Salton table fan - removing fanblade assy

Hi guys, hope I'm using the correct forum for this. Not really an electrical question.

Anyone here dismantled a Salton desk fan like the one pictured? How on earth did you get the plastic fan blade assembly off the shaft?

I tried careful prying with no luck. Likewise holding blades and tapping shaft. (The plastic hub is definitely not threaded - it would be impossible to turn it onto and off the shaft given the flat on the shaft and the hub.)

Youtube and web resources I found either address totally different designs or they address metal blades where a fanblade puller can be used. I'm scared that the radial set screws on a puller would crush the plastic hub on this one(?)

Thanks for any tips!

P.S. I know many see these as throwaway appliances but the cost of a new one isn't nothing to me, so I figured I'd at least try to fix it. (Problem is intermittent cut-out; perhaps overheating from excessive dust. It's really dirty so cleaning might solve the problem if I can actually get in!)

 

Thank you; yes perhaps that is the best I can do without risking breaking the plastic blade component.

Perhaps I've left it too long and there is now too much rust on the shaft, so blade no longer slides off. I'll try some penetrating oil, although I'm not sure if that has ever actually made a difference on anything where I tried it (When a something is that seized, it always seems to need the big guns... vice, hammer, pipe wrench etc. )

 

Thank you. I see what you mean! The flat cut through he threads does make the tip of the shaft resemble some of the self-tapping screw tips. However, unfortunately the hole in the plastic hub shares the same "round with a flat" shape, so it would not be possible to unscrew.


I also noted a slight "melty" edge to this hole, that I struggled to capture with my phone camera. Putting all this together, I suspect it was assembled by heating tip of the shaft and stabbing it through the plastic. I suppose disassembly was not a concern!

I also tried heating the tip of shaft and surrounding hub with a 2 kW hot air gun. The hub became "melty" but refused to slip off the shaft, and showed six evenly spaced dimples as if there is perhaps a further metal component embedded inside it for anchoring to shaft (just a hunch).


I think I must find an air compressor and make do with "cleaning from a distance"...

Appreciate your input guys!