Patton U2-1887 18" High Velocity Fan with Cheap, Dangerous, Failing Stamped Blade скачать в хорошем качестве

Patton U2-1887 18" High Velocity Fan with Cheap, Dangerous, Failing Stamped Blade

This is a Patton 18" High Velocity Air Circulator Fan model U2-1887, historically an excellent, high power, good quality unit. After the Holmes buyout of Patton I believe sometime in the late 90s, the quality of these fans was dropped to a dangerously low level. Cheaper motors were fitted into these fans and paired with the worst part -- a stamped blade. This stamped blade is more or less a cutout of rather thin sheet metal bent into the shape of a blade. This is a satisfactory design for small, relatively low power blades, but certainly not for something of this form factor. The high speed and velocity of the blades causes extreme stress on the center of the blade, which is comprised of nothing more than thin, poor quality sheet metal. Over time, these blades experience 2 different failures. One being cracks forming in between the 3 blades surrounding the area where the blade attaches to the shaft. When these cracks get large enough, the blade will catastrophically fail and fly apart during operation. The second failure, which appears to have already happened with this unit and was repaired at some point, is the portion where the blade attaches to the mechanism that holds it to the shaft will let go, allowing the blade to go free during operation and slam into the back of the fan, potentially damaging electrical components. As seen on this fan, it appears that the blade hit the switch box and shattered it. I have personally seen these blades fail in these ways in multiple instances. There are no known reports of the blades catastrophically failing and causing bodily harm, however I do believe these stamped blades are extremely dangerous and should have been recalled for reasons of safety. The better quality blades made by Patton before Holmes took over utilized a steel hub in the center with blades riveted on to this hub. This design was strong and reliable with no failures that I'm aware of. All the units made in the early 90s and older were made this way and are completely safe to use. This particular fan is in rather rough shape, but with a replacement, properly-made blade, it's a perfectly good fan. It's going to take quite a bit of effort to restore the cosmetics of this unit, but we'll get it working and looking quite nice eventually. In place of the dangerous blade, I have fitted a Dayton 2C361 18" fan blade which I bought for this purpose. I compared the power consumption of the motor with the old blade and the replacement one. The power draw was the same, indicating this blade is a good fit for the motor and provides similar load.