Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Vornado 530L Compact Whole Room Air Circulator



Not as good as previous Vornado compact fans
Is the new model 530 as good as older Vornados that established the company as a quality innovator? In this review, I compare the new 530 to two older compact models that I own. These are the excellent model 180 compact fan(infinite speed, no longer available) and the very good 510 compact (3-speed and in very short supply - watch out for merchants who substitute the current model 530 for the 510). These (and the larger, venerable model 280) have great features, quietness, quality, and durability. My comments should apply to the model 530 regardless of the color of the plastic case, since color has no bearing on performance in this product.

FEATURES
The 3-speed compact design is similar to that of the older models (note that some slightly more expensive Vornado models have infinite speed control instead of 3-speed but are otherwise the same). But the 530 has one major disadvantage that you're likely to miss in the promo copy. The fan head doesn't tilt as much as...

Powerful Compact Fan, Possible Quality Control Issues
Vornado is well known for producing quality consumer fans. My 530 moves more air than much larger box fans. It also moves air in a more controlled, concentrated fashion. This is great for moving cool air from one room to another. It is also nice for ventilating a room at night where outside noise a problem as the window need only to be open ten inches or so.

The raw power of the fan is useful for more than just circulating air through a room. It allows for an intense cool blast of directed in face during my cardio workout. It is also good for drying towels and carpeting.

Despite my continued enthusiasm for the product, I did have some problems. The first is the rather loud motor noise/vibration at lower speeds. Secondly, there was an apparent problem with the first fan I purchased. It was dropped about two feet onto padded carpeting. This caused one of the fan blades to break off. Fortunately, Bed Bath and Beyond has a no hassle return policy.

It is...

Poor Quality with high rate of failure
I made the terrible mistake of purchasing 4 of these "Vornado 530L High velocity 3-speed air circulators" from Amazon because of the glowing reviews and after doing a little research the fan looked nice in the images and I liked the idea the grill would snap off for easy cleaning. It didn't take long for me to realize I wasted a lot of money ($39.99 for each fan)... The problems started when fan 1's blade would seize up and stop turning. I would have to turn it off- unplug it then take the grill off and try spinning the blade a few times (I think thats how my grandfather started planes back in world war one ^__^) it worked about a week then finally died. The problems continued with fan 2, it started making this terrible high pitched sqeeeeal at the worst possible times like for example 3am while I'm trying to sleep. Its like having nails being dragged across a chalk board continuiously, I couldn't deal with that for long so I put it out near the garbage pick up for my pillaging...

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