115VAC low current fan speed controller Answered

Greetings,
I am fairly new to electronics, and have mostly worked with DC circuits so far. I have an AC fan I want to use to make a carbon filtered ventilation fan for my soldering station. I can do this with a DC circuit and DC fan, but when researching how to do it with an AC fan I came up with more questions than I started with...

The fan I have is a Nidec TA450AC model A30122-10. It is about 5x5x1.5 inches, and rated for 115VAC, 50/60Hz, .26/.21A. I found data on the fan here: http://http://www.nidecpg.com/fanpdfs/ta450ac.pdf

In my research so far it seems there might be three solutions: 1> Use a TRIAC/DIAC circuit, 2> Use a MOSFET circuit or 3> Use a microcontroller/PWM circuit. There seem to be benefits/drawbacks to each method, and I don't know which method to choose, or even if I'm headed in the right direction.. I don't know how to tell if the fan is single-phase, triple-phase, induction... ugh. I am looking for an inexpensive solution I can build myself, that performs well.

Can anyone help me find the right solution for my application? Or at least point me in the right direction?

Thanks much,
doval

Tags:fan speed controller

Discussions

d0val

3 years ago

Just to be clear I'm trying to make a fan speed controller.

I've done a bunch of research on this since the post and the only viable option is a microcontroller solution. If anyone has any experience with this particular application I would appreciate hearing about it. Especially if it is arduino/at mega328 driven.

Video1

Video2

Downunder35md0val

Reply 3 years ago

There is no info on the motor itself, in terms of how it works.
-Without that it is impossible to tell which type of control could work.
Best option is to contact the manufacturer and ask what type of speed control is possible.
E.g.: Voltage controlled, frequency controlled, PWM (dimmer for example).

d0valDownunder35m

Reply 3 years ago

it is a shaded pole motor. It is very similar to the one in the first video link above

d0vald0val

Reply 3 years ago

All of those methods are possible, but there are undesirable drawbacks. The only methods I'm interested in are microcontroller driven such as pwm or phase angle control solutions..like what are pictured in the video links.

d0vald0val

Reply 3 years ago

By 'all of those methods' I mean the ones I mentioned in the original post (triac etc)

Downunder35md0val

Reply 3 years ago

Ok, so why not go and select a suitable half or full bridge circuit to drive the motor?
Add a mosfet driver IC and the required required DC electronics.
The input for the IC comes from a little arduino.
Communication to another device can be done by Bluetooth or WiFi with an added shield or module.
Code examples are available but you still have to get the pieces together and tweak them for your needs.
If you have no ciding skills finding a suitable Andriod or Iphone app will be the hardest part.
Without that the speed control is as easy as adding a potentiometer for manual control or a sensor for automatic PWM control based on the sensor input, like temp, humidity, ambient noise level, toxidity levels in the air....

d0valDownunder35m

Reply 3 years ago

I am talking about AC fan control not DC. Thus the title of the post. If I misunderstood you and you are talking about an AC fan speed controller with a DC component for frequency control, kindly provide a link or resource, which is what I am looking for.