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Electric Blower control? (coal forge)
- Thread starter Trick
- Start date
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2000
- Messages
- 1,494
If your blower has a universal brush type motor then one of those router speed controls will work fine on it. It might be easier (and regardless of motor type) to just install a flap on the blower intake (such as Don Fogg does here) or install some type of valve down line from the blower.
Regards,
Greg
Universal motors (copied from here.):
What motors can be controlled?
Virtually all power tools and small appliances use so-called "universal" motors. These are "series wound" motors with a commutator and brushes. The "series wound" term refers to the fact that the motor armature and field windings are connected in series and this allows the motor to be run from AC or DC, ie, "universal".
Induction motors must not be used with this speed controller. So how do you make sure that your appliance is a universal motor and not an induction motor?
In many power tools you can easily determine that the motor has brushes and a commutator - you can see sparking from the brushes and that settles the matter. But if you can't see the brushes, you can also get a clue from the nameplate or the instruction booklet.
So how do you identify an induction motor? Most induction motors used in domestic appliances (eg, washing machines, fridges, water blasters, swimming pool pumps) will be 2-pole or 4-pole and always operate at a fixed speed. Typically this is 2850 RPM for a 2-pole unit or 1440 RPM for a 4-pole unit. Bench grinders typically use 2-pole induction motors.
Regards,
Greg
Universal motors (copied from here.):
What motors can be controlled?
Virtually all power tools and small appliances use so-called "universal" motors. These are "series wound" motors with a commutator and brushes. The "series wound" term refers to the fact that the motor armature and field windings are connected in series and this allows the motor to be run from AC or DC, ie, "universal".
Induction motors must not be used with this speed controller. So how do you make sure that your appliance is a universal motor and not an induction motor?
In many power tools you can easily determine that the motor has brushes and a commutator - you can see sparking from the brushes and that settles the matter. But if you can't see the brushes, you can also get a clue from the nameplate or the instruction booklet.
So how do you identify an induction motor? Most induction motors used in domestic appliances (eg, washing machines, fridges, water blasters, swimming pool pumps) will be 2-pole or 4-pole and always operate at a fixed speed. Typically this is 2850 RPM for a 2-pole unit or 1440 RPM for a 4-pole unit. Bench grinders typically use 2-pole induction motors.
- Joined
- Mar 18, 1999
- Messages
- 2,114
The cheapest, most down and dirty way to do this is to use a damper. A simple "butterfly" valve works fine. You can use a "lawnmower" type speed control as the mechanism to open and close it. No use to get fancy on a blower motor. (This is coal forge we are discussion. On my gas forge I use a gate valve.)
A simple butterfly valve is what industry uses on industrial forge and HT furnaces to control air.
Craig
A simple butterfly valve is what industry uses on industrial forge and HT furnaces to control air.
Craig