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HELP-- Antique Fan Motor

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Electric Fans65 of 206Vintage Industrial-Style Hanging FanGilbert Polar fan from 1920: The  before and after
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    Posted 8 years ago

    SpiritBear
    (813 items)

    First off, it's a brushed (not brushless) DC motor in a c. 1925 Polar Cub.

    From the windings, is only one wire supposed to connect to whatever metal pieces are on either side of the turbine? Or is only one sufficient, as is shown? There's a random loose wire that I feel should have connected to the other piece instead of connecting 115 volts the motor housing.
    Also, how do I reconnect the wires to the metal piece on either side of the turbine?
    Isn't it that two wires are meant to connect to the windings?

    No wonder this fan ran so terribly.

    Random things fell out when I opened it up. Scary. You can see a lot of the debris in the background. LOL.

    OTHERWISE, is it easily doable to dismantle a modern fan and steal its motor? I think I can make the blade fit tight with a screw if I do, but I want to know if it's adisable, as I'd have to further dismantle the thing. And it's not fun for me, as some of you know my luck with electrical.

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    Comments

    1. TubeAmp TubeAmp, 8 years ago
      Pretty sure that if a contact brush exists, it's meant to be connected. There are entire forums dedicated to this brand of fan.

      T A
    2. blunderbuss2 blunderbuss2, 8 years ago
      Do not connect a power wire to the housing. One wire goes to each brush that presses against the commutator. When you clean the commutator segments, be sure to use sand paper that is not made from oxides, as it can short out the segments. You can match the brushes closely at Ace, or whatever hardware stores you have. Not easy to tell from pix what you need done.
    3. fortapache fortapache, 8 years ago
      No wonder I don't try and mess with the motors. I am doing good to replace a cord. The turned a working fan into a non working fan when I tried to fix the oscillator on my Eskimo Pedestal fan.
    4. Phonoboy Phonoboy, 8 years ago
      Blunderbuss is right. The wires go to the brushes. If the brushes are in decent shape they can be rehabed. Please don't throw out the motor. There are professional antique fan restorers out there, but they are expensive.
    5. blunderbuss2 blunderbuss2, 8 years ago
      Looking again, it appears that you change brushes from the outside of the housing. In that case, the wires are probably soldered inside the housing where they will pass current thru the brushes but not in contact with the metal brush "caps" if they are exposed outside the fan. Don't want to get electrocuted.
    6. SpiritBear, 8 years ago
      The brushes are okay for now. I'm mostly concerned about the wires!
      So two wires should connect to the windings, and from the windings to gray bars that are called 'brushes'?
      Yes, the caps are exposed on the outside. They're brass caps. Under them is a brass spring that pushes the brush to the generator.
      I haven't soldered in years. LOL.
    7. PoliticalPinbacks PoliticalPinbacks, 8 years ago
      Local hardware store will likely hook it up for $5 (as some of us know your luck with electrical) but his one should be easy enough that said (repeat) LOL ;p
    8. SpiritBear, 8 years ago
      Liability says they cannot. Their insurance companies would not pay for lawsuits.
    9. PoliticalPinbacks PoliticalPinbacks, 8 years ago
      So this is what our world has come to, Sad
      The Ace Hardware here still does re-wiring but I don't know about on such a old or complex item.
    10. SpiritBear, 8 years ago
      We have an Ace on the other side of the county, and one in the next county over. I may try one for advise before I go and tear it apart further to try and put it back together. LOL.
      I work at Menards. We cannot put stuff together for people or tie down their loads to their vehicles anymore, due to lawsuit issues.
    11. PoliticalPinbacks PoliticalPinbacks, 8 years ago
      MIGHT be a good plan, Better then cooking it (or you)
      Too many looking for a place to file suit on today I guess and getting millions for next to nothing where I got under 100k (before the lawyer took 33 1/3) for being disabled for life for sitting at a stop sign Ugg
    12. blunderbuss2 blunderbuss2, 8 years ago
      There HAS to be insulation between the brushes & the brass caps or if you touch the caps when it is plugged in, - you might not have a need for a fan anymore. Some of these old fans used a thin dense type of cardboard as insulation. Is there a sleeve that meets that description inside of the brass caps ?
    13. blunderbuss2 blunderbuss2, 8 years ago
      PP, you should have filed in CA .
    14. PoliticalPinbacks PoliticalPinbacks, 8 years ago
      Shoulda called Sam (local lawyer ad lol) I'm sure I would have got more had I gone to trial but tried to save the farm that I ended up having to sell anyhow the day before the Sheriff sale (where they sell it at auction on the court house steps)
      A CA settlement or even a richer County would have been higher but had to file in the County it accrued in Saint Clair that they said was a low income county even tho I was on my way to work in Oakland Co one of the richest in the U.S.
      Oh well water under the bridge now
    15. SpiritBear, 8 years ago
      Sitting at a stop sign, Political Pinbacks?

      Blunderbuss, there is a thin red piece that the spring touches. But it is not a sleeve by any means.
      I've plugged the fan in before without being electrocuted, unless I forgot to touch the motor. I usually touch a metal piece to make sure it's safe when plugged in-- which, of course, puts me in heavy danger. LOL.
    16. PoliticalPinbacks PoliticalPinbacks, 8 years ago
      Maybe NOT the best "safety" test LOL
      Yeah stopped at a stop sign when a Motor-Home plowed into me lifting my old Caprice classic off the ground and tossing me around a tad bit... chit happens
    17. SpiritBear, 8 years ago
      Well that sounds horrifying.
      I remember one calm day where I was driving behind a rented travel-trailer being pulled by some out-of-state tourist. I wanted to go close to 70 MPH, as is the speed limit, but they were doing about 65.
      So, I passed them, but we were near Grand Haven already, so they ended up behind my anyway.
      I was looking in my rear-view mirror, as I often do, whilst stopped at a stop-light, when suddenly I saw their vehicle lurch forward. They didn't look like they had accidentally taken a foot of the brake.
      Turns out a car rear-ended them-- the people I had passed on the highway.
      It was terrible of me, but I was so glad I had passed them. LOL.
    18. PoliticalPinbacks PoliticalPinbacks, 8 years ago
      Well yeah you didn't want to be caught between that mess, It's those little decisions that make or break us or maybe it was just some good karma out to save ur butt ;D
    19. SpiritBear, 8 years ago
      My mixed drink (non-alcoholic) does not mix well with garlic chicken, as an after-taste. Like, this is disgusting. LOL.
      Today I had pulled into a lot, and as my door was slowly passing a parked car, the person decided to accelerate backwards. Had I not laid on the horn to alert them that my car was about 2 feet behind them, they would have hit me.
      People just don't look!
      Annoyingly, they honked at me. Like, really? LOL.

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