more about those fans... (what is with the fans?...)
Glenn
Gyro Aire fans (certain versions) were made with a speed controller that was bought in from another company. The controllers weren't up to the job long term, and tend to fail and possibly catch fire. The big difference with the Gyro Aire is that the whole body of the fan was also manufactured with the wrong grade of plastic, so if a component overheats/smoulders/catches fire, the plastic bursts into huge flames. Electrical appliances are required to have all plastics made from "self-extinguishing" plastic, that is plastics that may smoulder when under flame attack, but will self-extinguish when the source of flame goes out. The plastics may burn in a fire but must not increase the intensity of the fire.
If they were made of the correct plastic, the failure of the speed controller should have resulted in some smoke and possibly tripping a circuit breaker, but not a house fire. These fans are so "eager" to burn once ignited, by the time a breaker trips, the room the fan was in is probably already ablaze.
there was a TV current affairs show that covered the issue back then, they said that even the showroom/office of the Singapore distributor of the fans was burnt out, as a fan was left on overnight and caught fire.
It does make me wonder about some of the really cheap junk appliances available these days. how many are made of "burny" plastics?
Any way, sorry to hijack Leon's story.
I agree with other comments, much more than a shed, more of a true museum.
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