the case with the fewer quality brands which can last for only three hours and one hour thirty minutes at the respective speeds. The higher the quality, the higher the selling, the higher the lithium-ion battery capacity, etc.

Based on energy saving principle, most rechargeable fans do not use metal blades rather they make use of plastic blades light enough to be moved at very high speed by the DC electric motor. When the problem found in the rechargeable fan is only a charging problem, then the issue may not be a very serious one.

How do you know it is a battery charging issue?

It is not easy to draw a conclusion that the problem the rechargeable is having is a charging issue. The reason for this can be traced to how the charging unit is designed. Most brands like Binatone have their charger installed inside the fan with the lithium-ion battery that powers it. At the outlet, there is a socket that only an electric cord connects with while the other end will be plugged to the AC power socket.

So the whole charging process takes place right inside the rechargeable fan not the outside, hence, for the novice, when a problem occurs the best thing to do is to take it to any technician around the area for proper examination.

Meanwhile, in the case that you want to examine and know the actual cause of the problem, you, first of all, know that you will need to disassemble the fan by parts and lose the battery unit where the charging unit is located.

Assuming you succeeded in accessing the charging unit and the lithium-ion battery, do yourself a favor by using a voltmeter to check if there is any voltage left in the battery, if yes, then it may not be a charging problem. But if the meter indicates zero voltage, then there is a high tendency that charging system is the problem.

Let us assume the charging system is the problem

Assuming you followed the step mentioned earlier and discovered that the problem is the charger, what else are you going to do? In that case, the problem is half-way solved, it could be that the charging unit got burnt to do to abnormalities in the voltage rating supply or leaving the charger plugged to AC power supply longer than it supposed to stay.

Whatever be the reason, the fact is that the charging unit is burnt.  In a case like this, all you need to do is to change the charging unit by taking its rating specifications on the body and send it to a part dealer and new one will be given to you for replacement.

Assuming the battery charger did not get burnt but refused to charge, what can I do?

Except if the charging unit is very expensive, it will not be economically wise to ask you to go for further diagnosis and repairs. Such a can be a minor electrical disconnection that might have occurred along one of the cables. Using a multi-meter set to read resistance (ohm), one with good electrical knowledge can detect the place the wire has cut and then fix it back to get the charger working again.

What is the rechargeable fan uses an external charger? That is, only the lithium-ion battery is inside?

This design is common for some unpopular brands but it is still a very good design because it makes the detection of problems in the fan to be very easy. When the charger is external, it usually comes along with the rechargeable fan in the packet after the purchase. The good news is that such can be seen easily in the electronics market for replacement in case if it damages.

To diagnosis, such problem just look for another charger which is working perfectly, use it to charge the fan, if the electric motor rotates after charging for about twenty minutes, then the charger is the problem, all you need to do is to replace it with a new charger, that is all.

Just as I said earlier, charging issue in rechargeable fan is one of the things you can easily handle and it is also one of the less expensive problems from the fan. Problems like damaged DC motor, damaged lithium-ion battery, broken blades, and broken standing supports will cost you a good fortune in terms of finance and time for repair.

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