When I was a teen in the 70s I had to go with my folks to talk to a social worker for a number of sessions, he would talk with me alone, and also talk with my parents together while I would wait alone in the outer office. After a while of sitting there alone I noticed what I thought was the HVAC system to be loud and persistent, so I traced the noise under a piece of furniture, and found this device, and immediately I knew its purpose, so I turned it off and moved close to the inner office door and found I could clearly hear the conversation. I thought they would be talking about me, but it turned out they were talking about marriage stuff that I didn't want to know, so I turned the noise maker back on and sat down and read magazines.

As soon as you turned it on it activated some random childhood memories of doctors offices and such, that very distinctive "warm" white noise. I always assumed it was just the aircon!

That was really unexpected. I thought it was going to be a speaker with white noise generated by a reverse biased junction and some filtering. The shaded pole motor and fridge-like fan was unusual. Like a white-noise siren.

The letter plate intro is still THE coolest on KZfaq.

So, this means my PC is essentially a Sound Conditioner!

The funny thing is, the sound of these things drives me nuts. Would need a sound conditioner for my sound conditioner.

They're producing those to this very day with virtually no modification. But of course, they're bloody expensive for just a small fan in a plastic box!

I have one of these myself. I live in senior housing and I and my dog could hear people in the hallway. He would bark at them ever time he heard someone so I remembered that the therapists at the hospital I worked at used to use these. Sure enough, it works like a charm. I turn it on an my dog doesn’t bark when people outside are talking. I also like the idea that I can have a private conversation should I want to.

it's so nice to see the respect you have for your dad's things. So much today is simply thrown away.

For that type of bearing, for really, really long term oiling use, it's best to take them out of the holder, and soak them in oil for at least 3 days. The oil itself has to be the lightest type so it penetrates into the pores. Alternatively, heating up the oil in a bain marie type setup expedites the process to just a few hours, but not everyone is comfortable with oil and heat. Just sharing some info, not particularly for this one. :)

After years of sleeping with a fan or air conditioner this is fairly calming to me. Something about that 'ol analog fan.

That reminds me of my Grandfather who kept the manual for everything he bought in a binder along with the date he purchased it written somewhere on it. It included the manual for their pullout couch dated 11-07-1962

There are also things called "sound conditioners" that audiophiles use. When I first saw the title I thought it might be one of those.

"Reverse screw method"...I thought I was always so smart for figuring this out all in my own (after stripping many threads on plastic) then bam! along comes another human who also independently figured it out!

This one brought back some memories! Back in the late 1980s I worked as an engineer for a private company owned by an older gentleman who regularly used one of these to help him sleep. When he travelled to England and stayed for a few weeks at his residence there, he had great difficulty sleeping without his wind machine. So he asked me if I could modify it for use at 230V 50Hz. I simply pressed out the lamination section of the shaded-pole motor that the coil bobbin was on, and rewound the coil with 2.3x the original turns - with magnet wire that was 4 gauges smaller. The idea was to keep the flux density using british power the same as it was on the US grid. Maybe not an ideal solution - but it was still working fine for him around 20 years later when he passed over.

I have one of these. We used it outside our son’s room when he was a baby, it helped him sleep. It must have run every night for 7 years or more. Still works today.

I worked in a Motorola building in the 80's that had white noise coming out of ceiling speakers throughout the whole building. It was barely noticeable when you walked and you acclimated to it very quickly but it worked very well for its intended purpose, masking sibilants to conversations possibly overheard and was very effective for this purpose which is probably why therapists had this, for patient privacy. Someone could be talking in the next cube over and you could hear it but since you couldn't make out the sibilants you really couldn't understand it. It really worked well but they never did it in other buildings that I knew after that for whatever reasons.

And 30 years later, it's still working as designed. No planned obsolescence there. Shhhhhh.....

Her vacuum made a pretty good "white noise." I certainly enjoy Fran's presentations...she is the real thing. Respectfully, Doctor G.W.

Oh hey, I used to see a therapist who had this exact model. No idea if he'd bought it recently or if it was just REALLY OLD. It looks like the company is still around but they've changed their name to Yogasleep. They still sell this product as the Dohm Classic. It looks slightly different now.

It would be nice to think of my daughter showing things I'd built and collected years later. In my case I don't think that's likely to happen. I'm glad you can work with your father's things.

I had a friend who worked in an old building in downtown St. Louis where the office was a huge area with super high ceilings. They had rows of speakers playing noise and acoustic foam panels mounted up there. It was weird going over there with her on a Saturday once when it was turned off.

That hug... I felt the love. My better half asked me, are you going to cry? nope it's the onions. I get the strangest looks sometimes. You rock Fran \m/

My wife and I honeymooned in North Carolina (the state where this machine was manufactured), staying in a seaside cottage loaned to us by a friend. Our white noise generator was the sound of the waves hitting the beach. Best "sound conditioner" you could imagine!

In the Russian spacemovie Solaris they masked the annoying everpresent fan hum with rattling strips of paper. "как в лесу" - like living in a forest.

Unlike a smartphone white noise app, you won't get loudly interrupted by an advert blaring away!

My grandmother has one and has been using it for years and years. All through my childhood. I always wandered what it looked like inside. Great video Fran!

It's hot in my top floor flat in S.F. Our "Indian" summer in October. A vintage Vornardo table fan aiming at me while trying to hear your fan. A fan using a fan watching Fran repair a fan. What a life.

Believe it or not, I think the primary use for these is in a psychologist's or therapist's office. Due to HIPAA laws, I believe they have to have a sound machine outside their doors or in the waiting room to prevent private information from being overheard by waiting clients. The "DOhm" is a timeless design, so much so that it's still sold today in a near-identical form (just with more modern colors). Your unit seems to be "newer", since it has the Marpac website on it. The earliest date of the Marpac website I could find on the WayBack Machine is 1997, so the oldest your machine could be is a 1997 model (more likely a 2003 model judging by the 3/03 writing on the sticker on the unit). Funny how it includes the warning about polarized plugs, as most homes in the 90s had polarized sockets and standard RJ-11 phone jacks (in place of the old four-prong phone jacks found in homes built up until the 70s). These are essentially glorified fans.

Nice one Fran. Question: Do you get a funny feeling when you see you dad’s handwriting? I do. My dad died 16 years ago but I still have hundreds of books from his shelves, every one with a signature inside the front cover. He was a teacher and lent books out widely.

Yes! Thank You for demonstrating these best practices for dis/reassembly, specifically turning the fastener backward until the threads engage correctly. Excellent role model for the kids that want to learn to repair and maintain machines in an ever-more-disposable world. Way to go!

My mother used this EXACT model for at least 15 years daily. I even think she still uses it. That sound will never leave my mind!

it's funny my daughter just got a rock tumbler. we had in the living room with us for 48 hours last weekend. also my uncle had a radio that was always on in his kitchen/dining room. they would only adjust the volume up or down. i think that radio may have been on for years. not sure if they turned it off even at night. one reason i figured this out was only the volume knob had dirt from the years of touching it after coming in from the fields. he was farmer.

Very helpful suggestion: "never use 3 in 1 oil on bearings". I did not know that! Thanks! :-)

I've seen this exact "sound conditioner" in use outside the confessional at our local church. The first time I saw it, I thought it was some kind of rodent trap, LOL. But then, as I walked closer, I noticed that the "air conditioner" seemed to get louder, and then I saw the cord, and I realized that it was a white noise machine. It made just the right amount of white noise to make hearing confessions from the outside impossible while still being quiet enough to easily converse right next to it. I had suspected for years that it was probably a fan inside a housing designed to generate a nice "gentle whoosh" noise, and I'm glad to see that my guess was right. Sometimes, it's important to remember that if a simple solution exists for a problem, that's probably the one to go with! A couple of the offices I worked at had "white noise machines" throughout the building, but the only visible portion of those was a series of discrete speakers mounted in the ceiling, blending in color-wise. My boss told me that that's what they were for, and you could definitely hear them if you were at the office very early or very late, as there was a quiet but unmistakable white noise throughout, even when you were the only one there.

I've been using one of those every night for 30+ years. Can't sleep without it. Still works as good as the day it was new.

You shouldn't make me laugh, Fran. My mother made me laugh once...once. My last few managers used them when having 1:1 meetings, performance reviews, etc. I thought that was a particular considerate move.

I appreciate the elegance of these sorts of old electromechanical devices. 🙂

I gave one of these to my son when he moved out on his own and was having trouble falling asleep because of noisy neighbors and a third shift job that required sleep during day. He said it was most useful gift he ever got.

Thank you for the tip about the reverse screw method of getting those self tappers back into the plastic housing. I was unaware of it.

*I caught the Johnny Dangerously reference at the **3:54** mark... I love that movie...*

They still sell this a Target for $50 under the YOGASLEEP Brand

I had one of those, Fran! I lived on East 14th Street in Manhattan for years and it was SO noisy, so I purchased one of those items from Hammacher-Schlemmer back in 1979 and guess what, they still sell 'em! I don't have it any longer and I don't know what I did with it. I no longer live in noisy NYC, but I still use a white noise app on my iPhone, as it helps me fall asleep, HAH!. Your love for your dad was evident in your video, btw. I still have stuff of my mom's that I cherish, even though I don't really use them. I just like having them around.

Thanks Fran, for the peak inside this wonderful device. A magically simple device that will last for generations. You are the best.

Just like mine, still on the nightstand! Bought it from Edmund Scientific, 20 (?) years ago...never had the guts to take it apart, and masks a lot of noise. Cool!

I've used those for years, can't sleep without it. There is a new electronic version "Electro Fan" on Amazon. Much nicer, many volume levels, with a quality speaker, and twenty digitized fan and white noise options. About $45 dollars. A great device if you like that sort of thing.

Fran, you changed my life! I bought one of these after watching your video and I LOVE it. Thanks for the review.

My mother gave me one of these about 20 years ago, and it changed my life. I know that sounds extreme, but it's not. I keep it on my bed near my pillow and turn it on whenever I hear a neighbor's dog barking in the night. You can mask different sounds like dogs, birds, cars, music, by turning the baffles as Fran showed.

Who else wanted to see that dusty crud get cleaned off with a slightly soapy damp rag or paper towel, only to watch it closed up instead?

Mine is a marpac dohm and I couldn't sleep without it.

My wife and I have one in the bedroom, use it every night. Bought it new, off the shelf at Target about 3 years ago. Just bought our aunt one last year. It's much nicer than playing a sound loop on a tiny phone speaker.

I've seen things like that on the floods of offices and businesses but never knew what they where. Thank you so much Fran. This is one of my favorite videos of your now. Really cool old school tech. Keep it real and stay safe. Laters Gators!

2:21 Italicized, in quotes AND in bold...

Me: please show me how to reduce air fan noise in my recording studio. KZfaq: here is the exact opposite of that. Me: fascenating...

Why did this simple little vid hold my interest so firmly?! The human angle, the tech angle, and your gentle will to heal and preserve a device with sentimental value. :^} Strangely, thru-out my view of it, my laptop's fans were bathing me in white noise...

I always have a fan running in my bedroom during the night. It helps me sleeping without noticing every little sound from inside or outside. When I am on vacation and sleeping in a hotel room I use an app on my tablet or smartphone that emulates wind noise or peaceful nature sounds to help me fall asleep. I'm doing this for years alreasy and I can't miss it...

"welcome to my Server Room". Just rent out the waiting room for servers no one will hear themselves think 😁

Thanks so much Fran.....no matter what you bring out of your collection, you always make it so interesting.....I taught my daughter the basics of electronics very early in her childhood.....when I'm gone she will likely be overwhelmed by all the test equipment and thousands of components going back to the 50's! It will be a nightmare for her to determine what to save and what to sell! Walt in Miami

Very nice episode Fran. I like how you take the time to read the manual for us and explain all those little things like reverse turning the screws. Relaxing and interesting at the same time. Thank you!!

Good, I'm glad I'm not the only one who remembers these little machines from doctor's offices!

My ADHD therapist office has these in abundance.

Hey did anyone notice the vacuum cleaner made pretty much the same white noise? When you opened it up I was reminded of an old joke: “Finally got rid of my dad’s old vacuum cleaner the other day. It was just gathering dust.”

I have always wondered how these worked. I'm glad you did this video.

I've always wondered what these even were but never bothered to look them up, so it is opportune for me you've done this. Thanks, Fran 👍

I've never seen one of these in the UK, I didn't even know that the concept existed!

Look at the "Made in USA" and metal fan blade. Thing was made to last forever!

I didn't expect to hear a Johnny Dangerously reference today. :D I used to use one of these when I was young, to mask outside noises while sleeping. They were really quite good sound machines, until they got past their prime, and then they would start to rattle sporadically, which was pretty counter-productive to sleeping. I was never sure if it was the rotor knocking against something or if it was just a bad bearing, but once they went off, that was that, so it was probably a bearing.

Thank you. I have misophonia and ADHD, and every night i've been tormented by sounds, even if I use white noise from my phone. Electronic speaker machines really annoy me, and after finding out mechanical ones exist from your video, I got one as soon as i could. It's been an absolute miracle, and I can finally sleep!

every therapists office ive eever been to has one of these :3

Did anyone else get the "Johnny Dangerously" reference?

Thank you/ I really enjoy your content and simple delivery

Lol every office I waited in during the 90s had this exact one. So many memories with this video... and I'm sure for you too!

I've always wondered why those polyurethanes break down like that I've a feeling it's probably microbial but I've never been able to pin that down one way or another. There are numerous organisms able to digest it, that much is certain, and it seems to be otherwise fairly chemically resistant. There are two main types, and the higher quality/more chemically resistant is suposedly much more susceptible to microbial attack (gets an F for resistance to microbes and A to pretty much everything else). All the papers about its degradation are either growing cultures on it or just mention "hydrolysis" which is vague as all hell.

Hey Fran, the reason the instructions called out the polarized plug is because this device was originally designed in the early 1960s. Although polarized plugs were introduced in the 1800s, they weren't included in the National Electrical Code until ... yep, you guessed it, 1962. Consider that the average person lives in a house that's 15 or 20 years old, so a lot of buyers would not have had polarized outlets in their homes. Why wasn't the text updated? In the years before word processors, consider that redoing the paperwork would have required paying the print company a typesetting fee ... and, as you observed, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". They just kept doing print runs of the original insert. Love this old tech, thanks!

I had one of these "white noise" generators back in the 70's to help me sleep. I also noticed an old Texas Instruments calculator on your bench. In my early college years I was a technician for the Art Department at Cal State University, Northridge, and I rewired that calculator to trigger a 16mm film camera to control single frame advancement and counting for the Animation Lab, along with designing a digital control panning table for motion control of animation cell photography.

In the 80's, the device was named "Sleep Mate". I had one while traveling with a band. After years of use and thousands of travel miles, the fan blade became loose and noisy. Now I use a 10" fan placed face down on a pillow to make white noise. White noise also helps to mitigate Tinnitus. An old PC with Audicity installed and a white noise loop also works well.

Yes! I had one of those to drone my baby son to sleep. Great “analog” tone!

I have been to their warehouse / manufacturing facility numerous times, they still make a unit like this and the design hasn't changed much in many years, they also make a lot of other cool products

That was interesting, always wondered how those machines work. It was cool watching you work on your dad's device. COOL!

I have really bad tinnitus and having a white noise machine is really important. I can't sleep without it.

I used to have one of these around '93. Worked a treat for sleeping

My mom has one of these that I've been keeping going for decades now. A good way to prolong the life of the motor is to ensure the wicks around the oilite bearings have plenty of oil. This can be done by unscrewing the shaded pole motor and unbolting the bearing caps and putting some oil around the bushings. 3-1 brand SAE 20 oil works well for these.

Brilliant video!!! Thanks for making this.

Fascinating! Never seen one like this, thank you for the video!

Really enjoying your videos.. Your explanations are fun to watch!

OMG, I've been in therapists' offices and totally tripped out on those! At first, I didn't know where the sound was coming from . lol

I'm a light sleeper and I use an old Norelco air purifier that I've had for 30 or so years as my white noise machine for when I'm sleeping. Its very similar to what you have there, they just added a replaceable filter, which I removed years ago. I used those bottles with the pull out spout for many years, they are a staple in the HVAC business, the ones we used to get said 'Zoom Turbine Oil' on them, they were originally intended to oil blower motors on HVAC equipment, back when they needed to be oiled. I'm pretty sure the little motor in your white noise generator has bronze oilite bushings and oiling them won't do much since they aren't designed to be oiled.

Thank you for sharing some of your family history. Back in the day we used something similar...the prosaic "air purifier." We kept them behind client chairs where they were heard but not seen. Fran, I couldn't help but notice that your hands have picked up a shake. Mine did too until I talked to my doctor who diagnosed it as essential tremors (I don't know how the word essential figures in). Anywho, the doc prescribed propranolol and the tremors disappeared. I've been taking it for nearly ten years now. It isn't effective for everyone but the doctor has other tools in his/her bag of tricks. Thanks again!

Best YT music bar none. Love ur channel Fran. Keep it up:)

I literally just turned off my sound conditioner after I made coffee! I use a almost identical newer version to help me sleep. Basically for the same reason as your Dad but to drown out noise outside my roommate/home since it can be noisy. Works like a charm and has never failed me!

I miss that thing more than my therapist since Covid.

I have one of these and I've always wondered how they work. Thank you for sharing this!

This is the perfect video to watch as I unpack my new Yihua soldering station. This will (hopefully) get me in the mood to tackle this Fisher CAV-975 surround sound receiver an acquaintance wants me to fix. I'm procrastinating because not only do I need to diagnose a problem (which may or may not already be repaired) but I need to un-botch his attempt at repair. Dry, blobby solder joints, solder balls sitting on the bottom panel, a three-conductor ribbon cable broke from pulling on it while he was "fixing" the rectifier, so he soldered it back into the board from the reverse side (who knows if he switched the connections, and I clearly see one dry solder joint on the middle conductor), and he said he damaged a trace (you should see the solder bridge he made) so I might need to bodge-wire things. Then, I can cross my fingers, and see if his "repairs" didn't blow something else, since that three-conductor cable he messed with plugs into the main board! (Yes, he could have saved himself some of the hassle by simply unplugging the cable at the main board and giving himself all the slack he needed.) Thank God he bought the schematic. Without that, I'd tell him to go pound sand! As it is, I'm probably just going to be wasting time on it. Oh well, at least it gives me a chance to practice with the new soldering iron. He's got a stack of Fisher stuff at his house he needs me to perform miracles on, stupid me for mentioning that I had a _little_ bit of experience in electronics!

You make my mind and my heart smile Fran.

I have slept for 65+ years with a fan in the room. Can't fall asleep without one! Mom had a old GE black and Chrome oscillating fan with Gold inlays on it in my room when I was 2 and I had it for over 30 years and still running...It got lost in a move, I never saw it again... :-( Thanks for the video Fran! LLAP

I always learn some thing new from your videos. Thank you!

My therapist has this exact machine in her office too. Also, when I worked in a call center, we had a digital white noise system installed in the ceilings - tiny speakers above each cubicle so that callers couldn't hear other call center conversations.

In the late 70’s when my dad was on rotating shifts and was in the night shift period, he used one of these in the bedroom to help him sleep during the day. Not sure if he preferred that or a fan, but the white noise from either did help.

Nice video. I've used one of these ever since I was a kid to sleep. Actually one running beside me right now. Been cleaned and oiled many a time. Thanks for sharing!

Aww man, my aunt had one that she'd bring with her on vacation or if she spent the night at our house. Couldn't sleep without it.