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 RogerRabbit
Bans for Pleasure
Registered: 03/26/03
Posts: 19,047
Loc: USA Mountain Northwest
Last seen: 1 hour, 42 minutes
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That meter will work. Simply clamp it around one of the wires leading to a motor.(not both wires, just one) However, the engineers have already done that work for you when they paired the blower with the motor. It won't draw over 5 amps during operation. I'm sure if you'll fix the burned wiring, you'll be good to go. At this point, if it were mine, I think I'd get rid of the switches and everything and just wire the motors direct to the power cord, so it's on whenever you plug it in. If you do that, all you need is a few wire nuts to make up the connections. If you want the switches to work, you'll need to get some lugs, #14 MTW stranded wire and a good crimper. Grainger should have MTW, which is 'machine tool wire' and it's more flexible than normal wiring, so it stands up better to vibration.
RR
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www.mushroomvideos.com
Ignorance is contagious. Boycott Walmart and watch your IQ go up.
RR
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 fastfred
Registered: 05/17/04
Posts: 4,417
Loc: Dark side of the moon
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I've never used those inductive meters. I'm guessing they're not the best though. I'd just get a standard multimeter that does 20A. You'll find a lot more uses for one than just the ammeter.
It's also nice to have a switch on it. If the switches are giving you problems then you probably have something wrong with the motor. Just replacing your swithces with a plugin is a good way to burn out your motor, cord, or plug-in and start a fire. Your motor isn't supposed to draw much more than 5A if it's working properly from what you've described it sounds like there may be some sort of problem with it. I'd spend the time to see if you can't figure it out before you end up burning out the motor.
One other thing you might try is taking it to a HVAC shop. They'll be able to check the current draw for you and suggest other sources of problems to check.
Quote:
makaveli8x8 said:
well im wondering if my blower was 2 small in the first place, but as for your suggestion, i got it all siliconed up so looking at it is out of the question for me. it was prewired when I got it and sopposedly came out of hvac, so im sure a certified person rigged it up, plus the guy deals with lots of them
If you have the same motor as me it's way, way too big. That thing is like a hurricane at full speed.
You should have the white and red wires hooked up for the lowest speed. If you want higher speeds then it's white and black or blue. I don't think you'll need higher speeds though.
Who knows what your guy hooked up? I'd check the wiring myself, it shouldn't be hard, all the wires are exposed on the outside. Besides, just because it was hooked up right doesn't mean that you don't have problem in the windings. Different speed wires use different windings, so one might be shot but the others fine. It might have been taken out of service because the high speed wiring is fucked up.
-FF
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ZeropointMind
Stranger
Registered: 08/28/05
Posts: 67
Last seen: 9 months, 21 days
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 Re: Laminar Flow Hood (w/ pic) [Re: RogerRabbit]
#7879869 - 01/14/08 07:01 PM (11 months, 19 days ago) |
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Ok, just returned from home depot with the goods. Ill give everything a go tonight, and report back with the findings.
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ZeropointMind
Stranger
Registered: 08/28/05
Posts: 67
Last seen: 9 months, 21 days
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Re: Laminar Flow Hood (w/ pic) [Re: RogerRabbit]
#7880827 - 01/14/08 10:36 PM (11 months, 19 days ago) |
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alrite.. everything is currently running.... the amps are at the lowest about 5.1, as I move the speed adjustment to its lowest... at the highest, slowly moving it up, the meter says 5.4. . . and so forth. What would be the max amount to reach safely, as well as effective air flow? Is 5.4 too much on a 5amp motor? I don't know how sensitive current is to cause any problems with any minor .01 adjustment. Any comments are greatly appreciated, thank you.
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makaveli8x8
Stranger
Registered: 02/28/06
Posts: 7,033
Last seen: 23 hours, 48 seconds
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for air flow you want a candles flame to bend over, but not blow out.
i think someone mentioned the max amps a page back, i think 5,4 should be good, think 7 amps was bad.
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  We were sent to hell for eternity  Ø h®
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ZeropointMind
Stranger
Registered: 08/28/05
Posts: 67
Last seen: 9 months, 21 days
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Re: Laminar Flow Hood (w/ pic) [Re: makaveli8x8]
#7880930 - 01/14/08 10:56 PM (11 months, 19 days ago) |
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Yea, RR suggested the flame trick, as I've read in many places before. I don't have any incense handy, which may work better. So far I'm trying to keep it under 5ams as now things have leveled down to 4.7-4.8 on each motor. I'll keep this up to make sure no burned switches this time around. If I can keep a steady 5 on each one, and the flow is great, I'm hoping, im ok.
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RRVideo
Registered: 05/18/07
Posts: 106
Loc: Wilderness cabin
Last seen: 26 days, 3 hours
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Are you sure you're not reading five amps between both motors? I doubt seriously the motors are each pulling over their rated full load amps. Did you get rid of all those overheated connections?
RR
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http://www.mushroomvideos.com
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ZeropointMind
Stranger
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Last seen: 9 months, 21 days
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Re: Laminar Flow Hood (w/ pic) [Re: RRVideo]
#7881136 - 01/14/08 11:38 PM (11 months, 19 days ago) |
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I got rid of the over heated connectors and added new 12 awg wiring at the switch plate. I reached into the hood and went to motor 1. Motor one has a brown, brown/white stripe, black, and solid white wires, as does motor two. I turned down the speed adjusters on both motors and turned the unit on. I put the meter over the white wire coming from the motor and received a reading of 4.3 and I attached the meter to the white wire on motor 2 and got a reading of 4.7, then tried the black wire on motor 2 and rec'd an amp of 5.6. the black wire on motor 1 was about 4.9 then leveled at about 5.0. The black wire on motor two finally decreased its amps to 5.2. I had the speed adjuster low on both motors.
I checked the wires at the switch plate, the black and the red.. They read 10.2.. so 5 for each motor and that .2 difference on motor 2.
50 mins into this whole test, motor two fails again.. I repeated this test over and over, only to receive the same result every time. The wire connecters have been changed, 12 AWG wiring has been connected to those connecters. There is no more heat coming from that switch, so that part is good. Thanks to everyones help, I seem to be moving in the right direction. Would the capacitor on the second motor have anything to do with this? A possibility of it being bad? What I'm assuming is, if I can't figure this out, I will have to do what was suggested earlier, gut the whole thing... run my own wire, and have two separate switches. I've never done that before, so this is a step into the unknown, which is a learning experience...
The flame test worked out great while I had things going....on a positive note..
Edited by ZeropointMind (01/15/08 03:12 AM)
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RogerRabbit
Bans for Pleasure
Registered: 03/26/03
Posts: 19,047
Loc: USA Mountain Northwest
Last seen: 1 hour, 42 minutes
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Normally, white is neutral, black is hot, and the browns go to the capacitor. I could easily fix it if you were near me. You'll just have to use a voltmeter to find out where motor two is losing its supply. It could be an internal overtemp device. What is the current at full speed? Full speed is where you want to be running it during your tests. Don't run any motor for an extended time at very low speed. That might be the problem.
After failure, is motor 2 noticeably hotter to the touch than the other one? Capacitors are cheap. I'd replace them both at this point just to eliminate that as a possibility.
RR
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www.mushroomvideos.com
Ignorance is contagious. Boycott Walmart and watch your IQ go up.
RR
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Hotnuts
old hand
Registered: 02/26/05
Posts: 2,813
Loc: Wild Blue Yawnder
Last seen: 9 hours, 58 minutes
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Re: Laminar Flow Hood (w/ pic) [Re: RogerRabbit]
#7882732 - 01/15/08 11:02 AM (11 months, 18 days ago) |
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While you're doing all this work, you may as well service the bearings of the blower. I doubt they're sealed. The bearings in a/c blowers need to be serviced every other year or so. They may be getting hot on you. The blower should state something on it about needing to be serviced if it doesn't have sealed bearings.
Edited by Hotnuts (01/15/08 11:16 AM)
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Hotnuts
old hand
Registered: 02/26/05
Posts: 2,813
Loc: Wild Blue Yawnder
Last seen: 9 hours, 58 minutes
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Re: Laminar Flow Hood (w/ pic) [Re: Hotnuts]
#7882925 - 01/15/08 11:29 AM (11 months, 18 days ago) |
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Nevermind. They look sealed to me. You'll know if you see little red caps on the bearings for dropping in oil.
Good luck none the less. This must be annoying for sure.
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ZeropointMind
Stranger
Registered: 08/28/05
Posts: 67
Last seen: 9 months, 21 days
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Re: Laminar Flow Hood (w/ pic) [Re: RogerRabbit]
#7886139 - 01/15/08 09:42 PM (11 months, 18 days ago) |
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I just got home. Didn't bother to turn that hood on today. I'll go fire it up now, and get back to you with the details. I'll be ordering those capacitors tomorrow.
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fastfred
Registered: 05/17/04
Posts: 4,417
Loc: Dark side of the moon
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Re: Laminar Flow Hood (w/ pic) [Re: Hotnuts]
#7886288 - 01/15/08 10:09 PM (11 months, 18 days ago) |
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I'd try switching the capacitors. Also get a full speed reading, low speed readings don't really mean much. I'd also replace all the wiring that you can on the units. Wire is cheap.
Like RR said, it could be a problematic thermistor in the motor. It could just be bent and touching a hot component that it's not supposed to. A melted thermistor can also cause it to fail at lower temps.
How hot is the motor actually getting?
-FF
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ZeropointMind
Stranger
Registered: 08/28/05
Posts: 67
Last seen: 9 months, 21 days
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Re: Laminar Flow Hood (w/ pic) [Re: RogerRabbit]
#7888439 - 01/16/08 02:31 PM (11 months, 17 days ago) |
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both motors are hot to the touch, a sting to the skin after 3 seconds of touch. But both motors seem to be the same temp. I had the motor up mid way on the speed dial, and amps started off at 6.8 then before shut off, amps were at 5.7. Never dropped to 5amps... This overtemp sensor you guys speak of, can it be changed? Where is it?
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makaveli8x8
Stranger
Registered: 02/28/06
Posts: 7,033
Last seen: 23 hours, 48 seconds
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im going to go out on a limb here and say you need to take the motors out, and rewire without any switches, and replace anything and everything you can.
also turn the fan part by hand and make sure it turns smooth
--------------------
We were sent to hell for eternity Øh®
We play on earth to pass the time
Over-population the root of all Evil-brings the Elites Closer to the gates.
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ZeropointMind
Stranger
Registered: 08/28/05
Posts: 67
Last seen: 9 months, 21 days
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Re: Laminar Flow Hood (w/ pic) [Re: makaveli8x8]
#7889334 - 01/16/08 05:43 PM (11 months, 17 days ago) |
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yes, I've been suggested that.. just gut the whole thing.... I finally found someone local who can do that for me. New wiring, everything, then we'll see what happens.... And yes, this is def. an annoying situation, but also a learning experience.
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makaveli8x8
Stranger
Registered: 02/28/06
Posts: 7,033
Last seen: 23 hours, 48 seconds
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hmm i have a question, earlier you stated you did the flame test and it worked perfect...where on your dial was it again? like halfway or? and did you see how many amps at full speed?
--------------------
We were sent to hell for eternity Øh®
We play on earth to pass the time
Over-population the root of all Evil-brings the Elites Closer to the gates.
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ZeropointMind
Stranger
Registered: 08/28/05
Posts: 67
Last seen: 9 months, 21 days
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Re: Laminar Flow Hood (w/ pic) [Re: makaveli8x8]
#7889624 - 01/16/08 06:41 PM (11 months, 17 days ago) |
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When I did the flame test, it was a little less than halfway on that dial mark... The amps on that second motor were at 6.8, then moved down to 5.7 before it eventually shut off after 45 or so mins of runtime... when i did the flame test.. i was getting about 5amps, at a lower speed than at that amp test speed.
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RogerRabbit
Bans for Pleasure
Registered: 03/26/03
Posts: 19,047
Loc: USA Mountain Northwest
Last seen: 1 hour, 42 minutes
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It shouldn't be pulling more than the rated full load amps. Did you replace the burned connectors on the switches? Definitely replace the capacitor. It might be stuck in start mode.
RR
--------------------
www.mushroomvideos.com
Ignorance is contagious. Boycott Walmart and watch your IQ go up.
RR
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orchidfanatic
retiree
Registered: 08/12/07
Posts: 832
Loc: where the wild things are
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Re: Laminar Flow Hood (w/ pic) [Re: RogerRabbit]
#7900675 - 01/19/08 07:43 AM (11 months, 14 days ago) |
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I had a question on my speed controller if anyone doesnt mind me putting it here since its on topic.. the speed controller is put inline on the hot (black) wire does this put resistance to drop voltage or does it change the phase? this is the greenhouse fan controller from the website
RR suggested ..
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