I have a furnace blower I want to use as a shop exhaust fan. It's a
GE ECM motor meaning it has electronic controls mounted on the motor,
however, you can remove the control module and behind it are three
wires going to the motor, black, blue, red. There are no other wires
coming from the motor. There's also a capacitor mounted to the
housing. The motor says it's 120/240 volt 1 HP. I have 120 juice
close to the motor and I have a 220 outlet for band and table saw not
so conveniently located but presumably I could tap into that if
necessary.

So, which colors on the motor connect to which colors in the home
wiring?

Which color wire would go to the capacitor?

If I have to tap in behind the higher voltage outlet what's the best
way to work in an on/off switch other than using the breaker as my
switch?

"smcjensen" wrote in message
...
I have a furnace blower I want to use as a shop exhaust fan. It's a
GE ECM motor meaning it has electronic controls mounted on the motor,
however, you can remove the control module and behind it are three
wires going to the motor, black, blue, red. There are no other wires
coming from the motor. There's also a capacitor mounted to the
housing. The motor says it's 120/240 volt 1 HP. I have 120 juice
close to the motor and I have a 220 outlet for band and table saw not
so conveniently located but presumably I could tap into that if
necessary.

So, which colors on the motor connect to which colors in the home
wiring?

Which color wire would go to the capacitor?

If I have to tap in behind the higher voltage outlet what's the best
way to work in an on/off switch other than using the breaker as my
switch?

If the blower was used on a furnace, it's probably already connected for 120
volt. I would assume that the capacitor is already wired to the motor. In
any event there should be a diagram on the motor or in the cabinet, showing
it's wiring.

On Feb 24, 10:42*am, smcjensen wrote:
I have a furnace blower I want to use as a shop exhaust fan. *It's a
GE ECM motor meaning it has electronic controls mounted on the motor,
however, you can remove the control module and behind it are three
wires going to the motor, black, blue, red. *There are no other wires
coming from the motor. *There's also a capacitor mounted to the
housing. *The motor says it's 120/240 volt 1 HP.

A 1 HP exhaust fan sounds a bit hairy for the typical shop. Are there
some unusual reasons you need such a beast? Just curious.

Joe

On Feb 24, 8:42*am, smcjensen wrote:
I have a furnace blower I want to use as a shop exhaust fan. *It's a
GE ECM motor meaning it has electronic controls mounted on the motor,
however, you can remove the control module and behind it are three
wires going to the motor, black, blue, red. *There are no other wires
coming from the motor. *There's also a capacitor mounted to the
housing. *The motor says it's 120/240 volt 1 HP. *I have 120 juice
close to the motor and I have a 220 outlet for band and table saw not
so conveniently located but presumably I could tap into that if
necessary.

So, which colors on the motor connect to which colors in the home
wiring?

Which color wire would go to the capacitor?

If I have to tap in behind the higher voltage outlet what's the best
way to work in an on/off switch other than using the breaker as my
switch?

If you haven't already you may try a google search for the particular
ECM motor you have. The ones I know of are actually brushless DC
motors and the "control module" is what converts the AC to DC. You
can't remove the controller and hook the motor directly to AC. Try
posting all nameplate data on the motor.

"smcjensen" wrote in message
...
I have a furnace blower I want to use as a shop exhaust fan. It's a
GE ECM motor meaning it has electronic controls mounted on the motor,
however, you can remove the control module and behind it are three
wires going to the motor, black, blue, red. There are no other wires
coming from the motor. There's also a capacitor mounted to the
housing. The motor says it's 120/240 volt 1 HP. I have 120 juice
close to the motor and I have a 220 outlet for band and table saw not
so conveniently located but presumably I could tap into that if
necessary.

So, which colors on the motor connect to which colors in the home
wiring?

Which color wire would go to the capacitor?

If I have to tap in behind the higher voltage outlet what's the best
way to work in an on/off switch other than using the breaker as my
switch?
You can't use that motor without its electronic controller and it may be
rather complicated to figure out how to use it even with the controller.
Incidentially, my son recently paid about $400 for one of those controllers
and the whole motor would have been close to $800. So you may want to find a
sale to someone who can use it for its intended purpose.

Don Young

"smcjensen" wrote in message
...
I have a furnace blower I want to use as a shop exhaust fan. It's a
GE ECM motor meaning it has electronic controls mounted on the motor,
however, you can remove the control module and behind it are three
wires going to the motor, black, blue, red. There are no other wires
coming from the motor. There's also a capacitor mounted to the
housing. The motor says it's 120/240 volt 1 HP. I have 120 juice
close to the motor and I have a 220 outlet for band and table saw not
so conveniently located but presumably I could tap into that if
necessary.

So, which colors on the motor connect to which colors in the home
wiring?

Which color wire would go to the capacitor?

If I have to tap in behind the higher voltage outlet what's the best
way to work in an on/off switch other than using the breaker as my
switch?

I used a furnace blower as an exhaust fan for my shop in the basement. It
was an older unit so the wiring was very simple. There is one thing to keep
in mind though. Whatever volume of air you exhaust must be replaced from
somewhere. If this is in your house, make sure that you have some source of
replacement air or there could be unexpected consequences from say gas
furnaces and fireplaces.