Doug DeHaven I could not pass up a chance to get one of these art deco fans from the 40’s This one was in rough shape but all there! This was the deluxe 3 speed model! The metal cage was crushed in on the top and pushed back so it had to have fallen over at some point. After some time bending it a bit I was able to get it clear of the blades to do some testing of it.
Well hot damn, all features work! Now the crazy part, tear it all apart and start blasting down to bare metal!
Took every wire off and documented where it was connected, for it will be an adventure to get it all back correctly if not! The flat capacitor was a fun find!
Spent the better part of a day working the metal cage to get it back to round and square, also got all the metal parts down to bare metal!
The Cage being so bad, as I was trying to bring it back some of the spot welds snapped, so had to build up a quick custom sport welder, it worked well!
Next step was to get the brass name plates cleaned up, this was a very slow tedious hand process of polishing bit by bit.
Next step was to re work and clean the motor, as well as build up a new wire harness with a black nylon woven sheeth.
For the Fan blade, I custom cut some black Vinyl dots for the rivits.
The original serial tag was riveted on, I had to drill those out to clean it. I found some vintage screws to hold it back on and look proper.
Next step was to replace the old crumbling felt that was on the base, so off to the fabric store with the base plate to find the perfect material. I went with a dark red, it was a gamble, but wow does it look perfect!
Time to start assembly!
I found a new version of a cloth covered power cord, it is a perfect fit and feel for the fan, and fits the harness I made as well. Also some fresh grease for the gearbox!
Found this schematic online that was very helpful!
Now to cross my fingers and my toes, and hope after all of this it still works and powers on!
Here is a video with no talking, just the fan running on low speed!
Here is the final walkthrough of the restoration!
My son rescued this model, GE fan (12”) from
a dumpster and I’ve just started tear down for restoration. Looks like yours is the 16” model – very similar but no capacitor.
I’d planned on going black with polished blades but yours is gorgeous! Could you tell me the brand/shade of the gold paint you used?
Alan,
My apologies for the delay on the response I was out for holiday. I was able to track down the paint I used for the fan blades! It is from ACE hardware Part number #17011 Link ( https://www.acehardware.com/departments/paint-and-supplies/spray-paint/metallic/17011 ) Some of the fans used a resistor in place of the capacitor in the circuit. Good luck with your project! They clean up well! And thank you for the kind words!