Am thinking that I should “detune” my furnace-it comes on infrequently, and with high blower force. Have installed a smaller nozzle, how do I slow down a direct-drive fan?
Thanks, Jon
Am thinking that I should “detune” my furnace-it comes on infrequently, and with high blower force. Have installed a smaller nozzle, how do I slow down a direct-drive fan?
Thanks, Jon
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Replies
The only things I can think of would be to decrease the voltage to the fan or to replace the fan motor with something smaller. Don't know how feasible either of those are.
look into variable speed DC motors, conversions are available, we even have rebates here, makes AC allot more economical as well ..
COOOL.....umm where is here?"
sorry, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, the Great White North ..
yeah, I seen that on a map, ooooh, who provides the rebates?"
I believe it was our gas company, possibly hydro, sorry I can't remember ..
that seems strange , a rebate from hydro,
I mean..the prime mover is waterbut I like the idea of a DC drive"
sorry everyone, I can't remember who the rebate was from, I couldn't find any of the reciepts, and the net only produced an Alberta Gov't rebate ..
here is a link to the Rebate Page
http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/residential/personal/index.cfm?text=N&printview=N
Honestly, if these are the only things that you could think of, you should have waited for someone that has knowledge of these things to offer some real advice.
I don't think anyone was harmed by my post (other than my revealing my lack of knowledge on the subject).
I didn't prevent any information from being relayed...
>>I don't think anyone was harmed by my post (other than my revealing my lack of knowledge on the subject).Other than, perhaps, yourself.I think what Tim was saying is that these things are a lot more complicated than you seem to know, and while you might attain one immediate goal, you're likely to screw other things up without being aware of what youy're doing.
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Sojourners: Christians for Justice and Peace
maybe try restricting some of the flow at some of the returns
Ditto. See the previous post.
....what Soultrain said"
Actually your was worse than the other one, because it could easily be done. Simply restrictng the return would be the equivalent of controlling you speed while driving by holding down the throttle and then just stepping on the brakes to regulate how fast you go. Idiotic.
Unless you just need typing practice or have time to kill, why bother offering "advice" on something you obviously are clueless about. Was any harm done? Only if someone in real need of advice made the mistake of paying attention.
...as a matter of fact,.....I do have time to kill, and it's hard for me to fathom the gravity of my "advice",What is even funnier is that my post of ALL of the posts here is certainly the most "idiotic" I'm sorry that could not see past the comment to see that it was mere folly.on the other hand , advising someone to rewire his furnace, is to me a bit more irresponsible .....The poster may be capable of that ,but who knows ?"
>>...as a matter of fact,.....I do have time to kill, and it's hard for me to fathom the gravity of my "advice",It will screw up the furnace.
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Sojourners: Christians for Justice and Peace
Edited 10/9/2005 10:08 pm ET by rjw
Another self annointed BT Moderator has arrived.
You in charge permanently, or just this week?
Joe H
Anyone who believes anything they read online is a fool. Lots of bad advice is given out, and it's up to the reader to separate the good from the bad. Unless someone is distributing bad advice on purpose, there's no need to "police" it, other than to simply point out its badness.
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No electrons were harmed in the making of this post.
We've had this conversation before and if this is good enough justification for the "advice" you spew, so be it.
I think that those who have solid knowledge on a subject and take time to intellegently respond to questions and provide some useful response to a question or problem, owe some level of self reveiw to the forum. It is not policing or moderating, just keeping the integrity up a little.Those who consistently offer solid advice, seldom criticize the KIA BS'ers even when its blatant BS. They keep their posts informative and positive. For instance, I have never seen a post by Dave Thomas that is critical of someone else's bad advice, though I'm sure this is only because he resists the urge on a regular basis. I wish that more of the truly knowlegdeable people would flag the BS when possible and dispell more of the bad advice. I, unfortunatley or not, have less tolerance and appearantly, less decorum. Oh, well, my bad.
However, IF, as you assert, it is up to the reader to sort the good from the bad, the what good is the forum?
I'm sorry -- what bad advice did I "spew"?? Seriously.--------------
No electrons were harmed in the making of this post.
LOL, DanH and Tim. I know I'm going to sound bad but both of you need to lighten up.
Fan speed is altered to control temp rise, not drafts.
A lot of furnaces now have only 2 taps. Colours of wires vary between manufacturers.
OK, back to the sandbox.
Edited 10/10/2005 12:08 pm ET by rich1
Point well taken, enough important things to worry about, and this ain't one of 'em.
Gotta go with rich1 on this one. Maybe some other time.
I'm gonna take the air filters out of mine and see what that sucker can really do.Birth, school, work, death.....................
Take off all these extraneous pipes and vents, too, and see how much better it works.
Take off all these extraneous pipes and vents, too, and see how much better it works.
I'm way ahead of ya. It sounds sweet, too. Gonna run it down to the malt shop and watch the jaws drop.Birth, school, work, death.....................
must be that time of the month
thats the third post ive read tonight where someone thinks they know everything and get thier panties in a twist
tim you must be a lot of fun to be aroundDue to recent budget cuts the light at the end of the tunnel will be turned off until further notice.
When folks give dangerous advice, I have found that it's hard for knowledgeable people like Tim to stay quiet.And there has been some remarkably uninformed ideas expressed in this thread.I know just enough about HVAC to recognize people who know their stuff and people who don't.God save us from those who don't and don't have a hint that they don't and so give bad advice.Fun to be around? A fraternity brother of mine was the life of the party. He barely graduated as an engineer and went to work for PennDOT.Ever wonder why PA's highways suck?
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Sojourners: Christians for Justice and Peace
If the unit is a combo AC/furnace then likely the fan is a multispeed or variable speed unit. The variable speed units use an electronic module to control speed, but the multispeed units just use multiple windings in the motor. A relay controls which winding is selected based on running AC vs furnace (AC is faster).
If you're not getting a variation in speed when switching between AC and furnace, you may have a malfunction of the electronic module or speed selection relay.
Generally, the fan is slowed down for heating to reduce draftiness. However, the furnace is generally slightly more efficient with the fan running faster (though this effect can be easily negated with leaky ductwork running outside the conditioned space).
>>Am thinking that I should "detune" my furnace-it comes on infrequently, and with high blower force. Have installed a smaller nozzle, how do I slow down a direct-drive fan?
Oil fired?
First thing to do is measure the temperature rise between the return air and the supply air. There should be a acceptable range on the manufacturer's plate.
Also, check the anticipator setting on your thermostat.
I don't work much with oil burners, but suspect there is a relationship between nozzle size, flame size, and efficiency.
Changing the size or temp of the flame, or the air speed, or static pressures, etc can have several consequences on combustion efficiency, carbon monoxide production, stresses within the unit, etc.
You really should have god tune up by a heating contractor who uses a combustion analyzer.
There are four "taps" where the fan is powered from the terminal block in the lower portion of the furnace. The fan motor will have at least 4 wires going to it, some have up to 8.
Disconnect power to the unit (flip the local disconnect or turn off the breaker). Open the bottom section, the part with the blower and motor and see if this is something like what you see. Most furnaces will have a blue wire that powers the fan in the heat mode and a black wire that powers the fan in the cooling mode. Move the blue wire to next lower setting/tap. If the wires are different colors, or none of this makes sense, don't change anything. See if you can get an installation instruction manual for your furnace.
Personally, based on your post, I would recommend that you call a service technician.