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Post by Cole D on May 29, 2020 23:44:38 GMT -5
I know they handle Hunter's returns and refurbs. Most of the ones on eBay seem to be through them. They had the Casablanca Panama XLPs in bronze on eBay but they disappeared recently and says sold out. I did some searching and was able to find them for sale on another site from CoreCentric. Most of the reviews I read seemed to indicate they're good about sending you a new fan if you get one with problems. But I think these are the only XLP motor Panamas they have available. I'm thinking about ordering one but I don't know if it's good or not. It says they still have them, I was able to put one in the cart and all, same price as on eBay and free shipping. But on eBay it says they are sold out, so I'm a little confused.
I might just order with my credit card and cancel the order if it doesn't work. I like the finish and the light kit they have. Which the light kit alone is $100 on Home Depot.com
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Post by Parkman on May 30, 2020 10:34:03 GMT -5
I know they handle Hunter's returns and refurbs. Most of the ones on eBay seem to be through them. They had the Casablanca Panama XLPs in bronze on eBay but they disappeared recently and says sold out. I did some searching and was able to find them for sale on another site from CoreCentric. Most of the reviews I read seemed to indicate they're good about sending you a new fan if you get one with problems. But I think these are the only XLP motor Panamas they have available. I'm thinking about ordering one but I don't know if it's good or not. It says they still have them, I was able to put one in the cart and all, same price as on eBay and free shipping. But on eBay it says they are sold out, so I'm a little confused. I might just order with my credit card and cancel the order if it doesn't work. I like the finish and the light kit they have. Which the light kit alone is $100 on Home Depot.com I am very pleased with Core Centric. The reality of it is new Hunters and Casablancas are complete crap. However if you can get the XLP model go for it. They are excellent I’ve heard of them forgetting a screw or something they’ll send you a brand new fan. I had one where a shade was cracked and they sent me a brand new fan. Capacitor was bad new fan and dispose of the old one. They used to have like six years ago what seemed to be the remains of Hunters old stock but since then has just become returns and what not. Honestly I’ve been pleased with them and they’ve always provided excellent customer service. In the case of New K55 fans do it while you can. |
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Post by Cole D on May 30, 2020 12:26:38 GMT -5
That seems to be what I was reading in reviews too. I'm thinking of ordering it just not sure on the maiden bronze finish. I looked at the light kit on Home Depot's site and up close it looks like almost a rusty bumpy finish, so I don't know if I would like it. I was thinking it was more just a regular brownish color.
I prefer the older Panama II fans as far as the switch housing shape and that's another thing I kind of don't like about the Panama XLP is they don't have a way to use pull chains without modding it unlike Hampton Bay, etc. Although my brushed nickel XLP still seems really good quality.
It's too bad the newer direct drive ones have issues. I do wonder if the DC ones might be better as that may be more their flagship model now.
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Post by Parkman on May 30, 2020 13:33:27 GMT -5
That seems to be what I was reading in reviews too. I'm thinking of ordering it just not sure on the maiden bronze finish. I looked at the light kit on Home Depot's site and up close it looks like almost a rusty bumpy finish, so I don't know if I would like it. I was thinking it was more just a regular brownish color. I prefer the older Panama II fans as far as the switch housing shape and that's another thing I kind of don't like about the Panama XLP is they don't have a way to use pull chains without modding it unlike Hampton Bay, etc. Although my brushed nickel XLP still seems really good quality. It's too bad the newer direct drive ones have issues. I do wonder if the DC ones might be better as that may be more their flagship model now. I think the DC ones are better quality it’s just a lot of problems more or less with the remotes whether they be user error or actual defects. |
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Post by Noah C on May 30, 2020 15:18:18 GMT -5
I know they handle Hunter's returns and refurbs. Most of the ones on eBay seem to be through them. They had the Casablanca Panama XLPs in bronze on eBay but they disappeared recently and says sold out. I did some searching and was able to find them for sale on another site from CoreCentric. Most of the reviews I read seemed to indicate they're good about sending you a new fan if you get one with problems. But I think these are the only XLP motor Panamas they have available. I'm thinking about ordering one but I don't know if it's good or not. It says they still have them, I was able to put one in the cart and all, same price as on eBay and free shipping. But on eBay it says they are sold out, so I'm a little confused. I might just order with my credit card and cancel the order if it doesn't work. I like the finish and the light kit they have. Which the light kit alone is $100 on Home Depot.com I am very pleased with Core Centric. The reality of it is new Hunters and Casablancas are complete crap. However if you can get the XLP model go for it. They are excellent I’ve heard of them forgetting a screw or something they’ll send you a brand new fan. I had one where a shade was cracked and they sent me a brand new fan. Capacitor was bad new fan and dispose of the old one. They used to have like six years ago what seemed to be the remains of Hunters old stock but since then has just become returns and what not. Honestly I’ve been pleased with them and they’ve always provided excellent customer service. In the case of New K55 fans do it while you can. You'll probably see my post in the other thread. Don't know if I'd call all Hunter/Casa products garbage, but I will say that bearing issues shouldn't be happening on a $400 fan and it's pretty embarrassing to have that happen when other customers seem to be having less of these issues on Hunter's lineup of fans with these motors that cost substantially less than the Casablancas. Like I said, the only way this all makes sense in my mind is if Hunter is using some of these "tired" Casablanca designs to throw their scrap motors into and try to sell off of the Casablanca name. I mean, look at how broken the Casablanca website is compared to the main Hunter page; when you try to view the whole collection of fans from the Casa page it takes you to all the new Hunter fans. Also strange enough when I look at Hunter's lineup of 172×20/188×20 direct drive fans, like the Cedar Key, Mill Valley, Beck, Loki, Pendleton, Bennett, etc., I'm seeing overwhelmingly positive reception. In contrast to that, the first reviews I saw of a certain Casablanca (Caneel Bay) complained of noise from the fan, and the first Concentra review I saw showed a fan with its bottom bearing hanging out of the motor. I don't know what else to make of all this other than it seems like Hunter is letting their Casablanca line die out. Also seems like the Hunter line is where all of their QC effort is going. Sad times for what used to be the name synonymous with quality. That seems to be what I was reading in reviews too. I'm thinking of ordering it just not sure on the maiden bronze finish. I looked at the light kit on Home Depot's site and up close it looks like almost a rusty bumpy finish, so I don't know if I would like it. I was thinking it was more just a regular brownish color. I prefer the older Panama II fans as far as the switch housing shape and that's another thing I kind of don't like about the Panama XLP is they don't have a way to use pull chains without modding it unlike Hampton Bay, etc. Although my brushed nickel XLP still seems really good quality. It's too bad the newer direct drive ones have issues. I do wonder if the DC ones might be better as that may be more their flagship model now. Older Panama IIs have nicer switch housing design IMO than the newer XLPs but the newer ones have a far better mounting system than Hang-Tru. You can't use accessory remotes with Hang-Tru Panamas unless you mod the fan to adapt a receiver on the side of the motor. It would be cool if the XLP model would have come pull chain/reverse switch, or at least with a regular reverse switch on the remote fans instead of the reverse module. Build/materials quality is still great with the Casablanca lineup, but QC seems to not exist with them anymore. DC Panamas suck. They perform well and are quiet when they work. But, they use the older generic DC motors that have constant problems with the hall sensors in the control board.....which CAN'T BE REPLACED. The newer sensorless DC fans Hunter and other brands sell are far less problematic. Take a look at my reply to Parkman's post (above this). |
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Post by Cole D on May 30, 2020 22:56:20 GMT -5
I do rather like the looks of the Mill Valley, good to hear they've been good.
It makes you wonder what Hunter plans to do with Casa. I read an old thread on here from 2004 and people were upset with what was happening back then with Casa even then, and how the XTR motors were coming on more new Casas than with XLP, and everyone basically predicted the end of the XLP motor fans about 10 years before it happened.
Too bad on the DC motors, I do know that the Emerson DC motors tend to be better. I personally think Hunter should go with flywheel DC motors like Emerson has on a few fans but it won't happen unless they drastically change the models. A lot of those fans on eBay don't even have a model name listed even. In fact these XLP Panamas are not really even listed under that name. Although to me there's nothing about these that seems to be a frankenfan. I'm even seeing Casablanca fans listed as Hunters.
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Post by Noah C on May 31, 2020 6:31:29 GMT -5
I do rather like the looks of the Mill Valley, good to hear they've been good. It makes you wonder what Hunter plans to do with Casa. I read an old thread on here from 2004 and people were upset with what was happening back then with Casa even then, and how the XTR motors were coming on more new Casas than with XLP, and everyone basically predicted the end of the XLP motor fans about 10 years before it happened. Too bad on the DC motors, I do know that the Emerson DC motors tend to be better. I personally think Hunter should go with flywheel DC motors like Emerson has on a few fans but it won't happen unless they drastically change the models. A lot of those fans on eBay don't even have a model name listed even. In fact these XLP Panamas are not really even listed under that name. Although to me there's nothing about these that seems to be a frankenfan. I'm even seeing Casablanca fans listed as Hunters. I really like the Mill Valley. I personally prefer the designs of the Kennicott, Cedar Key, and Beck, but the Mill Valley captures the modern farmhouse aesthetic perfectly. At this point, I'm almost totally sure Hunter is closing the curtain on Casablanca. Their lineup is currently stale in a way similar to Regency two years ago, right before Hinkley bought them out and revamped the fans. No new releases this year, no advertisement of the Casablanca lineup of fans, no effort put into quality control of them, no concern in designing a cohesive webpage for the lineup, etc. Meanwhile, the Hunter brand has interest around it with new and exciting releases, fantastic marketing campaigns (Connected, SureSpeed guarantee, etc), very good quality control compared to 3 or 4 years ago, and an emerging high end DC motor portfolio of fans that is aiming to take on Fanimation and Modern Forms, the industry's current DC motor fan kingpins... in other words, the ball is quickly rolling for Hunter to use this move upmarket to replace the Casablanca line of fans, which are aesthetically and functionally a generation behind the competition. While the move to XTR motors was unsuccessful for Casablanca due to the excessive noise the motors produced, the XTR motor was in many ways superior to the XLP. There were two sizes: 200×20mm and 200×30mm. Even the 200×20mm XTR used in the Panama XTR and Panama Halo was far more powerful than the XLP regular Panamas used, while drawing about 80% of the current. Secondly and most painful for collectors to hear is that the XTR is capable of greater longevity than the XLP, because it's skeletal...which means less heat buildup in the motor and longer bearing/winding life. Quite a few collectors would rip my head off over this, as skeletal motors get the bad rep of ordinary spinner motors because the rotor is outside the stator. Most of us know how to take apart and fix a stack motor but not as many know how to deal with spinner or skeletal motors, so we denounce them regardless of how great they are. They knew XLP motors wouldn't be around much longer because Casablanca wouldn't be experimenting with other types of motors otherwise. Even though there are better motor types that will take precedence in the market, and there are certainly many superior motors to the acclaimed K55 both AC and DC, it's a tough pill for us to swallow because we're not used to certain newer technologies yet, we haven't figured out how to repair the new stuff, and we've gotta watch an era end before our eyes. From an enthusiast's standpoint it would be nice to see the adoption of flywheels on DC motor fans, but this isn't practical for them. DC motor fans already achieve levels of quietness that even AC stack motor fans can't touch, and this is because the extra energy an AC motor spends trying to create an electromagnet doesn't need to be spent on DC fans--the fan uses a permanent magnet on the rotor instead of tiny magnetic strips. Emerson's newest DC motor features a flywheel, which I appreciate and respect but realize there is no practical reason of having it. Emerson's always had their own proprietary hall sensor/control boards for their DC motor fans where Casablanca among others just used the generic ones. Older Emerson DC motor fans had their fair share of issues, but they had a good 2 year head start into that market so they had more time to work out the bugs than did whoever produces these generic DC parts (I believe Rhine). DC fans are quickly becoming sensorless and adopting replaceable canopy-receiver-style control boards rather than non-replaceable hall sensor boards right atop the motor. Most of the Hunters sold through CoreCentric are frankenfans it looks like. The Casablancas they sell are sold under the Hunter name because both go through the same manufacturing facilities and ultimately the same QC company. |
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Post by Cole D on May 31, 2020 12:53:35 GMT -5
I do wonder if Casablanca does go away, what about legendary fans like the Panama and Stealth? The Panama has been the high volume seller for lighting and fan stores. Then the Stealth being the first modern style fan and they have been trying to keep it up to date with new finishes and DC motor, etc. Could those two just disappear? I guess that's the way it's going. Stores aren't going to keep selling the Panama if it's junk, it hurts their reputation if people buy them and keep having issues. At this point they might as well offer fans like the Supra or Edgewood, etc, since they have better quality control from the sound of things.
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Post by Noah C on May 31, 2020 16:48:11 GMT -5
I do wonder if Casablanca does go away, what about legendary fans like the Panama and Stealth? The Panama has been the high volume seller for lighting and fan stores. Then the Stealth being the first modern style fan and they have been trying to keep it up to date with new finishes and DC motor, etc. Could those two just disappear? I guess that's the way it's going. Stores aren't going to keep selling the Panama if it's junk, it hurts their reputation if people buy them and keep having issues. At this point they might as well offer fans like the Supra or Edgewood, etc, since they have better quality control from the sound of things. I'd love to see the Panama and Stealth continue to be produced in some capacity. It is possible that Hunter decides it's feasible to adapt those fans into the main lineup, but the only way they would be relevant is if they were offered in modern/industrial finishes and converted into sensorless DC motor fans (the DC Stealth and Panama use old DC motors). The Panama has been a high volume selling product for showrooms, but as the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us, brick and mortar stores are heavily impacted when crises take place. Lack of showroom sales support is part of why Casablanca is struggling right now. But guess what's gonna happen after this pandemic is under control? Showrooms are gonna start pushing Modern Forms and Fanimation most heavily, because they are the Casablanca's of this era. They are at the forefront of ceiling fan design and technology like Casablanca once was. They call the shots now. The Casablanca brand is at the point where they are becoming unable to sell fans off of their reputation; the only fan that has had that type of success and likely the only fan that will is the Hunter Original. But then again, the Casablanca Panama was never designed to sell off of durability/reliability. It was designed to sell by pushing the industry forward with its computerized control system. Same with the Stealth, only difference was that it brought contemporary design to the table in a big way. But Casablanca lost their technological edge as soon as Emerson released their EcoMotor series of fans, and they lost their edge in design when Fanimation and Minka Aire pushed the large industrial fan trend forward. Don't get me wrong here: the Panama isn't junk. If you break the fan down component for component, it's actually a great fan. But ever since Casablanca started pushing this uni-packed Panama, there have been way more problems with these fans then there should be. And this trend is being seen across the Casablanca line of fans. Hunter probably understands everything I have unpacked in this post, so it seems they have decided to cut their losses and focus on overhauling their main line of fans. They're discontinuing many of the cookie cutter traditional fans they used to sell and filling their spots with modern, industrial, and farmhouse designs that cover all the bases of what consumers want right now. Showrooms aren't gonna be offering fans like the Supra or Edgewood, because as good of basic fans as those are, they have both been discontinued. They're still around because nobody's buying them. Emerson's Designer and Minka Aire's Ultra Max are on life support right now, and the Kichler Canfield won't be around much longer. Basic ceiling fan finishes are dead, and if a manufacturer wants to keep basic ceiling fan designs around, they've gotta blend in with the loft-industrial, weathered, and retro looks that are in right now and strip the fans of all their frills. Look at what Quorum did with their Breeze line of fans or what Craftmade did with their Pro line of fans--that's new age basic fan design. The only company with a performance model fan that gets close to this is Hinkley, with their Windward. |
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