Electronics > Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff
Slowing down a pedestal fan
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TomS_:
I grabbed another fan controller and tried putting it inline with the fan. This one uses capacitors which get switched in, or none for full speed.

Turned the fan itself to full and tried using the external controller but it was only rotating very slowly, barely able to start spinning on the lower setting.

So perhaps it is a different setup to a standard ceiling fan. I haven't bothered to take it apart to see what it is doing to control it's speed. Perhaps a different type of controller might work, this was a cheapie $20 unit, but an electrical supply shop had a fully variable unit for about $80, though that was a bit too much for a test.

Might just have to throw this in the f**k it bucket for now, was a nice idea if it would have worked. I'll be heading back home (to the UK) in a few days so not likely to have much time to try anything else this year.
Electro Detective:

Hit on some Youtubes, I've seen a few tubers either doing it somehow,
or explaining why it won't happen in certain circumstances



Psi:
My sister had this exact issue. 
She had a fan where even speed 1 was too fast/noisey.

We tried my variac, which worked fine, but she didn't want to spend that much money getting her own variac.
The solution we came up with was a cheap $30  220-110v step down transformer.
She just runs the fan from 110v instead of 220v.

One word of warning, if you drop the voltage too low the lowest speed setting may not have enough torque to start spinning the blades.
They may stall and the fan just sit there humming,  this is bad and may cause the motor to overheat
So keep that in mind.  Fan on but not moving = bad. <Insert usual disclaimer about not burning down ones house>
Electro Detective:
A lot of those ' cheap $30  220-110v step down transformer' MIC in the last few years are a safety worry,
every one I've had the displeasure of opening up, had wiring, assembly and shoddy labor issues as well as crappy crumbling brittle output connectors

This is on top of the fact they are not isolation transformers and dangerous to begin with, especially in a flipped Active/Neutral mains scenario

The older or vintage stepdown gear is the way to go, some are actually isolated  :clap:
but still open them up, dust out and check before using,
and wack in a fuse on the output and input to be sure, if none present 

Good for years, plug in, walk away..  :phew:





Prehistoricman:

--- Quote from: Electro Detective on April 29, 2020, 01:32:46 am ---This is on top of the fact they are not isolation transformers and dangerous to begin with, especially in a flipped Active/Neutral mains scenario

--- End quote ---
Why is this dangerous? Appliances should use earth for the chassis and not neutral so I don't see why this could be an issue.
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