Hunter Model 22290 info

[Joseph OBrien]

Back in the mid-80's, my family bought and moved into my grandparent's house. I was young at the time, but for some reason, I was always very attached to the ceiling fan in my room.

Years later, I found out that my parents actually kept the fan when they moved out. I recently dug it out of their basement, and am anxious to install it. However, I thought I should get some information first.

Here's some identifying information: Model# 22290, Cat. No. 22290-004, Ser. K, 120 Volt, 69 Hz, 1.2 Amps, Hunter division of Robbins & Myers, Inc.

First, does anyone know approximately when this was made? I'm assuming it's from the early 70s.

Second, this thing comes with a huge mounting screw. I guess it's what you would call a "J-bolt." Am I supposed to screw this directly into a joist or what?

Third, there's a lot of dust on and in it. It should probably be cleaned. Is this something I could do myself, or should I have a pro check it out (and if so, where? The only Hunter dealer in my area is Lowes...).

Fourth, wiring: is black hot and white neutral? I assume the striped wire attached to a bolt on the bracket is ground.

Last, the blades are a little small for my liking. Each blade is about 17". Could I get away with replacing them with something a bit longer?

If anyone could help me out, I would appreciate it. I don't even know where to being looking for more information, especially locally. I guess I could ask around at small hardware stores or something, because the only Hunter "dealer" in our area is Lowes...

Thanks for reading!
joseph

[Andrew G.]

Picture?

[Joseph OBrien]

Sorry, I don't have one available. I was hoping the model number would be sufficient. I can upload a photo, but it won't be until next week since my wife is using the camera out of town.

[Ben C.]

You have an Original. I'm pretty sure it's from the 70's because that's when R&M was still making them.
J-hooks are meant to be screwed directly into a joist, but now code requires a fan to be hung from a metal fan-rated electrical box. Also, since j-hooks can screw in, they can screw out. That would be unsafe. You should buy a U-bolt, which doesn't screw in, but mounts to an electrical box. Also, the fan uses an oil-bath for the bearings, that means, that they are submerged in oil, which you need to buy, and change regularly (2 months interval, I think).

That's about all I know for this fan, I'm pretty sure someone else here knows more than me about this fan (no, I am sure), and can help you more.

[Andrew G.]

Your fan is a brass 36" R&M original, probably manufactured sometime between the 70s and the early 80s. Cleaning dust off the fan is something anyone can do. The dust in the motor isn't really going to affect performance. With the wiring, black is the hot wire going to the motor, white is neutral, and the black wire with a white stripe is the hot wire for the light kit. Green or bare wire is always a ground. NO, you cannot put larger blades on the motor. The motor is designed for a 36" blade span only and nothing larger. IF you do put larger blades on the motor, you risk overloading and eventually frying the motor.

[Deleted]

I dont know most Hunter model numbers, I am assuming like the others that it is an Original. For your description it could also be a Comfort Breeze.

The j-hook screws directly into a joist, drill a pilot hole first so it is secure.

Dust it off with a soft cloth, if you want you can use brass/metal cleaner on the metal parts and wood polish on the blades. It will require some oil in the motor, any 10wt non-detergent motor oil, or Hunter offers fan oil.

The black is hot, white is neutral, striped is hot for the light kit.

I wouldnt recommend installing any larger blades on it. If it is a 36" fan, you could possibly make it into a 42" fan, but that wont make much difference. 17" blades would mean it is already 42" if you're measuring the wood parts only.

[Joseph OBrien]

Thanks to everyone for your valuable input. I have a few more points and questions.

1) I bought a ceiling box kit with adjustable arms to go between joists. The box actually had a loop made specifically for Hunter fans, which took the place of the J-hook perfectly.

2) About those wires. I neglected to mention that this fan does not have a light kit attached. So, I'm a little confused.

There is one black/white wire coming out of the fan along with the hot and neutral wires. There is another black/white wire attached to the exterior of the fan with a screw. These two wires are twisted together. Something about that just doesn't seem right.

The one attached to the base *must* be a ground, right? It probably shouldn't be attached to the light kit wire. Maybe someone took a shortcut 30 years ago and decided to use an extra piece of black wire as the ground. Then, maybe when it got put into storage, someone mistakenly twisted them together.

That's my theory, at least. Any thoughts?

Thanks again for your help.
Joseph

[Deleted]

I have no idea why there is a striped wire hooked to the screw, like ground. It would be green.

Just hook up the fan as it was before-- black to black, white to white.

[Joseph OBrien]

Yay! I finally got the Hunter installed! And it actually works! I'm not sure what I expected... smoke, maybe some sparks, a fire at the worst. But it seems to work well, except for some wobbling. I put a few binder clips on it and got most of that worked out, but it still has a gentle wobble at high speed.

Thank you all so much for your help!

Joseph

[Deleted]

Glad you got it working.

[k4kyv]

Jul 16, 2007 7:07:53 GMT -5 Ben C. said:

J-hooks are meant to be screwed directly into a joist, but now code requires a fan to be hung from a metal fan-rated electrical box. Also, since j-hooks can screw in, they can screw out. That would be unsafe. You should buy a U-bolt, which doesn't screw in, but mounts to an electrical box.

If the fan uses an older, non-reversible motor, the J-hook is perfectly OK. But you should never use one with a reversible model.

When the fan is first turned on, until the blades come to speed, there is substantial torque exerted in the opposite direction to the way the blades turn. Once it comes to speed, the air drag will still maintain a smaller degree of torque. This torque is transferred to the ceiling mount.

With a non-reversible motor, the blades always turn counter-clockwise (looking up from the floor). This imposes a clockwise torque on the J-hook, so it tends to screw it in more tightly, not unscrew it.

But with a reversible motor, in reverse mode, the blades turn clockwise, so the torque exerted on the J-hook is anti-clockwise, and therefore will tend to unscrew the hook. The fan could fall.

Reversible motors use a U-bracket held with two heavy wood screws, each of which screws into the joist. This prevents the possibility that the support might unscrew from the ceiling.

I would never trust any kind of metal electrical box with a U-bolt to hold up a heavy fan like the Hunter Original or a genuine antique fan. The mount needs to be screwed directly into a joist. The screws or hook should merely pass through holes in the box.

Also, the fan uses an oil-bath for the bearings, that means, that they are submerged in oil, which you need to buy, and change regularly (2 months interval, I think).

That's about all I know for this fan, I'm pretty sure someone else here knows more than me about this fan (no, I am sure), and can help you more.

The instructions that came with Hunters used to say to check the oil level once a year and that you would need to add a drop or two every year. Later they changed that to once every 5 years. I check mine every year or two. My 52" versions don't seem to lose oil, and I have added a total of maybe one or two drops in 10 years, but I have to add a little bit of oil to my 36" one nearly every time I check the level.

I wouldn't think you would need to change the oil unless it becomes visibly dirty. I have seen fans that have been in service for a long while, that had dead bugs in the bottom of the oil cup, but that didn't seem to hurt the fan.

Be sure to use non-detergent machine oil, 10 to 20 weight. Years ago, a customer service rep at the Hunter factory told me that detergent oil will eventually gum up the bearings and that it should never be used.

[Deleted]

Very good post.

Plenty of reversible fans use J-hooks, but that is indeed why they eventually switched.