Fan keeps shorting out electricity??

[canidoit]

I made an isolation box and use a 240 volts fan like this one below connected to a dimmer so I can adjust the fan speed incase I want it to be quiet when I am recording:

I have just found out that the fan triggers the circuit breaker in the house every now and then. I am a little confused as to why it happens when the fan only uses 19 watts of power and also it varies how it triggers the circuit breaker.

eg.
- All my equipment could be on and running ok for a few hours, then all of a sudden it would trip the circuit breaker or;
- I turn my equipment on, one by one, then when it gets to the fan, the circuit breaker would trip

I know its the fan that is triggering it because when I hook up the fan to a different line of the house, the problem goes away. I do not want to use a different line, because I have to use a long extension lead that would run across the studio and house and can make people trip.

Is there a way to keep the fan in the same line, maybe make some form of simple mod? I am thinking maybe its when I turn it on and that start up of the fan is causing the problem or maybe the way I have used the fan using a dimmer causes the line to act up?

I am considering switching the fan to a 12 volt fan and use a 12 volt power adaptor, because using a power adaptor on the same line doesnt seem to cause issues but I am concerned that I will loose my fan speed ability.

Does anyone know if the dimmer you use for lights, can be used in a 12 volt system than 240 volts?

 

[Walrus]

What type of breaker is it? Earth leakage or over current?

 

[canidoit]

What type of breaker is it? Earth leakage or over current?

Its a circuit breaker. How do I know what sort of breaker it is, I thought they only build one type that has both?

It might be an earth leakage problem? How do I diagnose the problem properly?

 

[MagnetoSound]

How do I know what sort of breaker it is ... ?

Post a photo of it so we can tell you? 

 

[JohnRoberts]

There may be something wrong with the fan? 

Wire a 100W incandescent light bulb in series with it, in normal operation it shouldn't affect it, if the fan tries to draw large current the light bulb will light up and  limit that. 

JR

 

[gyraf]

the problem could be dimmer+motor: dimmers are mostly made for non-inductive stuff like lamps, could probably make some short-spikes when dimmed that could annoy/upset inductivity in fan (guesswork..)

However, I've had all sorts of noise problems with dimmers i studio environment. For light we now only use variacs.

For fans, it's simple enough to mount a capacitor in series (polyester@mains voltage) - try out a few to find a value that makes sense (I use something like 1u-1.5u-2u2, but forgot for now what wattage fan it's for). If different low-speeds are needed, switch between different series caps.

Jakob E.

 

[leadbreath]

u shouldnt use a dimmer for fans get a dedicated fan speed controller.

 

[canidoit]

u shouldnt use a dimmer for fans get a dedicated fan speed controller.

Hmm.... maybe I am not using a dimmer controller? I can't remember what I asked for when I bought it.

It looks like this but without the markings at the knob.

I only set the knob to maximum. I am too paranoid that my computer will overheat so I have never moved it from maximum.

Thanks guys for the options on what to do.

 

[gemini86]

It's probably a triac, not meant for inductive loads.

 

[wkrbee]

Get a 12 volt D.C. fan and run it from a wall wart.If it is too noisy,stick a 7809 regulator circuit on the output of the 12vdc adapter and run the fan @ 9vdc.

 

[Andy Peters]

Get a 12 volt D.C. fan and run it from a wall wart.If it is too noisy,stick a 7809 regulator circuit on the output of the 12vdc adapter and run the fan @ 9vdc.

Hah, even better: get the 12VDC fan, and get a Microchip TC651 fan controller with built-in temperature sensor. The fan turns on only when it's needed.

-a

 

[wkrbee]

The PDF of the TC 651 states a maximum output of 6VDC...

 

[12volts]

The fan is not really a variable speed job. It is a basic induction motor and the only way to change the speed
is to vary the mains frequency. A dimmer doesn't do that. No wonder you have problems with the mains. As already suggested
use a DC fan and separate controller.


Frank B.