Kolster Brandes Fan Heater

[Crackle]

I thought you may be interested to see this heater made by KB, a change from radios but still a nice addition to the KB Museum, to go along side the smaller 2kW Theroma heater we have had in the family since I was young boy.
The white knob on the top left of the heater is where perfume can be added to freshen the room. It can be floor standing or hung on a wall, and has a substantial cloth covered mains flex, which is still in good condition.

Has anyone seen a controller like the top one seen on the second photo.
It has a motor driving some sort of timer switch but I cant tell what it is supposed to do. I took the controller apart as it seemed to not be working at all. But the motor which is already rotating fairly slowly, drives through about 10 reduction gears, so I can perceive no movement on the final shaft which operated the contacts.
The fan motor is off in when the blue bit between 0, and ON, is uppermost. Turning the switch clockwise beyond 3 then turns the fan off, the markings go up to 20. Making it appear that you can set it to automatically turn on up to 20 hours ahead.
If the switch is turned anticlockwise to ON, it comes to an end stop and the fan works.
I am not 100% certain I have reassembled the switch correctly, hence my asking if anyone has seen a timer controller like this, and hopefully you can explain the correct operation.
   
   
   
   
   

Thanks
Mike

[boater sam]

It looks to be a standard synchronous motor with reduction gearbox driving a double pole diamond "H" type switch. Very common in twin tub washing machines, microwave ovens, etc with different reduction gearing. 20 hours is a long time!

[Murphyv310]

Looks like a well made heater and in good nick too.
So Mike will you be searching out other obscure KB products, perhaps a prototype car?

[boater sam]

The chassis with the element and the tangential plastic fan & bimetal cut out is a common chassis with many fan heaters of the period, the Windrush from Woolworths I think is the same.
They suffered from the fan melting and collapsing if the airway became obstructed.
I would doubt that KB had anything to do with the manufacture at all.

[Murphyv310]

Quite possible Sam. Compare it to a modern Chinese heater and then you wonder if they are tested for safety or quality of construction, I'd say this one is better by far.

[Refugee]

My aunt had one with a timer like that and she used to use the timer to switch it on a while before she got home from work.
20 house sounds about right.

[Crackle]

I have done some more testing and it would seem I was correct. The timer switch can be set to turn on the heater up to 20 hours in advance, and then it will work for 3 hours before turning off automatically.

Here are some photos of its little brother, the 2kW  Theroma De Luxe.
This little heater has had a hard life as it has spent about 20 years aboard a sailing boat in the salty atmosphere, it also has a few drips of polyester resin on it. I would like to restore it cosmetically as it is still working perfectly, but the white screen printed lettering would be difficult to replace.
However I have recently treated it to a nice new mains flex of the same colour as the original one.
It has a very useful thermostat, and I frequently used the heater during the winter if I was sleeping aboard, after an evening in the yacht club during the laying up period.

   
   

Mike

[Crackle]

Going back to the Theroma 3, the lower control is the fan and heat control, and allows you to select OFF, COOL, LOW, MED, or HIGH.
The red panel is back lit with a 30w 284mm tubular lamp which is on all the time the heater is plugged in. These lamps are very difficult to replace these days, I didnt particularly want to use an LED type.
Mike