80s Casanlanca fan, is it trash?

[Chris Jacobsen]

Got one of these free the other day.  I was plannning on harvesting parts but it is complete and working.  Anyone think it has any value other than Asian crap?  

[Chris Jacobsen]

On inspection, the huge body is just a facade for the tiny motor inside.  It is an intellitouch model with an Emerson motor, blades are actual plywood.  Personally I hate fans like this but luckily the blade adapters fit my Emerson.  It is complete with the accessory light fixture and all the globes which I can also use.  Just checking before I rip it to pieces...

[Andrew Block]

Those are worth a few bucks. I think its the Columbia II model. It's Tom Framptons version of the CF-28. Emerson K55 motors are pretty good. I had a lady who used to collect Casablancas for her huge old house. Not because she's a fan person, she just liked those particular fans and wanted froofy stuff.

Honestly, you'd do better selling it on Ebay as it is. There's a whole genre of collectors who go nuts for stuff like that.

[Chris Jacobsen]

1 hour ago, Andrew Block said:

Those are worth a few bucks. I think its the Columbia II model. It's Tom Framptons version of the CF-28. Emerson K55 motors are pretty good. I had a lady who used to collect Casablancas for her huge old house. Not because she's a fan person, she just liked those particular fans and wanted froofy stuff.

Honestly, you'd do better selling it on Ebay as it is. There's a whole genre of collectors who go nuts for stuff like that.

Thanks Andrew, yes I checked the tag, you're spot on with the Colombia II.  Whenever I open the box to inspect the motor I cringe on sight and feel of the cheapness.  I guess I can try ebay, use the proceeds to buy a couple sets of blades and adapters for the two Emersons...  

Turns out the intellitouch needs a special remote to use all the functions on this.  Is that something that can be bypassed?  Or does it actually need that module?

[Christian Kasprzyk]

Those are indeed very valuable fans to the right person. The Colombia ii does not show up often. There are quite a few collectors who want these and would buy them. You may not believe it but the whole thing is cast. Just not cast iron like the older fans. The earlier models used a much larger motor than the K55 in yours. From the inception of Casablanca till about 1981 they used K63 motors. But those were very flawed, the bearings are almost always toast due to the lack of ventilation and the heat from the motor. I have compared one of these side by side to the genuine CF-28. These are pretty solid fans as far as vintage era fans go. Some of the best you could get at the time. The Colombia was introduced around 1975-76 and then it was the first model which they only made 500 of, those were K63 or belt drive. Then around 77-78 the Colombia ii was introduced. Yours is from 1984 if it is Inteli Touch. That was the last year they made them. These fans were too gaudy for most people so they didnt sell as well as the Victorian(Fernleaf repro) or Zephyr(GE repro). The IT control can be bypassed but it takes some effort. Without the control it is gonna be a 150$+ effort to get it running properly again. You need the actual IT switch which is very hard to find for a reasonable price. If you don’t want it there is definitely someone who does. I have one of them myself that I found for free awhile ago. I always liked these. If you post it on eBay someone will likely buy it, even without the switch. But it may be hard to get decent cash for it being untested. These fans use both a wall control and a circuit board, both are VERY fragile. The slightest surge can render them toast. LEDs can fry them and sometimes they just fail. Definitely a flawed system. I have like 15 of them and none of them ever have been hooked up to power for more than an hour. I have ZERO trust in them. There is a chance that the board on the fan is also dead. Which would really cut down on value. Many collectors would have a good control on hand but not a good board. But due to this model being not very common, there will still be an interest and someone willing to buy it. Some people are willing to pour a lot into these to get them functioning.

[Chris Jacobsen]

On 8/24/2023 at 7:45 PM, Christian Kasprzyk said:

Those are indeed very valuable fans to the right person. The Colombia ii does not show up often. There are quite a few collectors who want these and would buy them. You may not believe it but the whole thing is cast. Just not cast iron like the older fans. The earlier models used a much larger motor than the K55 in yours. From the inception of Casablanca till about 1981 they used K63 motors. But those were very flawed, the bearings are almost always toast due to the lack of ventilation and the heat from the motor. I have compared one of these side by side to the genuine CF-28. These are pretty solid fans as far as vintage era fans go. Some of the best you could get at the time. The Colombia was introduced around 1975-76 and then it was the first model which they only made 500 of, those were K63 or belt drive. Then around 77-78 the Colombia ii was introduced. Yours is from 1984 if it is Inteli Touch. That was the last year they made them. These fans were too gaudy for most people so they didnt sell as well as the Victorian(Fernleaf repro) or Zephyr(GE repro). The IT control can be bypassed but it takes some effort. Without the control it is gonna be a 150$+ effort to get it running properly again. You need the actual IT switch which is very hard to find for a reasonable price. If you don’t want it there is definitely someone who does. I have one of them myself that I found for free awhile ago. I always liked these. If you post it on eBay someone will likely buy it, even without the switch. But it may be hard to get decent cash for it being untested. These fans use both a wall control and a circuit board, both are VERY fragile. The slightest surge can render them toast. LEDs can fry them and sometimes they just fail. Definitely a flawed system. I have like 15 of them and none of them ever have been hooked up to power for more than an hour. I have ZERO trust in them. There is a chance that the board on the fan is also dead. Which would really cut down on value. Many collectors would have a good control on hand but not a good board. But due to this model being not very common, there will still be an interest and someone willing to buy it. Some people are willing to pour a lot into these to get them functioning.

Thank you for the information Christian, I appreciate the history rundown, I honestly heard so many great things about Casablanca but so far everything I have seen is some boring modern motor in a less than impressive housing.  I felt over the Colombia 2 and was fairly certain there was a weld or fold seam on the body, if thats he case then it would have been a stamped strip rolled into a body.  The face might be some thin casting, hard to say, I was pondering using it on something.  

For the IT, I heard there was someone who make a drop-in replacement remote and IT board.  Not sure the cost but sounded like a reasonable item.  

I still wont jump for a fan like this, sorta the same as I love tube radios but don't go for transistor.  However if it can be loved by someone and I can buy a few sets of blade arms for true antique fans I guess I can give it up to the fleabay.  Will probably clean off the crud and see what I can do to verify operation.  

Do you think this is more desireable as pure stock or as modified to work more like a modern Hunter with wireless remote?

[Christian Kasprzyk]

I do understand what you mean. While I do love this model it always was the most gaudy out of the replicas. The others like the Victorian(Emerson Fernleaf), Broadway/Commodore(Dayton Oakleaf), New Orleans(antique belt drive fans), Century 9000(old Century models) were much nicer and beefier. All the fans were handmade. Parts could be stamped but the majority of parts were die-cast zinc. The K55 was essentially the best motor that was available after 1981-82 and that has now also been discontinued a few years ago. It seems the ceiling fan industry will get worse if Biden imposes on them like he plans. For context, the industry is already moving to DC as best as they can and there are already guesses that we will be almost all DC in 10 years. But the Biden Administration has decided to suggest some new requirements even though current fans are already efficient enough.
 

There is someone who makes a remote conversion kit, I know them very well! I visit them about once a month. I have seen them many times in use and seen some of the process. The FanMan conversion was one I hinted at in the last post. It is 150$ so definitely not cheap.

I can almost guarantee everything except the IT is okay on this fan. There is no real good way to tell without having a control. You could take the housing apart and check the circuit board and make sure nothing is fried. The board is more loose in there than other later fans so be careful. You will get a sale.

The modification can be removed at any time and converted back to IT. But I would say to save your money, and just clean the fan as best as you can and go ahead and sell it. It isn't really worth the investment if you are just going to sell it.

I do know someone who may want another of these, he has like 10-15 right now. If you want to skip the eBay hassle. He would most likely take it without control. He would be able to test it or hotwire it or whatever is necessary. If you want, I can reach out to him. Not sure on how much he would offer or how much you want. I know you got it free.