I have just wired up a used A/C 1/4 hp condenser fan motor with 110
VAC.

It starts up easily and runs quietly.

I am using it to blow the air from one side of a duplex attic into the
other side, thereby cooling both attics.

The motor was designed for vertical shaft installation and I am using
it horizontally.

Is there any danger in running it at 1/2 the voltage and in the
horizontal orientation?


Thanks

Running the motor at half voltage shouldn't pose a problem. 30 years ago we
frequently did this to fan motors that were used in computer mainframes when
it wasn't necessary to provide full cooling capacity and we never had a
problem with them. If the fan moves enough air to satisfy you, then there
shouldn't be an electrical problem with it. The bearings, however, may fail
after a few years of use because they were really designed to be used with
the shaft in a vertical plane and not designed to handle a significant side
load.

--
Charley

wrote in message
oups.com...
I have just wired up a used A/C 1/4 hp condenser fan motor with 110
VAC.

It starts up easily and runs quietly.

I am using it to blow the air from one side of a duplex attic into the
other side, thereby cooling both attics.

The motor was designed for vertical shaft installation and I am using
it horizontally.

Is there any danger in running it at 1/2 the voltage and in the
horizontal orientation?


Thanks

Charley wrote:
Running the motor at half voltage shouldn't pose a problem. 30 years ago we
frequently did this to fan motors that were used in computer mainframes when
it wasn't necessary to provide full cooling capacity and we never had a
problem with them. If the fan moves enough air to satisfy you, then there
shouldn't be an electrical problem with it. The bearings, however, may fail
after a few years of use because they were really designed to be used with
the shaft in a vertical plane and not designed to handle a significant side
load.

--
Charley

wrote in message
oups.com...
I have just wired up a used A/C 1/4 hp condenser fan motor with 110
VAC.

It starts up easily and runs quietly.

I am using it to blow the air from one side of a duplex attic into the
other side, thereby cooling both attics.

The motor was designed for vertical shaft installation and I am using
it horizontally.

Is there any danger in running it at 1/2 the voltage and in the
horizontal orientation?


Thanks




Charlie,

Many thanks. Nothing like experience to answer a question. There are
many naysayers out there.

A note* This motor has a run capacitor and AFAIK it might help keep
the current down a bit.

I positioned the oil inlet for ease of lubing. If I oil it twice a
year, it might help the bearings.

What size motors were used in the main frame cooling fans?

Now you're pushing it. My memory isn't that good for something that I did 30
years ago.

They were double shaft motors with a squirrel cage fan on each output shaft.
They had capacitors, and the motor cases were about 3" dia and 5" long, and
they were painted black, but that's about all that I can remember about
them.

--
Charley

wrote in message
oups.com...

Charley wrote:
Running the motor at half voltage shouldn't pose a problem. 30 years ago
we
frequently did this to fan motors that were used in computer mainframes
when
it wasn't necessary to provide full cooling capacity and we never had a
problem with them. If the fan moves enough air to satisfy you, then
there
shouldn't be an electrical problem with it. The bearings, however, may
fail
after a few years of use because they were really designed to be used
with
the shaft in a vertical plane and not designed to handle a significant
side
load.

--
Charley

wrote in message
oups.com...
I have just wired up a used A/C 1/4 hp condenser fan motor with 110
VAC.

It starts up easily and runs quietly.

I am using it to blow the air from one side of a duplex attic into the
other side, thereby cooling both attics.

The motor was designed for vertical shaft installation and I am using
it horizontally.

Is there any danger in running it at 1/2 the voltage and in the
horizontal orientation?


Thanks




Charlie,

Many thanks. Nothing like experience to answer a question. There are
many naysayers out there.

A note* This motor has a run capacitor and AFAIK it might help keep
the current down a bit.

I positioned the oil inlet for ease of lubing. If I oil it twice a
year, it might help the bearings.

What size motors were used in the main frame cooling fans?

wrote in message
oups.com...
I have just wired up a used A/C 1/4 hp condenser fan motor with 110
VAC.

It starts up easily and runs quietly.

I am using it to blow the air from one side of a duplex attic into the
other side, thereby cooling both attics.

The motor was designed for vertical shaft installation and I am using
it horizontally.

Is there any danger in running it at 1/2 the voltage and in the
horizontal orientation?


Thanks


Many 220 volt appliances have internal 110 volt accessories. Are you sure
that the motor is 220 volt? I have run capacitor start motors on lower
voltage and they would not run correctly. The motor may only been running
on 1 leg of the 2-110 volt lines coming in to the condenser/compressor.

Now, considering what you are doing, I did a similar set up in my attic
about 20 years ago and ran the fan for 10 years. I found that the fan had
no measurable effect on my electricity bill nor did the attic temperature
drop. My electricity usage during the summer basically remained the same
with the fan not running all day long. An expert in the Houston area
addressed this once and indicated that the cooling savings was off set by
the expense of running the fan. With my findings I totally agree. The
motor I used was designed to be mounted facing up on a roof top and I had it
mounted vertically, it never wore out.

Leon wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
I have just wired up a used A/C 1/4 hp condenser fan motor with 110
VAC.

It starts up easily and runs quietly.

I am using it to blow the air from one side of a duplex attic into the
other side, thereby cooling both attics.

The motor was designed for vertical shaft installation and I am using
it horizontally.

Is there any danger in running it at 1/2 the voltage and in the
horizontal orientation?


Thanks


Many 220 volt appliances have internal 110 volt accessories. Are you sure
that the motor is 220 volt? I have run capacitor start motors on lower
voltage and they would not run correctly. The motor may only been running
on 1 leg of the 2-110 volt lines coming in to the condenser/compressor.

Now, considering what you are doing, I did a similar set up in my attic
about 20 years ago and ran the fan for 10 years. I found that the fan had
no measurable effect on my electricity bill nor did the attic temperature
drop. My electricity usage during the summer basically remained the same
with the fan not running all day long. An expert in the Houston area
addressed this once and indicated that the cooling savings was off set by
the expense of running the fan. With my findings I totally agree. The
motor I used was designed to be mounted facing up on a roof top and I had it
mounted vertically, it never wore out.


The motor plate reads 220 VAC. There is no 110 VAC connection.


This house in SE Florida has a steel roof and you can 'sense' the heat
coming from the attic.

Time will tell whether the extra fan power will pay for itself.

However if the heat 'sense' is diminished, I would consider it a
success.

5 seconds of holding my head in the attic at 2 PM is all the testing
necessary to judge the effectiveness of forced air cooling. So far, it
feels much cooler.

BTW The fan is controlled by a thermostat.

wrote in message
ups.com...

This house in SE Florida has a steel roof and you can 'sense' the heat
coming from the attic.

Time will tell whether the extra fan power will pay for itself.

However if the heat 'sense' is diminished, I would consider it a
success.

Well my attic seemed to be a bit lest stagnent when the fan was on but it
never really lowered the temperature. I have an amuminum roof and my fan
was also on a thermostat. The thermostat was set on 95 degrees and more
often than not would run 24 hours a day during hte summer. Only in late
September or after a cold front did I ever notice that it was not still
running from the night before.



5 seconds of holding my head in the attic at 2 PM is all the testing
necessary to judge the effectiveness of forced air cooling. So far, it
feels much cooler.

BTW The fan is controlled by a thermostat.


Good Luck.

Leon wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...

This house in SE Florida has a steel roof and you can 'sense' the heat
coming from the attic.

Time will tell whether the extra fan power will pay for itself.

However if the heat 'sense' is diminished, I would consider it a
success.

Well my attic seemed to be a bit lest stagnent when the fan was on but it
never really lowered the temperature. I have an amuminum roof and my fan
was also on a thermostat. The thermostat was set on 95 degrees and more
often than not would run 24 hours a day during hte summer. Only in late
September or after a cold front did I ever notice that it was not still
running from the night before.



5 seconds of holding my head in the attic at 2 PM is all the testing
necessary to judge the effectiveness of forced air cooling. So far, it
feels much cooler.

BTW The fan is controlled by a thermostat.


Good Luck.


95 degrees 24 hours a day? And they say that FL is hot.

I will do an experiment. Leave the fan off till noon and measure the
temp. Run it for an hour and measure again.

Did you run a 220 VAC fan on 120 VAC?