How do I balance a Radiator FAN?

F

forte

Junior Member
I'm guessing a radiator fan should be balanced. If so how can this be done? Common sense tells me to bolt it down to a turntable of sorts and take dimensions off the table top to blade tips. Would a machine shop do this? One blade is bent, should I heat the blade arm and bend back? Do it cold? Any tips would be a help.
Fan goes on a 1940 85hp flathead
 
If the blade is not bent badly(slightly out of line) then it can be straitened by eye, hammer and backing dolly or anvil-type surface. Make sure the rivets (if used) are not loose. If so discard the fan. As long as the blade has not been bent back past a 90 degree angle, heating it to a dull red and straitening it with a hammer and dolly should present no problems. The trick here is common sense, if the fan is damaged badly, throw it out. If slightly damaged, use your head. This is a subject that can get pretty heated. You don't want to fix a real mess and then have a friend or relative get a blade thru the forehead.:)
 
I recently set up my 38 (generator mounted) fan in a Bridgeport turn-table. Shocked...not one of the four blades was the same distance from the center. So why would you try to balance it? Just sayin...
 
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