strange acting fan?

Question

I have a fan that is out of a refridgerator.
It is the kind that the motor blocks some of the airflow (metal square plates with coil around it)
There are three wires, black, white and red.
If I hook black and white up to 110v it runs fine for a minute or two, then turns off! the coil(windings) continue to heat up.

The red wire does not seem to do anything. can hook it up in combination with white or black and the fan does not run.

#1 is the motor stopping caused by a heat expansion? (bad solder joint)
#2 is the red wire for a low speed and broken? (should be red and white for low)

Thank you

I tried it again with the fan blade off. It turned off in less than a minute! there was a definite click so there must be a thermocouple that opens from overheating (like in a coffee machine). the coil was getting hot even while running but the bearing is cool and spins freely. I will be disasemmbling it next. As it currently is, it isnt much good anyways.
Thanks for the info about what type of motor and what the copper wires are for, I always wondered

bad idea to put in a fridge since they run hot. (more to cool)

Answer 1

Don't know for sure but I'm willing to take some guesses. White, Red and Black are generally power leads, could be a two speed or reversible motor. Wouldn't be a 3-phase motor out of a refrigerator.

If it really does continue to heat up after it stops it may be the bearings. Or, if it is out of the refrigerator? It could be that "out" of the refrigerator it does not move enough air to keep it cooled and the bearings are locking up. The lack of air flow could be because "out" of the refrigerator could mean out of the shrouding that directs the air flow through and around the motor.

Answer 2

the bearing are over heating and jamming the blade , try oil

Answer 3

Call an electrician before you blow up your frig and yourself.