ECN Forum Forums Photo Discussion Forums Electrical Nostalgia Found an old motor today

I'm setting up some PM programs in several schools and was searching one of them for equipment when I found this in an attic space. I had to climb sideways off of a roof access ladder through a tiny opening I barely fit through to get these photos. I don't think anybody's been there in a decade. But I like old equipment so I went for it.

This equipment was abandoned in the 50's when an addition was added to the school. The school was built as a WWI memorial school so I assume this is from the early 20's. One old blower and 3/4 HP motor. The shafts still turned freely by hand, the old flat leather drive belt was laying on the floor next to the blower.

The thing that surprised me was that the motor label listed a temperature rise rating in ºC, 50 years before we tried and failed at the metric system.

These old motors often had flat-belt tightening adjustment built into the foot castings. The square drive of the stud adjuster can be seen in pic 2 facing the camera.

Is that 870 rpm on the makers plate? If so that makes it a 8 pole motor. Facinating find.

The network cable bundle behind it makes me think someone's been up there more recently than a decade ago.

I had repaired a blower somewhat similar to that one at the Avalon Theatre on Catalina Island. I had to adapt a modern motor to it as the old burned out Westinghouse motor was an obsolete NEMA frame style.

From the marks on the wall on the shaft end of that motor, it either flamed out at one time or has flung a lot of grease off the bearing from the inside.