Fan Motor

Electricity voltage and phase
A common economical combination of electricity voltage and phase for a motor is 460 volts and 3 phase current. That means that the initial motor cost is the lowest and the operating power consumption is also the lowest. If a customer does not have 3 phase electricity available, then we will recommend fans that require motors under 3 horsepower. Single phase motors over 3 horsepower are more expense, have a larger frame, and will consume significantly more power.

Motor slip
All ac motors have a slip factor that lowers their actual speed in the range of 1% to 5% from their rated or synchronous speed. The slip factor depends on the speed and horsepower of the motor. For example, a 5 hp, 1800 rpm rated motor actual operates at 1740 rpm while a ½ hp, 1800 rpm rated motor actual operates at 1725 rpm. This can lead to some confusion because motor and fan manufactures are not consistent with using either the actual or rated speed in their specifications.

Motor speed
The higher the motor speed, the lower the cost, the smaller the frame size and the lower the weight. That means that when fan noise is not an issue, a 3600 rpm motor is preferred over an 1800 rpm motor and an 1800 rpm motor is preferred over a 1200 rpm motor.

Motor speed part two
The old way of controlling motor speed was to build the motor with a two speed capability. Now, the cheaper and preferred way of controlling motor speed is to use a variable frequency drive. However, it is important to select a motor is vfd ready.

Service factor
Motors are designed with a service factor that will allow the motor to operate above its rated horsepower. For example, a 5 hp motor with a 15% service factor can operate up to a load of 5.75 hp. It may be tempting to think about saving money and selecting a motor that will continuously operate in the service factor versus going to the next motor size up. We don’t recommend it because it will be costly in the long run for two reasons. First, a motor that is operating in the service factor has gone beyond its peak efficiency point and is now consuming more electricity that it converts to heat instead of to horsepower. Second, that excessive heat will shorten the motor life and cause the motor to prematurely fail. Replacing the motor in a fan located on the roof or high on a wall is exponentially more costly than investing a larger motor.

A motor is a device that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy (kinetic energy), that is, after the power is turned on, there will be parts in the device that move, generally rotating. Like electric fans, the heat dissipation part of the computer, the heat dissipation part of the air conditioner and the refrigerator, the motor in the battery car and the car (for the time being, it is considered as a household appliance) all contain a motor to generate electricity.

Electric fan
The electric fan is a kind of motor that drives the fan blades to rotate, which accelerates the flow of air, improves the heat exchange conditions between the human body and the surrounding air, and achieves the purpose of ventilation and cooling. Household electric fans can be divided into table fans, ceiling fans, ventilation fans, and page-turning fans according to their structure. In recent years, air-conditioning fans (ie, cooling fans) have appeared. Moreover, many electric fans apply electronic technology and microcomputer technology to develop in the direction of multi-function, comfort and high-end, but their main power - motor is basically the same.

Motors for table and ceiling fans
Most of the motors used in table fans use single-phase capacitors to run motors, and the input power is 32 to 85w. In order to reduce costs, single-phase shaded-pole asynchronous motors are also used for desk fans with smaller blade diameters. In order to meet the requirements of people's comfort, the motor adopts reactors, winding shaft heads and electronic circuits to regulate the speed. The motor for the ceiling fan adopts a single-phase capacitor running motor, a fully enclosed outer rotor structure, and the input power is 75-100w. The number of poles of this motor is 14, 16 or 18, etc., and the speed is slow to achieve safety purposes. The motor adopts a reactor with multiple taps and a transfer switch for speed regulation.

Motor for page turning fan
The fan of the page turning fan is generally driven by a single-phase capacitor running motor, which is usually adjusted with a winding tap. The louvered guide wheel (that is, the grille) in front of the fan blade of the page turning fan uses the rotation of the wind guide wheel to change the wind direction and the wind force in all directions. The wind guide wheel is driven by a single-phase permanent magnet synchronous motor after deceleration.

Motors for air conditioning fans (cooling fans)
This type of fan blows cooler air than normal fans. Its principle is that the single-phase shaded-pole asynchronous motor or the single-phase permanent magnet synchronous motor drives the water (or ice water) curtain to move up and down slowly and roll, and the single-phase capacitor runs the motor to drive the fan to blow out the air with a certain humidity around the water curtain. This cold wind makes people comfortable in the great heat. The drier and hotter the climate, the more obvious the effect of blowing out cold air, because of the certain humidity and the effect of purifying the air.

Motor for heater
The air heater is also called the hot air heater. When working, the indoor cold air is sucked in by the back of the fan and blown out after being heated by the electric heating element to achieve the purpose of heating. Fan motors are mostly single-phase shaded-pole stepper motors, generally rated at 25-40w. Some heaters install a single-phase permanent magnet synchronous motor with a reducer at the bottom, so that the heater can reciprocate left and right (rotation angle 80°~90°), which is suitable for multiple people or large-scale heating.