17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Was able to fix the beeping..., September 3, 2009
This review is from: Lasko 3540 Cyclone 20-Inch Pivoting Floor Fan with Remote Control (Kitchen)
I agree with the other reviewers that this is a great fan with a couple of annoying deficiencies, the worst being the annoying beeping sound it makes whenever you press any of the buttons on the fan or on the remote. It even emits an extra-long beep when the timer switches it off, which is exactly the opposite of perfect for sleeping!
I found that it is possible to permanently disable the beeper by cutting a wire on the circuit board. I have no way of knowing whether all of these fans are precisely identical, but you are welcome to try this at your own risk if you like.
Of course you should be sure to unplug the fan before disassembling it! The plastic fan blades don't look so dangerous to me, but there are exposed high voltage wires on the circuit board. Take note of how the parts fit together when disassembling.
There are two small screws in the back of the fan, a few inches above each hinge. Once you've unscrewed those, it's easy to unclip and remove the entire front cover of the fan. At the inside top, underneath the little pod with all the buttons and lights, you will see four screws: two larger, two smaller. Unscrew the larger pair (one on each side) to remove a bottom plastic piece and expose a green circuit board. The circuit board is held in place by four small screws, one near each corner (not quite symmetrical). After removing those screws you can unclip the top plastic piece and carefully slide the circuit board right out of its housing (note how the pieces fit), revealing all of the electronics on top.
The beeper is a round black thing with a little hole in the middle, near the upper left corner, clearly labeled "BUZZER." It looks like it's stuck on there pretty good. But there is a small upright cylindrical capacitor, clearly labeled C4, quite close to the center of the board (and not particularly close to the beeper -- go figure), whose sole purpose turns out to be to connect the microcontroller chip to the beeper. If you bend capacitor C4 back a bit, you can reach under and cut one or both of its easily bendable wire legs using small wire cutters or scissors, disconnecting it from the circuit. Make sure the remaining metal bits don't touch each other or anything else. Or you could gently bend the whole capacitor back and forth repeatedly until both wires break right off; no specialized tools needed. Keep in mind that once you have disconnected capacitor C4, there is no easy way to reconnect it and get the beeping back!
Reverse the above steps to reassemble the fan. The lights, buttons, and remote control continue to work exactly as before, but with no beeping whatsoever.
As a less destructive alternative, you could try muffling the beeper itself by covering the little hole in the middle of the beeper with electrical tape or something. I haven't tried this, but I imagine it would make the beeping a bit quieter.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sweet Fan, October 5, 2009
This review is from: Lasko 3540 Cyclone 20-Inch Pivoting Floor Fan with Remote Control (Kitchen)
I am not sure what fan some of the other folks here received but let me state my opinion.
3 speeds, high speed is perfect, not too noisy, adequate air flow, definitely not too strong, I would have even liked it a bit more powerful on high.
Remote control is sweet, allows power on and off, and to change the speed and set the timer.
Yes, the fan does emit a beep when using the remote for any function, no it is not that loud or annoying. How many times are you really going to change settings in an hour or 2?
Overall, for the money, this fits the bill nicely. I will most likely purchase a second one.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
BLOWIN' IN THE WIND!, July 3, 2009
This review is from: Lasko 3540 Cyclone 20-Inch Pivoting Floor Fan with Remote Control (Kitchen)
Too powerful? Give me a break!It "BEEPS" to loudly? Whatta pansy!This sucker is a great deal - My 2nd (and last!) old fan died yesterday morning - I had been not using my AC yet - THURSDAY July 2nd - I researched fans quickly and spotted this available with Amazon PRIME shipping at only an extra $3.99 for 1-DAY SHIPPING - Clicked it just about noon - and like my FRIGIDAIRE 8000-BTU AC from Amazon I got it ovenight and am sitting here enjoying the SPEED CHANNEL with a fresh cuppa hot coffee with my front door open and my new LASKO 20-Inch blasting in the cooler outside air on me - Wearing cargo shorts and sandals I also got on Amazon helps a tad too!----One tiperoo - Order or get a 4-PAK of AAA batteries for the handy little 2-AA battery REMOTE--Settings for LOW - MEDIUM - HIGH - and AUTO SHUTOFF at 2 - 4 - 8 HOURS ----This LASKO 20-INCH FAN will make your AC more efficient and save you MUCHO PESOS on your electic bills----Use it in colder weather to pump the hot air from electic or steam or hot water heating stips or radiators or to move the heated air from ceiling to the lower areas where you are relaxing or working----Point it up and it works like a more expensive ceiling fan--
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