Panasonic Whisper Fan Carbon Scrubber Tutorial: Quietest most efficient fan ever!

[dramamine]

Hey Wooly,
I just recently got the 290 CFM one. It's easy to hook up, no stress. Just use a pigtail cord (the ones with the bare wires at one end, plug at the other) or get an extension cord rated for at least medium duty and cut off the female end, then trim the wires of their plastic coating. Give yourself at least an inch or so of bare wires. There'll be three of them: a white one, a green one, and a black one.

From there, just follow the wiring instructions that came with the unit, attaching each color wire to the same color wire on the cord. They'll be the same instructions, more or less, that you'd get from any book. Just make sure all the wires are wrapped up nice afterward so they can't touch each other. Good luck, duder!

 

[Bueno Time]

hi noob question - how do you wire this thing so that it can be plugged in? anybody got a link to a basic electricity tutorial?

They will come with a owners manual/installation guide in the box when you recieve it. It will have wiring diagrams that tell you which color wires to hook up to what depending on how you are trying to install it. Most likely you will just wire it to be on at a constant speed all the time.

Some models can be wired to run all the time at low cfm and kick on with either a switch or a motion sensor when someone comes into the bathroom (their intended use).

My model has that ability but I just hooked an extension cord up to the white black and green wires on the fan and matched the colors up to the ext cord and whala done. Very simple. My model is the Panasonic WhipserGreen FV-08VKS2 and is rated at .3 sones and 80cfm.

I am using it in my 150 hps cab and it works great to cool the 150 cab with only 2 sq feet of floor space. I made a Bulenath style scrubber for it and it works well but it did make the fan probably 3-4x as loud in my situation when the carbon scrubber was installed it went from DAMN NEAR SILENT to making a somewhat loud chopping/whooshing noise now. Hard to explain but is fairly easily covered up by having a fan running in the room and it can easily seem the culprit of the noise of air moving. Kinda of sounds like a loud central air vent that whooshes air audibly but with a slight choppyness to it.

 

[woolybear]

Sweet bueno and dramamine, thanks for the help! I now feel confident to order this crazy quiet thing.

So, just need to add to the shopping list: Electrical tape or that shrinkwire wrap if I can find it, pigtail cord. I can handle that!

I see the 290cfm is $150 at Amazon, not bad. It looks pretty big - next step is to figure out how to hang it in my tent!

 

[dramamine]

Yeah, that's the one thing to really make sure and figure out: how to hang the thing. They are somewhat bulky compared to other fans, but for me the quiet efficiency is worth it.

I just have mine sitting on top of some 5 gal paint buckets stacked up, but I'm gonna build a little stand for it soon. Or maybe hang it.... It's exhausting straight out the room, no duct run, maximizing the efficiency.

Bueno is right, too. When you first plug it in, you'll trip on how quiet it actually is. If you use the carbon filter, it'll definitely get substantially louder, but you have to keep in mind just how loud a comparable Vortex or similar fan is.

Happy ventilating!!

 

[woolybear]

Well, I got the fan! Unfortunately, can't install it tomorrow as I don't have a screwdriver to open the junction box!

Here's what I tried first: There's a short grey cable poking out of the fan with individual green, white and black cords, ending in a plastic clip with three holes corresponding to the wires. Bought a replacement cord, put its color wires into the corresponding holes on the white plastic clip. Wrapped in electrical tape.

Plugged in, heard a pop, and the outlet apparently reset itself - it stopped outputting power until I hit the reset button.

So I take it I need to make the connection in the junction box - I hope I didn't screw it up! Don't smell any burning or anything, I'm such a noob!

 

[dramamine]

Hey wooly,
Yeah, the clip thing stays inserted in the slot it fits in. The bare wire ends will be inside the junction box. Maybe you could use a butter knife or something for a screwdriver? Anyway, those are your connection ends. You'll get it, don't worry.

 

[woolybear]

Hey wooly,
Yeah, the clip thing stays inserted in the slot it fits in. The bare wire ends will be inside the junction box. Maybe you could use a butter knife or something for a screwdriver? Anyway, those are your connection ends. You'll get it, don't worry.

thanks buddy - i can't believe how tightly the screws on this fan are. I'm going to need to borrow a power screwdriver from somebody!

edit: I pried the fucker open and we have success! Now to vent!

 

[Bueno Time]

Ya I had to push in hard with the screwdriver to break ths screws loose but not too bad. Yeah once you open that box itll be pretty darn simple to wire up just punch out one of those circles to run the cord into the junction box through the hole u just punched out then wire up the white black n green and you are rockin! I wish I could help you out with tools man sucks to have to buy or borrow tools to do things but hell ya gotta do what you gotta do sometimes I guess. You will get it done tho Im sure.

 

[endofwed]

What kind of screws are they? Will a regualr phillips head screwdriver work?

 

[woolybear]

wasn't able to unscrew it, so I pried the fucker open with a pair of pliers, grabbed the ends, voila!

 

[Bueno Time]

What kind of screws are they? Will a regualr phillips head screwdriver work?

I do believe that they were phillips head screws. It is not a special kind of screw with the star shape (torx) or the square nothing like that.

Good job getting it figured out Wooly!

 

[big twinn]

what CFM rating would be suggested for a 250 watt???

 

[GeorgeWBush]

What size fan would you recommend for a stealth LED grow in a 3'x3'x6' box?

 

[Sgt.Stedenko]

It's frightning listening to some of you DIY hacks attempting to open fans with butter knives and pliers.
I'm sure wire nuts are way beyond your comprehension level.
Try not to burn down your mom's house.

 

[dramamine]

It's frightning listening to some of you DIY hacks attempting to open fans with butter knives and pliers.
I'm sure wire nuts are way beyond your comprehension level.
Try not to burn down your mom's house.

Haha, it was just turning a screw, bro...not frightening at all. What could be frightening about a fan that is both unwired and unplugged?

Doesn't really have anything to do with wire nuts. A butter knife is simply a flat edge, just like a straight blade screwdriver. It was suggested as an alternative to waiting more days just to be able to use a proper screwdriver (which is not a high tech piece of equipment).

Why so insulting anyway?

 

[GeorgeWBush]

It's frightning listening to some of you DIY hacks attempting to open fans with butter knives and pliers.
I'm sure wire nuts are way beyond your comprehension level.
Try not to burn down your mom's house.

On the contrary, someone with the utility and intelligence to work with the tools available to get the job done is smarter, and more useful, than one who cannot. The end result is what determines a hack from a wizard.

 

[Carforce420]

They're a piece of cake to wire but the electrical housing box is indeed on there extremely tight.

Definitely use wire nuts, there's more than enough room in the enclosure. Safety lasts friends!

 

[dramamine]

I don't think anyone suggested not using wire nuts, other than Sgt. Stedenko, that is..

 

[StealthDragon]

I just recieved my new panasonic whisper 150 cfm 0.3 sones fan. model # FV-15VQ5. This is the 3rd whisper fan I've ordered..the other 2 were 110 cfm. All ordered from wamhomecenter, all received within a week.

Both the 110 model that I purchased before and this 150 cfm model are both rated at 0.3 sones.

I just plugged it in and it's almost as silent as the 110 cfm ones. The first 110 cfm one that I hooked up had to feel the airflow to make sure it was working. This 150 cfm one is almost silent but makes just a slight hum..quieter then a small computer fan. Very happy with the purchase and it's still extremely quiet for the amount of airflow it's pushing!



edit: btw this one (150) has a 6" duct, the 110's have a 4"

 

[jakeh]

I've read the questions on whether the whisper fan would work venting a closed hood 400 watt hps and it does not seem to be recommended due to the concentrated heat coming out and keeping the ducts as straight as possible would make it difficult. Does anyone have any thoughts on how it would work on a 400 watt hps hung vertically with the fan placed in the ceiling. The room is a 4'x5'x5' or 100 cubic feet. Any thoughts?