×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

VFD on Ceiling Fan

VFD on Ceiling Fan

VFD on Ceiling Fan

(OP)
I have been given the task of finding a way to control the speed of ceiling fans based on outside air temperature.  I have located relatively inexpensive Variable Frequency Drives which were developed for use with ceiling fans; however i am unable to find ceiling fan manufacturers with inverter duty rated motors in their product.  The VFD manufacturer claims that their VFD will work with fan motors that are Permanent Split Capacitor motors.  Will i encounter problems (motor life, noise, etc.) with a VFD driving this type of motor(permanent split capacitor)?

RE: VFD on Ceiling Fan

The typical speed controller for ceiling fans is a simple knob on the wall that turns the amperage down by clipping the topsand bottoms off the sine wave.  Not really a VFD but it works.

The application you are describing is way more advanced.  Maybe one of the larger industrial ceiling fan manufacturers has a motor with the insulation on the windings rated for inverter duty.  

One thing that might help is to put reactors in series with the motor to suppress any voltage spikes.

Talk to a sales engineer at SmartFan, they have control packages that might do what what you want with simple phase clipping.

RE: VFD on Ceiling Fan

Biosafety Cabinet manufacturers use microprocessor based speed control for fans, controlled by velocity of the flow stream, without using a variable frequency drive.
Electrical forum237 can be of help to you regarding details.

RE: VFD on Ceiling Fan

I have used a product for air intake in a boiler room that uses a VFD fan unit.  May not be the least expensive option, but look at Exhausto
http://www.exhausto.com/composite-11.htm

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources