GE Vortalex Circa 46-48 short video added.

[Paul Carmody]

Well I said before that I was going only to brass blades and all else will be gifted out.

Here’s what happened.I’m at Stan’s Houston meet and I sit down near Rick Huckabee and It looks like a chess match.Rick is starring at what is said are two rare 8” fans.The other player ,I can’t remember his name was starring at Rick.It was clearly Ricks move.It turns out that both fans had burned out stators ,one being a parts fan.Rick doesn’t like to wind small motors.I said jokingly,$1.00 per wind.Rick says there’s 400 winds.I say well that’s a lot! Yeah! 400 per coil x 4 in a tiny case.Yikes!! 

Anyway ,during this exchange a nice lady walks up and says ,I’m selling this fan for him.I’m not sure who him was but the fan was in great condition and cheap.With out thinking I said I’ll buy it.After she walked away ,Rick said does it run?Huh? I hope! It did very well ,just out of balance.I went to put it away ,Rick was still starring at the fans ,player two starring at Rick.I wish I knew how it turned out?Player two if you see this finish the story please!

So here’s what has been done.It was clean as I said except Oil stains on the front around oiler ,all around oscillator and housing.I tried about everything ever suggested here to get it off.It was on there like it was embedded in the paint.It came down to Acetone ,elbow grease and at least an hour of hard scrubbing then compound.

 

 

Edited November 22, 2023 by Paul Carmody

[Paul Carmody]

The only thing not original is the blade paint ,and I closely matched the paint on the oscillator housing only ,as it was thin on paint and scratched up.The power cord is original and perfect.The head wire was oil stained and faded.It was cleaned ,dyed brown and poly coated to stabilize.The outer cloth was fragile ,yet the inner wires were hard and stable, like new.

😔 Sadly someone along the way painted the blades bronze.I will not be able to save the paint on the blade as it has sanding scratches.

 

Edited November 21, 2023 by Paul Carmody

[Paul Carmody]

I broke it down ,the inside only needed a little dust wiped off.This is before cleaning the stator.I cleaned up the rotor.,cut the head wire at the head to run heat shrink tube into the case as the wire was nice and no need to pull stator.The cloth was fraying at the head ,there was extra wire in the bell at speed coil so I was able to shorten and solder.I cleaned out the grease and replaced with Red andTacky.

Edited November 22, 2023 by Paul Carmody

[Paul Carmody]

Nothing to do here.Just wipe out light dust.If you notice the original bronze paint inside.The fan has completely faded to a beautiful gunmetal grey.It must have been by a window.

[Paul Carmody]

 

I have another Vortalex I believe is earlier 46,47 ? It has some differences.A brass switch ,a black cage left,and the base was held on with split brads instead of screws.I think this fan is probably 1948 ? Feel free to chime in if I’m off base.

[Paul Carmody]

This was posted on old forum by Steve Stephens.I don’t see the first tag on the list.Any ideas?

1946 – 1948:

Early postwar Vortalex desk and pedestal models appear to have been painted in the brownish-bronze color only (with blades being tan). Both Vortalex and Standard models were carried over, with Cat. #’s changing slightly. During 1947, the Vortalex models acquired a wing nut to adjust angle. Grease cup was deleted from the gear box, although this may have been the case on the 1942 through 1945 production models. The 24” pedestal of this time period was a 3-speed fan with a choke coil, motor cover, and switch on the motor cover. Circa 1948, the Standard 16” acquired a red badge. At least some 10” Standards were finished in brown, and had tan blades.

16” Standard desk model – Cat. # FE16S2
12” Standard desk model – Cat. # FE12S2, FM12S2, FM12S21
10” Standard desk model – Cat. # FM10S41, FM10S41B
10” Standard fixed desk model – Cat. # ??
8” Standard fixed desk model – Cat. # FM8S31

24” Vortalex pedestal model – Cat. # FM24M1
16” Vortalex desk model – Cat. # FM16V1
16” Vortalex pedestal model – Cat. # FM16M1
12” Vortalex desk model – Cat. # FM12V1
12” Vortalex pedestal model – Cat. # FM12M11 
10” Vortalex desk model – Cat. # FM10V1
9” Vortalex desk model – Cat. # FM9V1 (no data on existence of fixed model)

    
    
 

Edited November 21, 2023 by Paul Carmody

[Paul Carmody]

So I used the blade I have ready for the other Vortalex blowed out on my desk that’s going to be a full custom because it was a rusty mess,until I sort out it’s blade.Darker paint,match and balance.

And here’s one teaser until I can get better light tomorrow for a full set of pics.It’s been buffed,waxed,all hardware polished and clear coated.The screws are thin brass plate.So if you do one of these go easy or the brass plate will scrub off.

Thanks for looking.More to come.

Edited November 30, 2023 by Paul Carmody

[Paul Carmody]

Replaced wick ,new grey felt on base to match paint.So here it is ready for its new home.

Edited November 21, 2023 by Paul Carmody

[Paul Carmody]

Thanks for looking!

 

Edited November 21, 2023 by Paul Carmody

[Jim Henderson]

Fan looks great Paul. Super job. Nice Tillandsia in the background also.

[Stan Adams]

Looks great Paul!!!

That fan sat in my fan room for several years. I got it from a fellow collector a while back since it was so clean. Decided to let go of it since I have no shortage of Vortys. That was my next door neighbor Julie peddling my fans. It looks fantastic now, wonderful work!!!

[Paul Carmody]

That mystery solved .That was more than a fair price for such a nice fan!It runs like new too.Thanks Stan!

Edited November 22, 2023 by Paul Carmody

[Paul Carmody]

4 hours ago, Jim Henderson said:

Fan looks great Paul. Super job. Nice Tillandsia in the background also.

Thanks Jim.I’ve had it a few years now.

Edited November 22, 2023 by Paul Carmody

[Russ Huber]

Those are nice little fans. When their blades are in balance they run very smooth.  I used to snatch them up years ago. They all went bye bye. 🙂

[Paul Carmody]

20 hours ago, Russ Huber said:

Those are nice little fans. When their blades are in balance they run very smooth.  I used to snatch them up years ago. They all went bye bye. 🙂

Try to keep the videos short so the file will load.

I thought these would be hot runners.The other one if I remember correctly ran pretty warm in its raw form.It may get cooler after a restore.It had a lot of gunk and rust.I have been running this one on low a couple of hours now.I grabbed it thinking it would be pretty warm.Went and got the thermometer and it’s only at 102 F

My big sister was born in 1948 and likes Art Deco design so I have committed it.This is a hard one to let go.At least it’s in the family,so once a year I can clean and service it.

Edited November 22, 2023 by Paul Carmody

[Paul Carmody]

[Paul Carmody]

I wanted to add another change on this later fan.The early fan had the brass hub and spider which I decided to leave on this fan, but to my disappointment ,this one is all aluminum and noticeably lighter.Not the lighter part.I was really going to bling the one in progress ,so now I have to change my plan. I ran the restored one for several days and nights.At first it had a noticeable machine hum.It was not unpleasant.I thought it was normal given what some say about the GE whine.It’s now very faint ,ear real close .Also the temp in low dropped under 100 F.These are really nice runners.Not as quiet as a Westinghouse of course .😁I had to throw that in.

It is now at its new home.Man that was a hard one to turn lose.☹️But the smile on sisters face was worth it.

Edited November 30, 2023 by Paul Carmody