An adorable vintage desk fan, that is.
The poor thing… I took in this Westinghouse Whirlwind and gave it a home even though it had a scuffed paint job, some rust and a broken strut on its grill. Other people said it wasn’t worth restoring. I knew though, that Westie was a fan that still wanted to work. And work it has. It has stood on my desk and protected me from the hot spells with honour and valour.
But last night– last night it gave a screech. A horrible screech and though it tried to keep turning, when we turned it off, it wouldn’t turn back on. Oh, we can feel the vibrations where Westie is valantly trying to turn its blades but to no avail. We gave it some time to cool off, hoping against hope but after spending some time with the fan, have determined that the motor probably needs to be rebuilt.
Now some people would tell me to throw Westie away and buy something new and swanky. Maybe even an air-conditioner.
But not me. I’m loyal. Yes, I am. So I’m trying to find someone in Chicagoland who does repairs on vintage fans.
It wouldn’t have to specifically be a fan repairperson, just a motor repairperson – a fan is just a set of blades attached to a motor, especially those older ones. An industrious electrician/maker might be able to dismantle Westie and replace the motor altogether.
Good thought.
Assuming that we’ve diagnosed it correctly. I’ve got a couple of leads that I’m going to try tomorrow. If none of them pan out, I’ll try motor repair as my next search on Angie’s List.