Power Ultra 250P in unit welder fan is dismantling itself

[Orlando]

Hello all. I purchased this PowerUltra 250P back in october 2011. It has been working very well if i say so myself TIG welding 304/316 stainless and very occasional plasma.

The problem I have now started as a quiet fast ticking on the fan end of the unit every time I turned the welder on. This ticking went on for about a day or two then, as I was using it yesterday, the ticking went from quiet to much much louder. It was obvious there was something wrong so I looked in the fan end of the unit and nothing was obviously wrong. But upon very close inspection, I see a hairline cracks which have formed on the center plastic of the fan (not the fan blades but where the blades attach) starting from the outside and going into the middle where the bearings are.

So what is happening is that when the fan starts, the centrifugal forces that are being placed on the fan are making the cracks want to separate and this then causes the fan to grind on the inside diameter of the fan shroud. It sounds like it will tear itself apart soon.

Has anyone els ever had this happen to the fan in their unit?

All in all, I like the unit although at this point I cannot use it until the fan gets replaced

Also, the unit is within it's 5 year warranty. What do I need to do to get this taken care of?

Thank-you for any helpful replies