Stanley Blower Fan Mod

[Nicoli]

Anyone ever put their stanley on a kill a watt? I wonder what it consumes in wattage for each speed. if no one knows i'll test it when I get my kill a watt.

*edit* Just found this online:

High = 102W
Medium = 74W
Low = 60W

i'll check it anyways when i get my handy dandy tool

 

[durka_durka420]

and if your fan is noisy i suggest you take it appart clean the fan blades see if u can get to motor clean that up using a brush and few drops of oil on the motors spindles and that should help...only do this if your comfortable taking apart your fan....but some times you can oil sand and do whatever to a motor and it will still make noise or run shitty...

 

[HIGHGROOVE]

good idea on the kill a watt damn if its using that much im trading taht fan out

 

[HIGHGROOVE]

well just checked mine on the kill a watt and its right around 82 watts on the high setting

 

[Tilt]

I use my fan with a home made scubber thanks for the watt info HIGHGROOVE

 

[endofwed]

I'm planning on growing only 1 or 2 plants. Do you think this fan would be an overkill? (not planning on modding, just air circulation) Also, if this fan was running on its lowest settings and was right next to you, do you think you would be able to sleep?

Thank you!

 

[R3ZIN]

I'm planning on growing only 1 or 2 plants. Do you think this fan would be an overkill? (not planning on modding, just air circulation) Also, if this fan was running on its lowest settings and was right next to you, do you think you would be able to sleep?

Thank you!

I don't think this fan would be overkill for 2 or more plants no. You would be able to sleep but there is quite a bit of the 'air rushing' sound as this thing moves quite a bit of air. With some sort of muffler, no problem!

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=188627&highlight=stanley

and muffler

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=723612&postcount=65

 

[cashmunny]

"Blocking or partially blocking the Inlet to a Squirell Cage Blower gives the same effect as blocking the suction on a Vacuum Cleaner. The blowers design loses flow and requires less power to run in a Vacuum so it speeds up since the torque load decreases."

I interpret this to mean that if you are going to scrub with a Stanley blower, it would be better to put the scrubber on the output side. Contrary to prevailing wisdom regarding axial fans.

Also here is an extensive treatment of fan design and selection:

http://www.greenheck.com/media/pdf/otherinfo/FanFundamentalsMay2005.pdf

"Centrifugal fans are more efficient at higher static
pressures and are quieter than propeller fans. "

 

[SinisterLion]

Has anyone tried modifying one of the more powerful blowers? They have blowers available that cost around 200-300 that offer CFM over a thousand easy, I'm figuring you guys did all these mods to these weak little ones, why not apply it to the big boys, if it works you just found a way around the extremely expensive fans.

And a quick idea, these things normally sit on the ground, you can adjust the vent upwards with the register ducting right? So why not build a box, with trays, with carbon on the trays, connected on the side of these with a straight duct for minimum resistance, then you could just change your trays like they do on the nicer sealed room systems, without trying to suspend, duct, etc.

 

[zbenjii]

I'd like to conserve the precious cab space and put both the fan and the scrubber outside of the cab. Is this possible?

Also, what's the best way to attach a carbon filter to the exhaust side of the fan?
Is that expanding foam stuff air tight? I've heard of the case of the fan caving in due to negative pressure.

 

[Heyoka23]

I just bought one of the lasko blowers at wal-mart. I was excited about it as it would save some money and seemed like a good fan at first. I modified the fan by removing the grill and drilling holes in the barrier of the blade. I also blocked off the smaller air intake. I hooked it to pull through a carbon filter. I wanted to feel confident that this fan wouldn't flake out on me so I ran it for a couple days. Well, it has started to flake out. When I turn the switch on it hums and may or may not get the blade spinning. I don't trust this fan. Waste of money, IMHO.

 

[zbenjii]

after reading the mod instructions i realized that the holes have to be extremely exact in order for the fan to stay completely balanced. I didn't feel comfortable making these cuts and thought the fan engine would be better cooled if I could leave the fan the way it was and just encase the fan so both fan intakes would be pulling air through carbon.


I made a stanley blower carbon filter without making any cuts to the fan and it worked wonderfully. I think problems start happening when you drill holes to compensate for the small fan engine intake being blocked. I put the fan within a rubbermaid tub, cut holes in the bottom of the tub, placed chicken wire then air filter material then carbon then air filter material again. the fan pulls through the carbon in the bottom and exhausts through the front. It's a very strong fan + filter combo that can filter a small room. It doesn't sound like there is any additional stress on the fan.

 

[BlueGrassToker]

Folks often make the mistake of thinking there are two air intakes on these blowers. There is only ONE intake side. The other side is not used for an air intake..it is simply moving a bit of it to help keep the motor cool. Leave it alone and do not encase it with the other side. Only bring air in to the one side that indeed intakes air.
And cutting out any grills will not mess with the "balance" of the thing. It can only help with the ultimate output of air flow. The more open the flow path is, the more efficient the blower will be.

 

[zbenjii]

Folks often make the mistake of thinking there are two air intakes on these blowers. There is only ONE intake side. The other side is not used for an air intake..it is simply moving a bit of it to help keep the motor cool. Leave it alone and do not encase it with the other side. Only bring air in to the one side that indeed intakes air.
And cutting out any grills will not mess with the "balance" of the thing. It can only help with the ultimate output of air flow. The more open the flow path is, the more efficient the blower will be.

It actually is an intake since the fan pulls air from both sides only the area of the intake for the engine is small enough to just cool the engine. If you cut another hole in the case of the fan, you will see that the fan will start pulling air from the hole in the case= intake. Cover the main intake and see what happens to the inflow to the engine intake.. you will see that the fan will start pulling massive amounts of air through that little tiny intake. Lasko designed the fan with an additional intake so air would flow through the engine to cool it.. it's definitely an intake or a way for air to be sucked into the fan..

Regardless of semantics, covering up the small opening can significantly increase the heat in the stanley blower which WILL decrease its useful life.

Cutting out the grill isn't the problem. Cutting holes into the fan(the moving portion of the fan) can offset the balance of the whole fan creating a shake and some extra noise. It also decreases the cfm output because of the inefficiency from the fan being off balance.

My conclusion is that the lasko blowers are monsters and can be put to great use if you leave its inside parts alone.

 

[fukndenny]

My Stanley is still running strong after 2 years of 24/7

 

[messn'n'gommin']

Drilled 1/2" holes at an angle (to act as a kind of scoop) in a free-handed pattern for the blade center piece. Taped up the motor cooling vent and all seams of the fan housing and I get about 170 CFM on the high setting when attached to a 6"x8"x2' filter, about 220 without. For about a total of 1-1/2 years of constant use (18/6, 12/12) in the last three years.

Having said that, Zbenjii is absolutely right. That is what the small vent was designed to do, to cool the motor. I like the box idea and think it has definite merit and wish I had seen it before brutalizing mine.

Still, for about $65 (mod parts included) I got a good serviceable 5" fan even with the restrictions I placed on it. After that, I've since upgraded to a bigger fan, and to save using up the filter, I ventilate 500w's in a 2x4 closet during veg and early flower (until smell) with the Stanley.

 

[fukndenny]

Finally got a chance to put my Stanley on the Kill-a-watt:

low - 58w - 0.49 amp
medium - 64.8w - 0.55 amp
high - 72.8w - 0.67 amp

fwiw.

 

[stihgnobevoli]

This is BRILLIANT. Thats the first time i've seen the Stanley Blower modded like that! Very innovative! SOMEBODY MAKE THIS THREAD A STICKY!

They cost about 45 dollors at homedepot or walmart (type "stanley" in HDs search bar). And according to stanley the cfm ratings are:
Low - 1282 cfm
med - 1746 cfm
high - 2181 cfm
Sounds a bit farfetched to me, but we can all agree that this blower is one powerful mofo.

*EDIT* After checking some other mj sites i found out that bostrom155 is correct and that the Stanley company's ratings are fabricated. The Stanley blower outputs about the same amount of air as a 265cfm dayton.

crazy that in almost 10 years with technology advancing and manufacturing costs being cheaper everyday...somehow this fan is now $15-$25 more expensive than it was in 2006.

FWIW you can now get a centrifuge fan that while not quite 256cfm (160+)is ultra quiet.

 

[The Dopest]

I had to quit growing a couple years after starting this thread but have used the same fan/DIY filter that I made in this thread to remove weed smoke from my "chill spot" 24hrs a day for the past 7-8 years. The only thing I've had to do was replace the carbon and home made pre filter a couple times. Very worthwhile investment for me.

Btw, this is the one I drilled/taped up the motor side of with aluminum duct tape. If that supposedly significantly reduces the life of the motor, someone needs to tell my fan because its still running right this minute.

 

[Vandenberg]

Bumping

Bumping

Ye Olde ancient text with useful info to be had tucked in here.

Vandenberg