VAtransplant
Active member
Hi all. I have a Can Max-Fan (6") and just received a 3amp variac controller that had good reviews on Amazon ($60). I didn't want to mess around with potential fan hum and stuff with the $20 poorly reviewed controllers, especially with little discussion of compatibility with my particular fan.
Anyway, it works great. No odd noises from the fan but the lowest I've set it to was to 60 volts. Can's website states that their fans are speed controllable, but warn to not go below 40% power to prevent the fan from overheating. Is this more of a concern with the standard triac controllers, or do variacs run the same risk? 40% of 120v is 48, so I guess I could go a little lower and still be in their safe zone, but I'd love to go even lower than that for when it's exceptionally cold outside (tonight).
I'll have a servo hooked up to the knob so I can automatically control the fan speed with my arduino, but it took about 2 minutes for my fan to cool down my tent to 68* from 80* with outside temps at about 10*F (passive window intake in to the room the tent is in, exhausts out). The goal was to have the fan not cutting on and off as often by simply slowing it down, but it's gonna have to be significantly lower than 60 volts to prevent frequent on and off. I guess if all else fails I'll buy another servo to control a damper on a duct T, to recirculate air in the room instead of exhausting out and try to get the two to work in harmony.
Thanks for any ideas or info on this
Anyway, it works great. No odd noises from the fan but the lowest I've set it to was to 60 volts. Can's website states that their fans are speed controllable, but warn to not go below 40% power to prevent the fan from overheating. Is this more of a concern with the standard triac controllers, or do variacs run the same risk? 40% of 120v is 48, so I guess I could go a little lower and still be in their safe zone, but I'd love to go even lower than that for when it's exceptionally cold outside (tonight).
I'll have a servo hooked up to the knob so I can automatically control the fan speed with my arduino, but it took about 2 minutes for my fan to cool down my tent to 68* from 80* with outside temps at about 10*F (passive window intake in to the room the tent is in, exhausts out). The goal was to have the fan not cutting on and off as often by simply slowing it down, but it's gonna have to be significantly lower than 60 volts to prevent frequent on and off. I guess if all else fails I'll buy another servo to control a damper on a duct T, to recirculate air in the room instead of exhausting out and try to get the two to work in harmony.
Thanks for any ideas or info on this
