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Checking windings and stator


Robert Kennedy

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I'm still new to this fan collecting and refurbishing. I bought a mid 30's 73646 and was told all it needed was rewiring the head. I took the fan head assembly off and found 3 good wires to start my rewiring effort. One wire was isolated by itself and the other two were almost together. I guess I assumed the single wire went to the single wire on top of the 3 speed selector and the other two were for the ground and positive posts. I also replaced the electrical plug in cord while everything was apart. When I got everything soldered and heat wrapped and plugged it in the motor only hums a bit and does not spin the rod for the blades. Does this mean the windings or stator is bad. I'm not an electrician so I don't know how to proceed in checking this out. Did I wire the head correctly?

 

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did the fan run before your work? you need an ohm meter to test the 3 wires coming off the stator. the factory wire did have tracer threads in them but it is very difficult to see after all these years.  Does your fan have a capacitor? pictures would assist greatly , . If you do not possess the tools , then remove wires at the speed coil & use jumpers-- there are 6 combinations to get the fan running-- only one is correct, in my experience it will run forward 2 different combinations-- one will be correct & the fan will purr smoothly, the other will be noisy & draw too many amps.All others will either hum, or run backwards. this is assuming your stator is good which to me is unknown. good luck

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Lawrence, the head wires were cut when I got it so obviously it did not run. I'm 90% sure there is no capacitor just the speed coil with the single wire coming off of it. Thats the wire I soldered to the singled out wire coming off of the windings.

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22 minutes ago, Lawrence Smith said:

pictures of the base & speed coil

will help, even the tag info as to the year  

I'll get those tonight and send them tomorrow for sure.

 

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4 minutes ago, Robert Kennedy said:

AWESOME......Yes, I need someone to draw me a picture....LOLOL

 

I'm really going to be a pest here. I have a cheap Walmart multimeter with the 2 leads and the selector dial has several settings to select. Can one of y'all tell me (or show me) what setting to put the dial on to check ohms and then the procedure on what to touch with the leads to get a reading.....and what a good reading should be. I know it's a lot to ask and you can take your time doing it.......but this simpleton needs your experienced help.....and Thanks Again

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  • 2 months later...
On 12/12/2022 at 2:53 PM, Lawrence Smith said:

pictures of the base & speed coil

will help, even the tag info as to the year  

Would you still happen to have an oscillator dial for my 8" 1933 Polar Cub?

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  • 2 weeks later...

I got the stator rewound thanks to Mark Olson (it looks mint) and it spun up the rotor just fine when I direct wired it and plugged it in. I was pretty excited to get it installed and everything back together even though I will have to repaint one part and also the blade. After I got everything reassembled and wired it up, I plugged it in, and the stator only hummed or buzzed (it did not pop the breaker on the power bar). I immediately unplugged it reached over and spun the rotor and it spun freely, I plugged it back in and attempted to help it spin but the rotor freezes up like it's locked up all the while the stator is humming. I unplugged it again and spun the rotor with no problem. I'm really confused now. How did it work just fine when I first fired it up but now it locks up the rotor and won't spin. It can't be the wiring because there are only 2 wires and I wired it both ways to eliminate the issue. I also used a new vintage style cord. I'm getting 39.7 ohms, so it's also spot on. There is a lot of back-and-forth movement of the rotor when I reassembled everything, but not sure that that's not normal. Any help here again is greatly appreciated. This fan has been a nightmare since the day I got it but I'm determined to have the last word here......LOLOL Thanks everyone.

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Sounds like worn bearings. Turn it upside down and see if it runs.  If so, the bearings are worn at the bottom.  That’s common with these dime store type fans that don’t hold much oil and were often neglected. see if you can lift the blade up and down. If there’s any play in that direction then the bearings are shot. 
 

 The back and forth movement can be adjusted by adding fiber washers to front and rear of rotor, being careful to keep the rotor centered in the stator laminate stack.  

Edited by Lane Shirey
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Thanks Lane, I'll check that out when I get home this evening. I have fiber washers that should fit on the shaft with no issues.....I can't put one on the oscillating side as there is no way to get one on there. I'll turn the motor upside down and see what happens. There is some slop when I slide the rotor into the core, but there has to be a little bit, right? In order for it to spin?

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Yes there will be a gap between the rotor and stator core, but once the motor is assembled there should be no vertical movement between the bearings and rotor shaft. 
 

Post a pic of the rotor end with the gear. Usually the oscillator drive gear is the same diameter as the shaft to allow washers to slide over it. . 

Edited by Lane Shirey
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