Barn fresh ,untouched ,crusty ,rusty.

[Paul Carmody]

Thought some would like to see one that is just how it sat for probably decades.The cord has not even been unwound.

If my memory is correct it’s 1924.

[Paul Carmody]

The oil cup is clean and dry as a bone 🦴 The bearings seem to have no slack ,and the blade is fairly free.

A

Edited June 12, 2024 by Paul Carmody

[Paul Carmody]

The cord is interesting.Looks like a dried out snake.Is this original??Probably not?

[Paul Carmody]

If this model has a speed coil there is probably no hope.It looks like it set on the ground with moisture.I know some of these didn’t have a speed coil.I don’t know what years or much about them.Any insight is welcome!

Im going to soak it in oil for a time before I try to dismantle .

Edited June 12, 2024 by Paul Carmody

[James Lawson]

Form AD is 1924. There should be a speed coil in the base. The ones without a speed coil had four conductor wires going to the motor. The coil should be mounted on a ceramic base so it might be ok. You never know until you get in there.

Hard to say how long it's been sitting. In a leaky barn, it doesn't take long for the rust to set in, though I'd say it's a safe bet that it's probably been sitting 40-50 years at least. The cage looks like it took a fall at some point.

As rusty as that base is, you may have to use heat to get it apart.

[James Lawson]

Forgot to mention, the cord looks like a generic appliance cord from the '40s or '50s.

[Doug Wendel]

I've had a lot worse than that one that restored to perfect like-new condition.  Looks like a good project, and probably just needs a new base plate.

[Michael Rathberger]

Lots of nice brass on that. The screws look to be the originals too. Cord, as James said, doubtful, probably a toaster or other heating appliance cord.  I would carefully throw that away, not sure what the insulation is...

[Paul Carmody]

Thanks for the replies and suggestions!I didn’t think about that cord insulation Michael.Good advice! Outside with a mask.

I’m probably not going to restore it right now.First I will check out the speed coil ,and numbers to the head.Im very curious if it runs.

I will show what’s in the base once I open it up.I started out dripping Kroil on the hardware.Now I will start treating all the hardware ,bearings with liquid wrench,Seafoam.I use something on it when I walk by for days.All incomings  fans get this treatment.

Edited June 12, 2024 by Paul Carmody

[Anthony Lindsey]

I had one of those.   It was really nasty 

[Anthony Lindsey]

Cleaned up nice

[James Lawson]

A lot of the GE fans of the AOU/AUU era were ridden hard and put away wet. Most of them had very long (think 50, 60, or more years) service lives and most saw minimal maintenance along the way. With all that use and abuse, I still haven't seen one yet that didn't come to life with a good cleaning and lubrication. It may need some additional attention, but it lets you know fast it isn't dead yet!

I'd say these fans are my favorite workhorses.

[Paul Carmody]

That shows there is hope Anthony.That fan looked like there was no hope.Its a beauty now!

[Anthony Lindsey]

They were so well built.   As long as it isn't electrically burned up, once you pull em apart,   clean everything and put it back together they run every time. (Well, almost).

[Russ Huber]

1 hour ago, Anthony Lindsey said:

They were so well built.

The GE brass bell oscillator and the GE category 34017 represent same time period GE oscillating and stationary models. They are like the Emerson 29646 type model. GE and Emerson made thousands of them over a stretch of time as they were well constructed and once you have restored one, they are for most part a cake walk to restore. 

The GE category 34017 has heavy duty castings(1/4" thick) and shaded pole motor. Great fan to start with as a novice restorer.  I used to have a number of them in storage years back as they used to be a fairly common find. I would buy them if I came across them as they were well made fans, and for most part priced reasonable. Many of them would have steel blades, but I would get lucky here and there and pick up some with brass blades.

[Paul Carmody]

So when did the 4 wire fans show up?

I tried the bottom screws ,their bonded to the base.I scratched and scraped rust off and around.Rust Kutter,heat .I don’t want to strip the heads ,so now  I have the fan upside down soaking the screws with liquid wrench.

 

Edited June 13, 2024 by Paul Carmody

[James Lawson]

There might be others out there, but personally the only coil-less four wire models I've run into were form V, which was used from 1919-1920. I've seen them with both the star-shaped oscillator knob (1919) and round knob (1920). There may have been some before and after that.

[Paul Carmody]

II pulled the cage off the blade ,and the blade was pretty hard to turn.I could only move it a small amount before and seemed free in one spot.Removed oil cups and blasted out the bearings with penetrating oil,swabbed them out,turned the fan upside down put oil while spinning blade.Spins nice now.

How much better it looks without the cord and oil soaking in.I haven’t wiped it off at all.I will spray penetrant all over it eventually and let it sit, I haven’t tried the bottom screws today.

[Paul Carmody]

So I played around with the bottom plate screws and theres no way the screwdriver slots can hold up to the force needed to break them loose.Their fused to the plate.I decided to just drill the heads off.There should be enough stud to work with.I can get penetrant to the threads now.Hopefully I can get them out.If not Just retap.Its quicker than fighting it.I haven’t dusted it out yet but the inside looks pretty clean so to speak.I’ve had worse.The coil itself is nice.Looking anyway.

The plate is solid.Thats just rust chunks that fell on it.No rust through.

I’m knee deep in the Beast to Beauty project now.This is just a side deal when waiting for stuff to dry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 14, 2024 by Paul Carmody

[James Lawson]

It's already looking a lot better. Since the base was just surface rust, hopefully everything inside is still ok. I'm cautiously optimistic about the speed coil. The way GE made them, they sit up a little bit and would have been out of the water if the fan had been sitting on a damp floor. 

I figured those screws on the base plate were toast. If there's enough left to grab with a pair of vise grips, heat each remaining stud with a heat gun, then apply penetrating oil liberally so as it cools, the penetrating oil will get sucked down into the threads. Use vise grips or channel locks and slowly try to back them out. They may have to be drilled out all the way and the holes re-tapped as you mentioned.

[Paul Carmody]

Well two of the screws ,threads came out going through the procedure James described pretty easily.One snapped off.Too hasty.I have the hole tapped now.I got the speed coil out.Those screws fought but finally gave in.I wiped off the coil it looks solid.It has a hard coating on it.I don’t think water got in the coil itself? Nothing looks burned. -Think it will work?

The head wire has 4 wires,two appear two have been cut off.This has come up before and I think this is common?

I was hoping to be able to do a resistance test and quick wire and see,But it’s a complete tear down of the speed coil and switch.Rust and compromised wires.So it may have to wait a bit.

Again thanks for all replies and suggestions.

[James Gaspard]

My god, the paint cleaned up PERFECT!

[Paul Carmody]

Check this out!

It was sitting on the bench I noticed the rear cap was smashed so I worked it back in place.I had to sand out some spots ,the cap shined like new in the end.When I put it on it looked so good I had to clean  up around it ,one thing led to another ,and this is what’s under the rust.It is rust.I used acetone thinking it may be some oil.Its not.Its rust that has bleed though.I wet sanded carefully with fine paper then buffed.I couldn’t believe it !

All I have done is what you see.

[Anthony Lindsey]

Looks good.

[James Lawson]

Congratulations! There was a nice fan hiding under all of that!