Is there something special about this fan? Or will any fan of the right dimensions and operating voltage work? DEC rarely used strange fans (the 11/44 being the obvious exception!), so you might get a generic replacement that will drop straight in. As regards repairing the fan, I've done this many times (time I have plenty of, money to buy replacement fans I don't :-)). I can give you some pointers.. Firstly, with the machine off (and the fan power wires disconnected if possible), try rotating the fan by hand. Check there's no 'catch' at any point of the revolution, which may point to bad bearings. Most of the time a fan that will only start when flicked is a DC fan. The ones I am used to have a 2-phase stator, a permanent magnet rotor, and a simple circuit using a hall effect device (to sense the rotor position) and a few transistors (to switch the windings). A fan that will only start when flicked normally means that one widing isn't being driven, this is either because the power transsitor driving it is dead or the widing is open (most often the latter. The bigest problem is getting to it. Oftne you have to peel back or cut away the label on the fan housing to reveal either secrews or the end of the spidnle. If the latter, theyre's a circlp to remove, then assorted washers, and the rotor slides out the other side. If it's bad bearings you can now get to them (either to replace the ball races, or make new sleeve bearings as applicable). If it's an electronic fauly, yo may have to remove the stator lamination stack from the bearing tube to get to the control PCB -- it's often stuck in place. Gentle heating with a soldering iron may get it free. Then you can test the windings and transistors. It's not hard to rewind one of these stators if you have to, BTW. -tony