How to ...fan on a dimmer

So can anyone explain to me how to set this up. I bought a dimmer the other day, and it has 3 wires coming off it, 2 black and a green and my fan only has 2, white and red. I suck when it comes to electrical stuff, so any help would be greatly appreciated. I have been searching around and couldnt find anything. We should make a diy thread that has all this stuff in it. Thanks in advance guys

what type of fan re you trying to put on the dimmer, there are fan timers and light timers. and you need to make sure the fan you are tring to put on a reistat will work that way

What, you have a fan with no ground? It easy to create one. Run a wire from a metal frame part of the fan to the ground wire of your cord, or dimmer switch, in this case. Sometimes the best place to put your grounding wire is around the screw that attaches the cover for the fan motor. The hot wire (Black) from wherever you are getting power should attach to one of the black wire from the dimmer, and the other black wire from the dimmer will attach to the red wire at the fan. The white wire from source will need to be attached to the white wire at the fan. Remember TURN OFF THE SWITCH FIRST, and turn it on last. I am not an electrician, I have done a fair amount of wiring. If I were doing this I would test the fan to source first to make sure this is the way it is wired. Then turn the source off and wire the whole thing. I posted wiring for a dimmer switch in a DIY Bud Dryer. A little different than you are doing, might help might not. VV

it works, doesnt seem to have much adjustmet but better than it was. thanks guys

Hey dude i had the same problem, like the speed didnt adjust at all. Same for you? All my timer is good for is an on off button. Same shit for you? Just wondering because i think you might need a fan timer. Or a heavy duty dimmer. I myself have this fan that just pumps air like it would take a peice of paper like a good 2 feet easy. But my dimmer doesnt dim the electrick flow at all, maby not the right kind of dimmer??

You know, I just dont get it. Why do people try to take short cuts when they shouldnt? What I dont understand is this, why do you newbies continueously try to circumvent major cycles of the plants life? I understand everyone is here to learn and I am by no means coming down on these people, I do not mean that at all. I promise. However, if they would just research some, all of their questions would be answered. I mean, guys come on, lets at least teach these newbies that no matter what, the plant needs only two things, light and water. We all know that. Help this person out, he is not making a very good start.

I wasnt trying to cut any corners, yeah money is an issue but. The fan I am able to adjust, just not alot, I am using a regular timer not a fan timer, maybe that is my problrm. When i went tot he store i told them i was looking for a timer i could put a fan on and they told me any of them would work. No problems for me, heat and air circulation are fine with what I have come up with.

rkm said:

You know, I just dont get it. Why do people try to take short cuts when they shouldnt? What I dont understand is this, why do you newbies continueously try to circumvent major cycles of the plants life? I understand everyone is here to learn and I am by no means coming down on these people, I do not mean that at all. I promise. However, if they would just research some, all of their questions would be answered. I mean, guys come on, lets at least teach these newbies that no matter what, the plant needs only two things, light and water. We all know that. Help this person out, he is not making a very good start.

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...and nutes and gas exchange.. I think I'll find a dimmer switch useful in the future as well, in maintaining temperature of the grow room.. I'm planning to get a blower with more air movement than i need, just to be on the safe side, and my intake will be cooler air than I'd like.. esp. during dark cycles.. by dimming the fan, provided I get a dimmer that accomplishes this effectively, I can avoid this problem and still give adequate air exchange and carbon filtration..

here's some pretty cool sites for learning about electrical work that I've found.. havent explored them entirely, yet, but they look promising:
Basic Types of Electrical Plugs | DoItYourself.com
Do It Yourself Electrical Switches, Outlets, Light Fixtures, Cables, Lamp Wiring
DIY Tutorials: Detail : DIY Network

I think an important thing to consider when choosing a dimmer would be the resistance range it can apply to the circuit.. if you know some basic electrical formulae, you should be able to roughly predict the dimmer you'll need

guess and check... and tell

newbie grower said:

it works, doesnt seem to have much adjustmet but better than it was. thanks guys

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upinchronic1 said:

Hey dude i had the same problem, like the speed didnt adjust at all.

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The problem here is you guys are trying to use incandescent light dimmers to control the speed of a motor. Wrong device, folks.

Incandescent light dimmers are intended for purely resistive loads like an incandescent lamp filament. They can't control the currents required by a motor. Fan motors will stall when the voltage is dialed down even a little.

If you want to control the speed of a fan motor, head back to the hdwe store and buy... a fan motor speed controller! They're probably on the same aisle in your local hdwe store as the light dimmers. About $35 for 300W MSC units, a little more for 500W types.