I have a friend that rents a house that has large hanging overhead fans!one,while running,does not make any noise other than the blades cutting through the air!

Unfortunately,my friend has sensitive ears and the one over his bed makes a continuos whining sound!Which drives him batty and unable to sleep with it on!

His landlords son is an electrician and doesn't want anyone else working on electrical problems in the house,But my friend can not get ahold of him!

My friend would like to know if anyone on the forum knows what makes one fan ''whine'' and how to fix it??

My friend thanks you in advance

I am no expert but it sounds like a noisy bearing/motor, would of thought the only option is to replace it, as once a bearing is worn its finished.
I stayed in a hotel once that had a ceiling fan that constantly rocked and subsequently made a knocking noise when it was turning in the dead of night...yeah useless info i know but i will never forget it and it was around 15 years back, drove me nuts, reading the above brought it back from the depths.

If It is an old fan,More than likely the grease that was packed in the bearing is hardened,and caked with dirt and dust.maybe wants taking apart and cleaning and nit noy bit of new grease applied
Or depending of the bearing,If ball race,balls trying to race over each other Through wear. Mostly,Full of dried crap is the problem!

It's the bearings.

Like Morti said, give it a clean or get a new fan - preferably the latter.

Electrical assets don't last as long in your environment as they would in Japan, Norh America or Europe.

if its compacted old grease on the bearings, a squirt of W D 40 will give him a short term fix ,maybe a week or so

Here's a good site for ceiling fan problems http://www.ceiling-fans-n-more.com/ceiling-fan-general-troubleshooting-and-FAQ.php

I have found hair to get sucked into the motor and bearings on more than a few occasions. (Work at a womens prison that has 12 ceiling fans per dorm). Which will wreak havoc on the bearings. Oiling it will help for few days or week but the best solution is to just replace it and forget it.

He could also swap it with another one in the house that is running silently.