How can I "slow down" my 1800cfm fan?

[Chriscrete]

I have a 16x16x10 flower room with 10k running/ready, have only 6400 running right now with a 36,000BTU fujitsu mini split....I have a MAX FAN 1800cfm 12inch fan as my main exhaust as well

Main issue is of course heat vs. AC.....I think im sucking to much of my cooled air OUT before it has the chance to envelope the room properly, this fan could suck your zipper off your pants if you got too close


Do any of you super skilled folks have any moves or products you could send me towards to try and slow this fan down a little bit??? Not really sure what to do on this one, a few obvious things could be to make my intake smaller, I tried the speed controller but the fan overheated and it shut off and that was on medium high, I have 1 8inch carbon filter on it now with a few bends in the ducting and will/can put another 8inch on if needed

HELPHELPHELP!!!! thanks

 

[mojave green]

put your fan on a timer.

 

[Elements001]

http://www.amazon.com/Variac-Variab...4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1408848041&sr=1-4

This works really well. It will slow down the speed of your fan without changing the wave, resulting in no damage to the fan and making it last longer. I have a smaller one I use for my 440 CFM fan, I really do love the thing. 0-130V Variable amp, has dial you set to the voltage(speed) you want. Very heavy duty and will keep your equipment running longer, also causes no hum that some speed controllers can make.

They have other models for different amp ratings, I would definitely check em out. You can use them for many applications as well, such as dimming CFLs

 

[the gnome]

elements is dead on it.
you have to use a variac with that type fan motor,
don't use a speedster or you can damage it


btw
I have a 12"max fan myself
suckt all my zipperz off years ago

 

[Elements001]

Oh yeah, you want the amp rating to be at least 1.5x what the rating of your fan is. So if your fan is rated for 3 amps, it will have a surge of 4.5 amps on start up, so the 5 amp would cover that. Pricey but I did not regret buying it at all

 

[Chriscrete]

Super baddass! That's exactly what I need, no clue how spot on that move is....thanks so much.

 

[hillbillyIBL]

elements is dead on it.
you have to use a variac with that type fan motor,
don't use a speedster or you can damage it


btw
I have a 12"max fan myself
suckt all my zipperz off years ago

I have read this several times now.. Never knew this. I have used a cheap 30 dollar speed controller and yet to have any problems but WILL be looking to upgrade to whatever is needed. Fans are not cheap. Thanks.

 

[Elements001]

Yeah, the cheaper controllers and speedsters change the wave form causing damage to the fan in the long term. I was much more concerned about fire safety though. While looking at some speed controllers online I saw several pictures of fire damage from them being used "as advertised" on inline ventilation fans. That was all I needed to sway me to spend 3x the money on the proper equipment.

Thing is really cool too, I am quite sure you will find more applications for it outside of the grow if you ever do stop growin

 

[rives]

Variacs are not as benign as you would think. They function by lowering the voltage, which causes the amperage to rise proportionately. Overall, probably the biggest reason for motors to die prematurely is as a result of low voltage. The only reason that they don't destroy the fan motors quickly is because the motor is hung in the air stream and gets far more cooling than a standard motor. However, if the heat from your lighting goes through the fan housing and/or you slow the fan down too much, you are going to toast it.

The speedsters use a triac to turn a segment of the electrical sine wave on & off very quickly, so that only a portion of the sine wave is used to power the motor.

The triac-based controllers are actually much safer for most motors as long as A) the motor is compatible with it (some aren't) and B) you don't slow the running fan down so much that it won't have the torque to restart after the power cycles off and back on.

All that said, I believe that Can recommends a variac for the Max Fan exclusively.

 

[Chunkypigs]

my 12" wind tunnel likes a variac. wish you could use one in conjunction with a temperature controller cheaply to maintain a set temp. small 5A variacs are $50 and run my 12 no problem.

 

[Chriscrete]

my 12" wind tunnel likes a variac. wish you could use one in conjunction with a temperature controller cheaply to maintain a set temp. small 5A variacs are $50 and run my 12 no problem.

got a link by chance?

 

[RicoT]

Why are you exhausting your cooled air..? Is it a lung room? Sealed with the mini-split not an option? Or am I tripping?

Anyway I dunno how much power the 12" pulls but here's a 5A Variac ~$120shipped, not quite $50...
5A Variac Controller

 

[mojave green]

Variacs are not as benign as you would think. They function by lowering the voltage, which causes the amperage to rise proportionately. Overall, probably the biggest reason for motors to die prematurely is as a result of low voltage. The only reason that they don't destroy the fan motors quickly is because the motor is hung in the air stream and gets far more cooling than a standard motor. However, if the heat from your lighting goes through the fan housing and/or you slow the fan down too much, you are going to toast it.

The speedsters use a triac to turn a segment of the electrical sine wave on & off very quickly, so that only a portion of the sine wave is used to power the motor.

The triac-based controllers are actually much safer for most motors as long as A) the motor is compatible with it (some aren't) and B) you don't slow the running fan down so much that it won't have the torque to restart after the power cycles off and back on.

All that said, I believe that Can recommends a variac for the Max Fan exclusively.

ignore this at your peril. thanx rives. as usual, spot on.
that's why i use timers on fans that aren't controlled by thermostats. off or on is usually best.