Nice fans.  This happens to be my other hobby of the past few yrs.  I'll have to post up some pics of my collection.  Its small...but I try to add a few every year w/ this past summer being the most productive so far.

Nice fans.  This happens to be my other hobby of the past few yrs.  I'll have to post up some pics of my collection.  Its small...but I try to add a few every year w/ this past summer being the most productive so far.

Thanks. The only ones I was interested in were the ones with the gyro/orbital oscillating heads which narrowed the choices to two brands: Revelair and Mistral. I have stopped collecting them now as I have enough for my needs even though there are some early Mistral ones that I don't have. The possible exception is if an elusive Revelair Gyromatic from the 70's comes up locally. By this time they were all plastic construction with an infinitely variable gyro oscillation. These were possibly the last fans ever produced by Celco, the manufacturers of Revelair fans here in Sydney.

Refridgedude, I'd like to see your pictures.

Hmm, I wonder if a 17 year old fan is considered 'vintage' nowadays? There is a fan at my parents house which I remember they bought brand new in late 1998 just after my little brother was born and was used to help keep him cool over the summer.

Refridgedude, I'd like to see your pictures.

Hmm, I wonder if a 17 year old fan is considered 'vintage' nowadays? There is a fan at my parents house which I remember they bought brand new in late 1998 just after my little brother was born and was used to help keep him cool over the summer.

Fans made in China just don't seem to last. You often see them discarded on the nature strip waiting for Council cleanups. If your parent's 1998 one was made in China and is still in working order, it could be classed as vintage/miracle 
I have a mid 80's Breezemaster pedestal fan I bought from K-Mart. Probably made in China but has a really heavy base unlike current pedestal fans. It has been in storage since I got the pedestal 1950's Revelair.

Fans made in China just don't seem to last. You often see them discarded on the nature strip waiting for Council cleanups. If your parent's 1998 one was made in China and is still in working order, it could be classed as vintage/miracle 
I have a mid 80's Breezemaster pedestal fan I bought from K-Mart. Probably made in China but has a really heavy base unlike current pedestal fans. It has been in storage since I got the pedestal 1950's Revelair.

I've seen loads of cheap Chinese fans on the nature strip myself, quite often smashed to bits as they're poorly made. I think this 1998 fan is a miracle, as I had a look and it's Chinese made. I can't remember what brand name it had on it now. 

Quote from: rapidstart on November 05, 2015, 07:43:27 PM

Fans made in China just don't seem to last. You often see them discarded on the nature strip waiting for Council cleanups. If your parent's 1998 one was made in China and is still in working order, it could be classed as vintage/miracle  ;D
I have a mid 80's Breezemaster pedestal fan I bought from K-Mart. Probably made in China but has a really heavy base unlike current pedestal fans. It has been in storage since I got the pedestal 1950's Revelair.

I've seen loads of cheap Chinese fans on the nature strip myself, quite often smashed to bits as they're poorly made. I think this 1998 fan is a miracle, as I had a look and it's Chinese made. I can't remember what brand name it had on it now.  :-[

Hello all,

I have recently sourced an old Mistral oscillating fan.  The person I obtained it from states that they have had it since about 1964.  It is green hammertone paint finish, matching colour cord, it is quite heavy and the motor housing appears to be made of cast iron.  A stamp on the base states - Catalouge CTW- 18 or 19 -10-1, Style 6, Serial No 12. The motor housing becomes quite hot and the previous owner stated that it would stop running after about two hours.  I ran it once I got home, on low speed (only L and H) whilst not oscillating and it did turn itself off after about two hours.

Could someone please advise -

1. if there is an inbuilt mechanism to turn itself off at a certain temperature,
2. is there any maintenance I can do to rectify the problem, eg attention to bearings, clearing of dust holes etc, and lastly,
3. is there a manual produced for this type of fan which I believe dates back to the early 1960's? 

Regards,

Bob

I don't think there is some explicit mechanism, but it is still plausible.

What I have met with similar behavior:
The fan used "self lubricating" bearing inserts (made of a sintered mix of brass + lubricant dust) and as the body warmed up, the rotor just get stuck.
Using some oil helped a bit, but not for long, but maybe I haven't used correct lubricant (it may have dried out too quickly).

The question is, what causes the high temperature - as that may be the prime cause for the bearing to seize and block the motor.
It could be a bad capacitor (both shorted, as well as open circuit; unless the motor uses shielded pole starting system), some short circuit in the winding (only part of the winding is significantly hotter than other, otherwise equivalent, part) or deteriorated insulation between the core steel foils (these days the insulation is made of a thin layer of oxide or so, so quite indestructible, but in the past it used to be just some lacquer or so and that tend to degrade).

There is provision for oiling at least the front bearing on my circa 1960's Mistral fan.
Rotate the blades and see if you can find a hole in the hub as in the picture. Peer through the hole and line up the oil port then add a few drops of oil and see if that helps.

While not exactly vintage (It is only 26 Years old being from 1990) I found this Patton High Velocity Air Circulator in the trash full of drywall dust that adsorbed all of the oil in the bearings. There are models of this fan out there that have two oil ports one for each bearing (Front & Back) but unfortunately mine does not. So I took the motor apart and oiled it the hard way and it is surprisingly good shape the motor windings are still shiny copper color and not dull or discolored. The fan now runs great and really move a whole of a lot of air (on low it moves Much more then a China made high velocity fan on high speed)
if You want to oil an electric fan motor use SAE 20 non detergent motor oil, Do Not use WD 40 or the 3-In-1 with the red can if you use 3-In-1 use the one with the blue can marked Motor oil SAE 20

If it was in a trash with a lot of drywall dust, I would be afraid it was used to clean some buildings from an old asbestos materials.
So the dust can be then actually full of asbestos filaments...
Such fans are used to circulate the air through asbestos collection filter bags on the workplace, where the asbestos is being removed, so such fans use to be contaminated as well...

A good hose down and oiling again will sort that out

Yeah the fan was really dirty when I found it but I cleaned it up and oiled the motor as I said

Those older Patton fans are tough-just hose it down,clean and relube the motor bearings as the fellow did and that fan should be good for many more years.Have one of those I bought many years ago-still works.I have opened the fancase and vacuumed off the fan blades.

To rapidstart and Lamplover, thanks for your responses.  I hadn't been back on the forum for a while but am appreciative of your advice and will give me something to look at.

Regards,

Bob

While not exactly vintage (It is only 26 Years old being from 1990) I found this Patton High Velocity Air Circulator in the trash full of drywall dust that adsorbed all of the oil in the bearings. There are models of this fan out there that have two oil ports one for each bearing (Front & Back) but unfortunately mine does not. So I took the motor apart and oiled it the hard way and it is surprisingly good shape the motor windings are still shiny copper color and not dull or discolored. The fan now runs great and really move a whole of a lot of air (on low it moves Much more then a China made high velocity fan on high speed)
if You want to oil an electric fan motor use SAE 20 non detergent motor oil, Do Not use WD 40 or the 3-In-1 with the red can if you use 3-In-1 use the one with the blue can marked Motor oil SAE 20

Nice looking fan from the same year I was born.

Mibosa, let us know how you go.