Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Soleus Air FS2-40R-32 16-Inch 3-Speed Oscillating Stand Fan with Remote Control

Product Description

Soleus Air 16-inch Oscillating Stand Fan has many features not offered by others. Back-lit easy to read LCD display, exclusive auto-on technology automatically turns fan on low when temp gets to 78, med when temp is 82 and high when temp is 86. 3 Oscillation patterns for increased air circulation ; back & forth, up & down and figure 8. 3 wind modes include standard, natural or work/sleep options. Adjustable height and tilt head with reduced vibration motor for whisper quiet operation. 3 speeds and 7.5 hour timer and remote control give you every option available. Fans move air throughout the home or office more effectively than central air, saving money and improving air quality. Soleus Air; Innovative products for a more energy efficient world.


Customer Reviews

I'm a Fan of This Fan5
This is the second of these Soleus figure-eight stand fans I've owned; I got a few years service out of the first one until the motor bearings started squeaking.

Though other reviewers have cited some problems with this fan, I haven't had any so far. And this clever Soleus offers a number of unique advantages over other stand fans:

* Remote-controlled double oscillation -- as far as I know, this is one of only two stand fans available that offer double oscillation -- side-to-side and up-and-down. The other model however, a Bionaire, doesn't allow you to control the oscillation remotely; you have to pull out the traditional oscillation knobs on the fan housing -- how quaint! In comparison, the Soleus lets you adjust the fan stream JUST where you want it using your remote, without getting up from your easy chair or bed. That's a major advantage IMO.

* Thermostat control -- set this fan on "auto", and it adjusts fan speed according to room temperature. This is great for sleeping -- the fan turns itself down automatically if the room gets cool in the early morning!

* Quiet and powerful output -- this fan blows a lot of air and does it very quietly. I was so impressed with its output, in fact, that it made me realize how lacking the output of a Turbo Aire floor fan I was using really was -- in consequence I threw out the TA and got a Vornado Edge, which is fabulous.

So what this Soleus may lack in long-term reliability it makes up with superior performance and convenience features. Amortized over a few years of service, that pays off for me.

This Soleus Air FS2-40R is FANtastic!4
My wife and I have been using this fan in our bedroom for several months. We find this fan to be quieter than any other stand fan that we have ever owned (and we have owned many). I will not ramble on about all of the great features of this device as they are explained quite well in the product description here on Amazon.

The fan arrived from Amazon in just a few days. The box arrived without a scratch and upon inspection I found no damage to any of the contents. The asssembly instructions are a little confusing but it is honestly easy to figure out without any instructions. Six screws and washers attach the round, weighted base to the middle control section. Some have complained about the screw holes not aligning properly. Well I found that I had to have my wife hold the control module pole while I gently twisted the round base, at the same time that I installed the mounting screws. This allowed the screws to be installed without problem. Two small screws attach the fan motor housing to the extension pole coming from the top of the middle control section. The fan blade goes on easily. The only real challange I had was attaching the fan safety cage, which requires a gentle yet firm touch to snap the two halves together while making sure everything is lined up properly. It was after I had everything installed and the fan plugged in that I noticed that there was a layer of protective plastic over the Soleus badge plate in the center of the front fan safety cage. I pulled the plastic off and everything was ready to go (or so I thought).

I turned the fan on and played around with all of the settings. The fan worked extremly well and seemed very quiet, even at the highest speed setting. However, when we turned the fan on low, to run overnight while we slept, I noticed a little noise. It just sounded like the typical noise of the fan blades moving air. As I listened the noise seemed to get louder and softer without any sort of pattern. I shut the fan off and turned on the light. I ended up pulling the front of the safety cage off and it was at that moment that I noticed some protective plastic on the inside of the front safety cage, on the backside of the Soleus badge plate. If you remember, I mentioned that I had pulled some plastic off the front of this badge plate but obviously the plastic was wrapped around the entire plate. I just didn't notice that when I was assembling the safety cage. It was a little challanging but I was able to remove all of the plastic from the backside of that plate.

After re-attaching the front section of the safety cage, I turned the fan on low and listened carefully. The strange noise was gone and the fan has remained extremely quiet ever since. Although most of the components of this fan are made of plastic, it has a fairly solid feel. It looks very high tech and attractive. We love the adjustment abilities of the motor/fan head. Be advised, the platinum (silver) colored plastic on the base and control module scratch very easily. I put a fairly large scratch across the top surface of the round base by accident and it looks quite ugly. However, it is in our bedroom and nobody will see it anyway. Overall my wife and I would highly recommend the Soleus Air FSH-40G remote controlled stand fan to anyone looking for a quiet, stylish looking stand fan that has wonderful features, including an easy to use remote control. It is easy to assemble, moves a lot of air with very little noise, has just about any feature that you could ever want from a fan, and it seems to be built with quality components that should last for many years. The cost of this fan is not cheap but I feel a fan of this quality and performance is well worth the money we paid. =o)


*** UPDATE: After owning this fan for roughly a year the fan head suddenly tilted all the way down, as many other reviewers have complained about. A simple call to Soleus resolved the issue, as they shipped out a replacement fan at no cost to me. After taking apart the motor head assembly I found the problem. There is a plastic tab, with a little spring, that had snapped off. It is this little plastic tab and spring that is supposed to hold the entire weight of the fan motor in the desired position, and once broken the weight of the motor causes the entire assembly to flop down. Even though Soleus was kind enough to send me a replacement fan, I was also able to repair the motor head by installing a sheet metal screw, which also required me to cut the spring down to about half its original height. After reassembling the motor head it now stays in position and can be adjusted properly without fear of the adjustment assembly breaking again. I think the original design of this component is a bit poor considering the high cost of this fan. Other than this slight design flaw I still feel that the FS2-40R fan is a quality product, with a lot of great features, that should last for many years to come.

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