I ahve a hassock fan from 1952 that needs a new blade-

The model# you listed does not come up for me. I think maybe you are off somewhere on it?

The closest model I could come up with is PDS18LBMBB which is a bottom freezer with the evaporator fan,evaporator,defrost heater and drain in between the fridge and freezer. A lot of people misdiagnose this as a bad fan motor when actually it is found that the drain is clogged allowing the water to back up,freeze and stall the fan blade.

Another issue I find is that the blade becomes loose on the shaft and slips back jamming. In most cases, the blade is now nla or "no longer available".

Back to your question.. If this is it then you need to remove all the shelves to gain easy access to the floor of the fridge section. Remove the screws and sometimes you have to pry the plastic floor from one side to remove it (A tip is to leave the door open for about 10 minutes letting the plastic warm up a bit so it is less apt to break when bending). Once removed,you will be able to get to the fan motor. Check for any ice that could be blocking it and if you have any other questions then please post the proper model# (take a pic and post since an I can look like a 1 or an L sometimes)

Replace Fan, order part from Lasko

I'm assuming you want to open the fan up to give it a thorough cleaning. This is how I got one open. First things first, make sure it's unplugged. No need to risk zapping yourself of accidentally turning it on when your fingers are in range of the fan blade...

Turn the fan upside down. There are four very long Phillips screws concealed by long plastic sleeves that cover the shafts of the screws, with the ***** heads covered by the rubber feet at the bottom of the unit. Pop out the rubber feet, then loosen the screws (there will likely be an alarming snap when they break loose). The two-piece top of the unit will come loose. You can then remove the screws and the plastic sleeves that hide the screws.

Turn the unit right side up and remove the fan blade. The nut holding the blade on is reverse thread, so "lefty loosy, righty tighty" will not apply--turn the nut clockwise to loosen. Remove the nut and lock washer, then pull the blade from underneath the hub (it'll take a bit of force to pop it off.

The wire from the motor to the speed control switch connects the base to the cylindrical center portion of the unit. To separate the center portion from the base, pull the knob off of the shaft of the switch and remove the ***** holding it in place. The switch can then be disconnected from the center piece. I'd put the ***** back into the switch to keep it from disappearing.

The motor can be removed from the base by removing the three screws holding it to the base from underneath, but unless you're looking to replace the motor, you shouldn't need to do this.

Put it back together by reversing the disassembly process.

On the model I have, the front grill just pulls off from the front; there are some tabs that you might need to release by pushing with a small screwdriver from the rear. After cleaning, just align the tabs and push it back in until they click back in and latch.

Does the motor spin, but the blade is not turning?
The motor has a D shaped shaft. If the hole in the blade that the shaft goes in is rounded, then the blade will spin. In that case you need a new blade. Vornado can supply that.

it would be far cheaper and more easy to replace the entire unit

Hello. Here is the link to Vornado Support. See what a new switch will cost plus shipping before you decide whether to repair or not. http://www.vornado.com/Default.aspx?ISC_PageName=Support

which one?evap fan motor or the condenser fan motor?i've seen the evap fan blades in the freezer wear out in the center where it slides onto the motor shaft so when the motor comes on the blade doesn't spin with it,need a new blade,or if the freezer is on top the drain blocks and the air vents freeze up,is there water leaking anywhere or ice on the freezer floor?need to send a little more info,also model number would help

Remove the freezer panel to access the fan motor. Look for any obstruction around the fan or blade. Ice, misplaced wire etc.
Check the fan blade. Sometimes they slip down the shaft too far.
If you find none of these issues, replace the fan motor.

The whistling is caused by the air circulating fan located just behind the light. It is easily accessed by removing the light cover and the two small hex screws above the light. To stop the whistling I simply turned the freezer off and pulled the fan cover out slightly to reveal the fan blades. I then pushed the blades down, toward the bottom of the until the blades stopped and i could feel the shaft slightly protruding from the top of the blades. Repositioning the blade has stopped the incessant whistling. Hope this helps!