The Fan Logo

I still want to replace the logo and the motor screws, not to mention the butchered junction box. Above you will see how I fixed the logo with Paint Shop Pro (a pain to use sometimes) But I am very proud of my fan.

I mounted the motor to bench test it and put new screws for the handle. Next comes the SOS pads to clean the bad paint job on the grille. It was all I could find at the Warner Robins Kroger. It's soap and steel wool. It's the same stuff used by the lady on the Fifties commercial at the behest of her Viking husband. Remember: "Hilda, listen to me. Listen to me Hilda". The lady then sings praises of the SOS in a baritone dubbed-in voice.

Corrections and Continuation of The Fan

I want to correct something about the fan; it has SEVEN blades, not five. There are also only TWO speeds for the motor.


That being said I did the electrical connections to the fan. I first wiped the polishing compound off with a Windex-soaked rag. I took the fan blade/hub and the handle and sprayed them with bathroom cleaner.

I removed the 18AWG lamp-style cord from the switch assembly's wires. I had to squeeze the crimp connectors and eventually twisted them off. Ah, American workmanship a la the Sixties! TV's, radios, and Hunter fans were built to last by someone in Kansas, California, New York, or Iowa. I soldered the double-insulated supply cord onto the bared wires, put wire nuts on for insulation, and applied electrical tape. I surrounded the motor wires going to the switch and the supply cord with 3/8" split loom plastic.


The fun part was fixing the box. I notched the box at three different places and the lid at two different places before I found a way to avoid yanking the wires. This was tedious. I found that the fastening nut for the switch needs to be brushed with a metal cleaner. It looks ugly. And I would love to get a thin fender washer to cut down on the switch nut's gnawing on the metal fan shell. I had to really tighten up on the two long screws holding the motor onto the shell. The thin wires weren't there anymore; the new wires were thicker.

I turned on the fan and touched the shell with my finger to see if it would electrocute me. This was a dumb idea but my finger would give less of a path to the current and I was on a wooden floor should there be stray volts. All was well. I still want to get longer screws for holding the fan motor to the shell.




Please note that I did not repaint the motor casing. That would have been too time consumptive given that the coil and shaft would have to be removed. Spraying paint with the motor in place would require an impossible feat of masking. At least I cleaned it with solvent.

I found a problem bigger than the grill issue. The Hunter grille logo, on a round badge with a simulated wood grain background, is wearing off. Other than taping over it with clear tape I can see no easy solution. I could mask over the Hunter lettering and paint the whole darned thing brown. When I sand down the grilles I will remove the badge and seek a solution. I could scan the badge and make a decal using my inkjet.

Restoring an old fan

Project: Restoring a box-type fan to near-original status
Asset: Hunter 20" box fan
Model: Unknown
Manufactured: 1968 (approximately)
Specifications: 20", 110v motor ungrounded, three-speed, four-position push-button toggle switch, single-piece plastic disk with five plastic blades, metal casing brown in color, chrome-steel protective grids front and rear of the box.
Status: Inactive for approximately six years.

I have been reading up on air-raid sirens and their restoration. I am tooting the horn about how Houston County is spending too much money on a system that can play chimes and pre-recorded messages. I would rather they use the motorized fan-type sirens which use a 220-volt motor to force air through a stator to make their feared whine.

That, and having cats enduring a warm porch, let me to fix the Hunter fan. The Hunter was my favorite fan when I was little. It stayed in my room when I was asleep and soothed me with its cold fingers and soft whirr. The fan had a white plastic handle, an 18-gauge cable, and a button to push for controlling its three speeds.

I wanted to yank it out of the shop where it lay dormant for years and cool the kitty cats under the screened porch.. Dad put it in a window of the shop for ventilation but he became too ill to stay out in the heat very long. I took down the fan and found it needed cleaning. It bore the remnants of mice, insects, and dust from various workshop projects.

So an intended cleaning led to a full disassembly. After taking the Hunter apart I decided to wait until I cleaned, painted and rewired the thing before hanging it in the cats' porch. As with the tractor and the riding lawn mower I didn't take pictures of the fan as it was prior to my efforts. Surely there are snapshots with it in the background but I can't find them as of yet. I did take a picture of it after I cleaned and partially sanded the top.



I did a coarse and fine sanding before priming the metal shell with a cheap red oxide primer. I had bought a can of Krylon medium-gray paint from Wal-Mart. I wasn't thrilled with the look of it even after two coats. I decided to go with the closest tint to the brown-gray the Hunter bore. Lowe's had Rust-O-Leum Anodized Bronze. It was a nearly perfect match.

For a really decent paint job I would say aerosol paint is a sham and a racket. Never do you get anything but specks and stripes. I was still relatively content. I gave the fan shell two coats of Anodized Bronze and a clear-coat of cheap Wal-Mart spray paint. Tonight I smoothed the coat with a rubdown of automotive polishing paste left over from years ago.

I took the Hunter's motor out and put in on a workbench. I used electrical contact cleaner to remove the crud and ensure adequate conductivity. The switch splices were in a plastic bag clipped on with a metal clip. Today fans have a plastic box for the wire junctions. I have a project box from Radio Shack for enclosing the wires. The lead from the switch to the outlet will get a new double-insulated 18AWG wire.

I will give the fan new grommets and fasten the motor to the shell using the original screws and faucet washers. The cord will be a snug fit against the frame and motor. I took the cord and bench-tested the cleaned and lubricated fan motor. It whirred right along. The blades were a pain to clean even with a Clorox solution and Purple Power cleaner. I am left with only bathtub cleaner to bare the gunk off the plastic tines. The Hunter gets the plastic handle back and with new screws.

Now if I can find out how to get the grilles restored. I have automotive chrome paint but it looked like I just painted over the rust. The grilles must be resanded and bared with steel wool.