Windmere Oscillating Desk Fan

[Jordan U]

This is a Windmere oscillating desk fan at a relative's house. I don't know how old it is, but I remember it being around for a long time when I was younger, originally at my uncle's house. It has to be at least early 90s or before. Its reasonably powerful. The blades are somewhat translucent. There is what I think to be a newer version of the fan here in the break room at work, I'll have to photograph that one soon too. How is the general quality reputation of Windmere? I've only used them for a few hours, so I'm not sure how good they really are. These pictures aren't my best work, all I had was my cellphone and whatever lighting was there.












Leave a comment or question if you have one. Any information on the fan such as the year it was made is appreciated.

[Jean Lemieux]

The pictures looks fine to me.

Windmere are usually medium to low quality.

I'm pretty ure I've seen these fans before. They should be from the mid 1990's.

[Jordan U]

Sept 1, 2014 23:33:18 GMT -5 Jean Lemieux said:

The pictures looks fine to me.

Windmere are usually medium to low quality.

I'm pretty ure I've seen these fans before. They should be from the mid 1990's.

I'll have to get a picture of the one that's at work, it looks pretty similar other than the fact that the blades are a different color, and the logo is a little different. I could see them being mid-low quality, by today's standards they're pretty good but 20 years ago I'm sure there were better things out there.

[Jordan U]

Just for comparison purposes, here is the very similar Windmere where I work, I think its newer than the first one:

[fancollector12]

Nice fan! I have one like it except my fan has controls on the base.

[Jordan U]

Sept 27, 2014 13:30:03 GMT -5 fancollector12 said:

Nice fan! I have one like it except my fan has controls on the base.

The ones with the controls on the bottom are probably nicer, I think this was one of those things they did to save money by not having to run all the wiring through the neck into the base. While I'd much prefer controls on the base, especially in an instance like this where the fan is above eye level, I'd rather them cheapen the controls than the motor, though I'm sure they did that too.

[Dob]

Sept 28, 2014 18:50:44 GMT -5 Jordan U said:

Sept 27, 2014 13:30:03 GMT -5 fancollector12 said:

Nice fan! I have one like it except my fan has controls on the base.

The ones with the controls on the bottom are probably nicer, I think this was one of those things they did to save money by not having to run all the wiring through the neck into the base. While I'd much prefer controls on the base, especially in an instance like this where the fan is above eye level, I'd rather them cheapen the controls than the motor, though I'm sure they did that too.

Unfortunately, you're right about the motor. It's much weaker compared to the ones they used in the 80's.

The motor does its job, it's just not happy about it.

Most companies by the late 80's really started to cut back on motor performance. Lasko/Galaxy are especially known for this. When they transitioned from their brown/amber bladed models to the horrendous grey pieces of crap, they also cheapened on the motors, making them significantly weaker. The blade was floppy and they had capacitor problems. One day your fan wouldn't start and you'd think it needs lubrication. You notice the blade spins freely and the motor will run in either direction...

The last of the truly good fans are made by Panasonic.

[Jordan U]

Sept 28, 2014 23:32:25 GMT -5 Dob said:

Sept 28, 2014 18:50:44 GMT -5 Jordan U said:

The ones with the controls on the bottom are probably nicer, I think this was one of those things they did to save money by not having to run all the wiring through the neck into the base. While I'd much prefer controls on the base, especially in an instance like this where the fan is above eye level, I'd rather them cheapen the controls than the motor, though I'm sure they did that too.

Unfortunately, you're right about the motor. It's much weaker compared to the ones they used in the 80's.

The motor does its job, it's just not happy about it.

Most companies by the late 80's really started to cut back on motor performance. Lasko/Galaxy are especially known for this. When they transitioned from their brown/amber bladed models to the horrendous grey pieces of crap, they also cheapened on the motors, making them significantly weaker. The blade was floppy and they had capacitor problems. One day your fan wouldn't start and you'd think it needs lubrication. You notice the blade spins freely and the motor will run in either direction...

The last of the truly good fans are made by Panasonic.

What year were those last Panasonics made?



I have a Lasko from the 90s I think, its all white plastic except it has a metal grill. While it doesn't compare to the amber bladed Galaxies of a few years earlier, its not a poor quality unit, but it doesn't move much air either.

And speaking of those weak motors in Windmeres, its going right now. Its not powerful, but its good enough to keep me cool. We do get quite a bit of use out of that thing, so the motors can't be all that bad.