ELECTRICAL question! how to slow a fan down. tokenchoken or anyone!!

whatapothead

whatapothead

Well-Known Member
ok i bought a carbon filter off this site and it has the internal fan.. just one of those standard black circle fans. it only has one speed and the sucker hums... well with my setup right now it needs to slow down a bit.

i need to add a resistor or something inline to slow down the speed. This fan plugs directly into a socket. how do i slow it down?
 
JohnnyBravo

JohnnyBravo

Well-Known Member
I read post last night about using a toy train controller to power fans...(turn it up to speed up the train and turn it down to slow the train)....sounded like it worked well on slowing or speeding up his fans....and he said he got it from a hobby store I think:)
 
jimmyspaz

jimmyspaz

Well-Known Member
Yeah you need a 120 volt reostatic control.Farm supply stores have a great selection of fans and controllers,also industrial electrical places should have these.You should know your local industrial electrical supply house anyway as it the place to buy wiring supplies and even HID bulbs etc.
 
malachi

malachi

Well-Known Member
correct me if i,m wrong guys but if you follow the logical path, a motor that is sold 1 speed usually means that the motor itself is not made to be variable , i say this cuz i burnt one years back thinking all i needed was a rheostat, but the motor itself needs to be able to run at lower speed, just a thought....
 
whatapothead

whatapothead

Well-Known Member
thanks for the responses guys. if a motor doesn't have enough juice its not going to run at the set speed. it is going to constantly be trying but i don't think it will burn up the fan.

thanks again
 
G

GerryWanna

Active Member
Go to home depot and pickup a adjustable light switch with a rotory dial and wire it in. Just check the amperage rating on your fan first. And buy a switch that can handle the amps.
 
jimmyspaz

jimmyspaz

Well-Known Member
No you can't use a light dimmer! It says so on those units.You need an actual "fan controller" but those are used in barns,Greenhouses and factories everywhere,so like I said before check industrial electrical suppliers and farm supply stores.You might even find one at a good hardware store. Just make sure that it will handle the amperage. Good luck.
 
FilthyFletch

FilthyFletch

Mr I Can Do That For Half
Email the manufacture as some of those muffin fans cant be controlled on a varible speed switch. They can heat up and catch fire. they will suggest a speed control that will work for you
 
jimmyspaz

jimmyspaz

Well-Known Member
Yeah I was thinking about a regular oscillating fan or duct fan,one that runs on 120 volt, 60 cycle. What you need is an SCR (speed control resistor) .
 
2kstyle

2kstyle

Well-Known Member
eh you can do it ghetto style and add like a piece of styrafoam and put on the sucking end and it should block some flow and slow it down. My Hydro Store lady does that to her set up because she said it was to strong.
 
whatapothead

whatapothead

Well-Known Member
not that its movin too much air.. fresh air is always a good thing.. but its just so damn loud. i have a computer down there runnin right by it just to blend out the sound of the air movin...
 
S

stickyicky77

Well-Known Member
whatapothead said:
ok i bought a carbon filter off this site and it has the internal fan.. just one of those standard black circle fans. it only has one speed and the sucker hums... well with my setup right now it needs to slow down a bit.

i need to add a resistor or something inline to slow down the speed. This fan plugs directly into a socket. how do i slow it down?
Click to expand...
Go to Home Depot and in the electrical department they have 3 speed fan switches that are used for ceiling fans. I have one wired up to mine. I also have a attic fan t-stat that i have wired in parallel so the fan will cycle's between high and low speed according to the temp in my Homebox. When the temp gets to 87 F the high speed kicks in and when the temp go es down it drops into low speed.
 
whatapothead

whatapothead

Well-Known Member
sticky do you have the same type of fan that i linked up above? i wired in the 3 speed dial and it didn't seem to work correctly and the fan made like a humming sound like it was going to burn it out so i just bypassed it for now.

late.
 
jimmyspaz

jimmyspaz

Well-Known Member
If you want variable speed you will need a speed control for electric motors/fans. As I said before ,farm supply or industrial supply shop. Not a major purchase,should only be like $10.
 
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