Cooling fan speed control

oilman · 25 Jul 2006

How is the speed of an office cooling fan controlled? We have one with 3 settings, fast, bloody fast, and take-off speed. It would be useful to have a lower range of speeds, but it looks as if different windings are used to alter the speed.

Is there a way to shift the range of speeds?

Sleepyhead · 25 Jul 2006

Some kind of voltage regulator would do it. Thinking along the same lines as a dimmer switch works.

oilman · 25 Jul 2006

Are you sure? The motors are not universal motors, but appear to be a synchronous type.

breezer · 25 Jul 2006

dimmer switches wont work with synronous motors (but you probably knew that)

i guess you could always open the window?

since to interfere / alter it means that you invalidate any insurance, you are not qualified to work on it and at 2nd worst ruin the ac, at worst kill some one

why not contact the manufacturer?

oilman · 25 Jul 2006

breezer said:
i guess you could always open the window?

That would be a bit silly since the temp outside is 84, whilst inside is 75.

since to interfere / alter it means that you invalidate any insurance, you are not qualified to work on it and at 2nd worst ruin the ac, at worst kill some one

Thank you nanny, I take it you don't know the answer then, or have you just joined CORGI?

breezer · 25 Jul 2006

sorry oilman i am onlythinking of the implications if you were to touch it, insurance and all that

oilman · 25 Jul 2006

That might be significant if it were somebody elses, but I own it and it's at home. (and it's still 75 F,.......... OUTSIDE!!!)

breezer · 25 Jul 2006

oilman said:
That might be significant if it were somebody elses, but I own it and it's at home. (and it's still 75 F,.......... OUTSIDE!!!)

it was the fisrt be that made me think it wasn't yours

oilman said:
How is the speed of an office cooling fan controlled?

well why not stick it on full speed and wire this in series

Sleepyhead · 26 Jul 2006

And wiring that in brings you back to my original suggestion of a voltage regulator. If you read my post I didn't advocate using a dimmer switch. Only that the prinicple was similar. Reducing the input voltage. Might work, might not. Unfortunately I don't have the cooling fan here to test ideas on.

breezer · 26 Jul 2006

but if as i also said it its a syncronous motor it wont work, but desparate times...........

Sleepyhead · 26 Jul 2006

Yep. your right Breezer it won't work. However, when I made that suggestion there was no mention of motor type. Just a cooling fan which now appears to be an a/c unit.
Still, some daft ideas work sometimes

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Cooling fan speed control

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