ok, so i have these decades old fans, probably as much as 40 yrs old, maybe more, they work fine until last night one of them was going very very slow even though on high. I really like them, they are quiet and go with my 1871 house. When i stopped it and start it from a dead stop it just goes about 2 degrees cw then 2degrees ccw. if i give it a spin, it proceeds to run very slowly. Does this sound like something that could be fixed?
If it spins freely when turned off, then it sounds like the motor has a bad winding. Probably time for a new one. I saw a sleek stainless steel one at lowe s! Just kidding, there are some old looking new fans out there.
At Busch Beans General store they have two really old ceiling fans. There is 1 motor that drives a flat belt that drives the fan, and on that fan is another pulley with a flat belt that drives a second fan. The belts looked like they are made of leather and the fans are about 10 foot apart making the belts about 20' long. How's that for looking old?
Hey, I was there in August. I think I remember those fans. They're near Sevierville, Tennessee.
Does anyone ever think of the most obvious. OIL THE FAN!!!
they have 6 or 8 fans driven off one small motor in the ceiling of the Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa. Pretty cool!
thanks for the reply
it turns quite freely. Not noisy.
You think? It's only been running for forty years.
Hmmm, Oil the fan or motor?
I have a pair of 30 year old Casablanca ceiling fans that you cant oil.
1970 vintage may or may not be oil-able. But in any case, at this point, OP needs to take the fan down and field-strip it and blow it out and de-gunk it, and see if that makes anything change. Oily dust and spider webs can do all sorts of things. (Power it with an extension cord, hung from a garage rafter or something.) Depending on how motor is designed, local motor rebuild place may be able to rebuild motor. A new fan would likely be cheaper, but if he has his heart set on keeping the same look and having them all match, that may be an option.
Note well- when you take an old fan apart, mark which blade comes off of which arm, and also make witness marks around edges of bracket, so you can reassemble and hopefully not need to re-balance it.
I would love to know how it comes out. Oil, condenser, motor or just what. I hope you let us know what happens.
*If you really love the fan, a motor shop can rebuild the motor for you.
will do. sounds like taking it down and exploring is in order.
Does anyone ever think of the most obvious. OIL THE FAN!!!
or move the bed!
and if it has a suitable casing and you're a creative type, you might be able to replace the motor with a modern one, but keep the original case, hub and blades.
I suspect it has a dead winding - but it's possible that it's bad at the solder joint at one end, so you may be able to fix it without a rewind.
cheers
Jules
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