Need to slow down on of these monsters that I use around the shop and the house. Basically having it blow solder fumes away from me when I am doing wiring in a motor. There are no fans available in San Diego due to the heat wave and I would like to pull it in the house after I am done and keep some fresh air coming into the house after I am done using it in the garage.
http://www.harborfreight.com/30-inch-pedestal-shop-fan-47755.html
Motor is 1/2 HP and says not to use a solid state speed regulator which is weird unless its 16 pole wiring. Is there a cheap answer to this, the thing at low speed moves something like 5000cfm and its loud as heck. I can live with say 50% reduce motor life as these things last years around the show and only tend to beak when I do something stupid like drop them. A fire from the motor burning up less acceptable.
I am sure tha anser is a variable frequancy drive
I imagine the cheap answer is just buying a fan off the internet and picking it up somewhere.
Screwing with fan motors is a good way to end up buying another fan.
I too have that fan. It pretty much sounds like a Cessna is taxiing for takeoff when I use it. I am interested in seeing responses to this thread.
T.J. wrote: Wonder if this would work?
No. That is for brushed motors only.
A VFD might work, but I'm betting the motor would smoke pretty quickly.
Rheostat? Wire it to a light dimmer from Lowes?
wheelsmithy wrote: Rheostat? Wire it to a light dimmer from Lowes?
too cheap and easy...
The description for that fan claims it is a three-speed motor. Check the label of the motor carefully. It may contain instructions for switching a couple of wires (located under the wiring cover plate on the motor) and using the low speed windings.
Edit: Never mind. I just read the user manual. Apparently the fan has a 3-speed switch operated by a pull chain? Are you currently running on low speed?
I've got an even larger Taiwanese made one. The 3 speeds are C-130 on takeoff roll, C-130 cruise at altitude and C-130 on descent. It was nice when it was 97 F at 98%, but now it's just crazy annoying. I'll pop the rear cover off to see what the wires are up to.
How about a variable autotransformer?
You just dial in the voltage. They are kind of expensive but can be a good tool for electronic work.
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