On Jul 17, 2:12*am, lsmartino wrote:
On 16 jul, 09:27, klem kedidelhopper
wrote:



We have a ceiling fan in our bedroom that we sometimes like to run at
very slow speed at night. The fan was purchased as new surplus many
years ago and never came with a speed control. So I have been using a
generic solid state speed controller. With this unit we are able to
take the unit down to complete "crawl" however there has always been a
slight rhythmic buzzing noise whose loudness and duty cycle are both
directly proportional to the motor speed. I know it's related to the
pulse type of control I'm using but short of just using a variac or a
rheostat for that matter, does anyone know of a method to achieve a
very slow speed without the noise?

Also this motor has no brushes and so even though its not labeled as
such I wonder if it could be a "Universal" type of motor that could
run on DC? It wouldn't take much to put a bridge and perhaps even a
filter in the electrical box ahead of the motor. I'm thinking that DC
operation could possibly be quieter. Thanks, Lenny

A 120vac ceiling fan motor uses a pancake induction motor which can't
be used with DC. *I have seen wall rehostats for sale at hardware
stores to be used with ceiling fans. Some of them have two controls,
one for the ceiling fan lamp light and another for the fan. These can
be installed inside a 2x4 box. The ones I have seen are manufactured
by Ace Hardware.

Good luck!

Ceiling fans sold in Australia, typically switch between a couple of
non polar mains rated capacitors in series with the motor. a few UF
from memory. can look later at one if you really want to know. (note
here is 50hz, you might need different values for 60hz).

The other type of speed control that is used here - but not as common
is the same as a light dimmer except there is a resistor in series
with the pot to ensure a minimum speed to prevent the motor from
stalling and overheating due to insufficient speed setting for it to
start rotating from a dead stop.