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Found an Ideal/Temco


Patrick Ray

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Found this Ideal fan locally and I knew I had to snag it as the oscillator was in one piece. It is missing one brush/brush cap so I can't test it at the moment. Looking through the old forum, appears to date '21-'22. Temco is faint on the base tag. Whole motor appears to be pot metal. 

 

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10 minutes ago, Thomas Peters said:

Interesting find. Please, post photos as restoration progresses. 

I sure will! Don't think I can salvage the base tag as it's pretty heavily corroded, but will give it the college try. Plenty of relief on the cage tag. I'm looking forward to tearing into this fan and bringing it back to life... As soon as I clear 2 other projects off my bench! 

Any tips for painting this much pot metal? 

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Cool looking badge when cleaned up.  I’ve had a couple and neither would oscillate. Cross your fingers on the gearbox contents.  🤞

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32 minutes ago, Steve Butler said:

Cool looking badge when cleaned up.  I’ve had a couple and neither would oscillate. Cross your fingers on the gearbox contents.  🤞

Notorious for stripped gears?

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A seasoned collector told me the gears are not Ideal on those fans.  I’m hoping the best for you.  It’s my understanding Ideal is more or less what Menominee became.  

Edited by Steve Butler
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I restored a Menominee a few years ago that looked very similar to that fan. I don't think the Menominee had the handle on it and the oscillator was pot metal.

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1 hour ago, Steve Sherwood said:

I restored a Menominee a few years ago that looked very similar to that fan. I don't think the Menominee had the handle on it and the oscillator was pot metal.

On this model, the oscillator and motor housing is ALL pot metal.  How that much pot metal has survived for 100 years is beyond me. Looking at other posts on these fans, it seems other models had a steel motor housing. 

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7 minutes ago, Patrick Ray said:

On this model, the oscillator and motor housing is ALL pot metal.  How that much pot metal has survived for 100 years is beyond me. Looking at other posts on these fans, it seems other models had a steel motor housing. 

The one I did the pot metal was a little warped, I was a PITA to get it running as good as a could.

 

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On fans that don’t run, make the blade spin with compressed air from  a blow gun. You can see if it oscillates that way. 😉 Windy days at an outside flea market are funny when the fan is oscillating without being plugged in.  It makes people wonder.  

Edited by Steve Butler
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3 minutes ago, Steve Butler said:

On fans that don’t run, make the blade spin with compressed air from  a blow gun. You can see if it oscillates that way. 😉 Windy days at an outside flea market are funny when the fan is oscillating without being plugged in.  It makes people wonder.  

Actually I did turn the blades by hand and the oscillator wheel moved. There's a promising sign!

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Definitely not 21.  Your fan could date as late as mid 20s.  Airster fans emerged from from the WP corporation (later to become Red Seal(?) absorption of Tideman Electric (under receiver since late 21/early 22) 

Iron age 1927
The WP Corporation, Cairo, ill., recently organized, has purchased the local properties of the Tideman Electric Co. and will continue the manufacture of electric fans, small electric motors and other electrical appliances.


Merchandising week 1928
Electrical Merchandising, May, 1928. Yl-ln. Oscillating Fan in Colored Finish A new AC, 12-in. oscillating fan placed on the market by the WP Corporation, Electrical Division, Cairo, 111

antique-menominee-type-560-temco_1_85f42eea0e3ee888c2d120ef90a2d52d.jpg

rsz_chicago_tribune_sun__nov_5__1939_.jpg

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1923 Tideman Electric Mfg. Co. advertisement in the link provided below. Notice no TEMCO in the advertisement. Notice the receiver's name W. A. Krebs. Henry Tideman resigned as CEO in Oct. of 21. The receiver must have gained full rights to Tideman's fan motors. The Menominee name was still used on the fan motors as late as 22.

Popular Mechanics - Google Books

Edited by Russ Huber
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11 hours ago, Russ Huber said:

1923 Tideman Electric Mfg. Co. advertisement in the link provided below. Notice no TEMCO in the advertisement. Notice the receiver's name W. A. Krebs. Henry Tideman resigned as CEO in Oct. of 21. The receiver must have gained full rights to Tideman's fan motors. The Menominee name was still used on the fan motors as late as 22.

Popular Mechanics - Google Books

Russ, is there any information to better nail down a possible year of manufacture on my fan? TEMCO base tag, Ideal cage badge, pot metal motor. Seems there was a change in design of the motor at one point (seen photos of steel motor housing).

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On 5/30/2022 at 11:57 AM, Patrick Ray said:

Russ, is there any information to better nail down a possible year of manufacture on my fan? TEMCO base tag, Ideal cage badge, pot metal motor. Seems there was a change in design of the motor at one point (seen photos of steel motor housing).

The only one here I am aware of that has the skills and paid access to old newspaper that could possibly answer your questions is Mike Kearns. All I have access to through Google books is a few book snippets/full read(very few full reads) of the early to mid 20s. Google books cut off for full read books is roughly around 22-24.

Henry Tideman lost his chair at Cairo in Oct. of 21.  Along with that I am confident he lost the rights to the Menominee fan motor name to the receiver. 

Edited by Russ Huber
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The new Tideman Electric Mfg. co. was completed in 1919 at 614 Commercial Ave. in Cairo, IL. The images below show what appears to be the factory building(part of the factory?) on the far right at 614 Commercial Ave.

Tideman20.png

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1923

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Edited by Russ Huber
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  • 1 year later...

Been a while but I finally got this fan torn down. Cleaning the paint off of the motor housing did reveal a couple cracks (guess that was inevitable with everything being pot metal). Gears are in great shape. I'll stop-drill the cracks and do an epoxy fill on them.  

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