I'm aware I need the vent, thats why I fixed it. Why trash the whole unit?
I fixed the fan by replacing the capacitor. No need to spend all the money on a fan when $9 (that includes 2 caps) does the same thing with a little more work.
Yeah - it used a weird form factor capacitor (for no particular reason) I couldn't find anywhere. But a generic one with matching spec and a little creativity on mounting did the trick. Cleaned and lubed the motor while at it.
The nimrods that installed it ran the vent (which is just rectangular gutter) up to just past the roof line and left it open on the top facing vertically. Theoretically as long as the fan is running nothing will go in there... but magically, power being out and rain can happen at the same time. Imagine that! The fan housing had a lot of evidence of water and crud inside. I'm guessing thats what killed the capacitor. I'm making a vent cover for it to prevnt that happening again....
