This KDK.. isn't actually a KDK. Strap in, because it's going to be a long story. This here is a first iteration KDK model WZ 56-1 ceiling fan, and based on all the information I've gathered, this fan is actually part of an experiment. KDK has always been the cheap Matsushita quality fan here in the Indonesian market. Their products are priced slightly below National//Panasonic, so as their build quality. In the early 2000's, people were importing National F-560A1 ceiling fans left and right, and KDK saw an opportunity to officially sell a similar looking fan at a lower price.
To actually import National F-560A1's and rebadge them as KDKs, or rush to build entirely new production lines would be more expensive, so they turned to a medium-low grade Chinese manufacturer, and basically said "Build me a fan that looks like the F-560A1, but make sure to make the total cost including import fees waaaaay cheaper.". The Chinese being Chinese, they of course saw the profit opportunity, and obliged. They made a few number of these(less than 1000 units I'd bet), slap real tacky looking KDK badges on them, and sent em to Indonesia. Now the low production number itself would already make this fan ridiculously hard to come by, but KDK themselves for some reason made it harder.
For a reason I'm yet to learn, some execs in KDK Indonesia decided to keep a good number of these fans instead of selling them. From what I'm told, they still have a good few dozen in stock that they're slowly putting up for sale through a tiny number of private sellers, so yes if you're lucky, you can buy one or more of these brand new today, and the price has depreciated waaaaaaay down too, so there's your bonus!
As stated in the first few sentences in this description, this fan is a first iteration model, meaning newer generations do exist, and I spotted one quite recently, the video of which can be watched by clicking this link( • That Is One Loud Fan! ). I'm not sure whether the 2nd iteration is still Chinese made, or KDK switched to making them in Indonesia, as the similarly uncommon National F-EY144 shares the exact same bladeset with it.
Now, let's talk about the fan itself. This KDK interestingly enough, is maybe a full Kilogramme heavier than the F-560A1. All that weight comes from the blades and blade arms, which are both half a milimetre thicker than the National's. That, and the fact that the blades are screwed to the upper motor shell only, not through the solid metal rotor, might be the reason why it sags down, even though this is a brand new fan, and the blades are fully straight. Some of the weight might also come from the slightly larger diameter motor, and its un-Matsushita-y bracket to mount the motor to the downrod. I found it really amusing as this fan is meant to be cheaper to build & ship. They did cut cost in other places though, such as; The plastics used to make the speed controller, which is cheap ABS(I think..), while the controllers used in the F-EY149 in which this KDK copied the design from for example, uses flexible polypropylene for the body, and solid ABS for the knob. And they didn't do a great job at molding it either as it's warped to the point of requiring lots of careful bending to reinstall the metal plate covering the back part of the controller.
Another, even worse place they cut cost was at the motor, which in this situation, is really pushed to its limits to spin the heavy blades. Indonesian made Matsushita ceiling fans from this era used beefy oversized motors with 1,8 uF capacitors which made them ultra reliable, while this fan's motor is on the thinner side, and cranked up on a 2,5 uF capacitor. It gets pretty damn hot after a full day's use, even on medium-low. I'd say this though, the amount of air this fan moves on high is slightly more than my National F-560A1.
I plan on making an in depth comparison video of this KDK, and the National F-560A1 pretty soon, so stay tune for that!
As to where I got my hands on this fan from, it's from my most favorite NIB & NOS fan dealer; KipasLampuJogja. You guys really ought to check them out.
Made in China, under the license of Matsushita Seiko Co. Ltd
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#KDK #CeilingFan
3 окт 2024
