Need Help Removing A Lionel F3 "Fan" That Is A Volume Control Knob

When I've done that I hold the fan in place and pull the potentiometer down from the bottom. 

Lou1985 posted:

When I've done that I hold the fan in place and pull the potentiometer down from the bottom. 

I believe the potentiometer has a washer and lock nut under the fan, hence the problem.

Washer huh? Is there room to get plastic razor blades underneath it then?

jpnrc posted:

I need to remove the fan from the volume control potentiometer by pulling straight up.  Does anyone have a tip on how to do this without damaging the plastic fan?

There was a tooling modification made a few years after this design was first introduced to form a small opening that can be accessed from the underside. Basically, you go in with a miniature screwdriver (or something similar) and push up on the underside of the fan.

I don't have any shells handy at the moment, otherwise I'd include a photo.

TRW

BobbyD posted:

Washer huh? Is there room to get plastic razor blades underneath it then?

The washer is under the nut that holds the potentiometer to the shell.  I can see no way to approach this from the underside of the shell.  And the fan fits so snugly within the recess (see photo above) that I can't see any way to get something under it.

TRW mentions a body tool modification. Guess Lionel had the same problem as you. Is it possible to drill a small hole?

BobbyD posted:

TRW mentions a body tool modification. Guess Lionel had the same problem as you. Is it possible to drill a small hole?

I will have to look into that later today if no one has a better idea.

Here's the opening. Go in with a small screw driver, nail or something similar to push the fan off the pot shaft.

TRW

PaperTRW posted:

Here's the opening. Go in with a small screw driver, nail or something similar to push the fan off the pot shaft.

TRW

I've removed those from these F-3s several times. I think what TRW is saying is the way I did it as well. A small screwdriver blade under the edge of the black piece and pry it off to pull the shaft out of the fan.

TRW, I drilled a 3/64 hole (same spot as your pic) and pushed with a small allen/hex wrench.  I turned the fan a few times to push in different spots under the fan.  It was really on tight but eventually came off a little at a time.  Luckily  I missed the washer when I drilled.  Thanks for the help; VERY much appreciated.  John

breezinup posted:

I think what TRW is saying is the way I did it as well. A small screwdriver blade under the edge of the black piece and pry it off to pull the shaft out of the fan.

No. You can't pry against the black piece (underside of volume pot) because it's held in place by a nut on the top side, under the fan.

The only way to do it is to go through the opening and push against the fan from the underside.

Glad it worked out for the OP.

TRW

I've got F3s with the roof fan volume knob from 95, 96, and 97. The fan just pulls off the volume pot, which itself is mounted to a bracket. I didn't know they changed the design later.