Tales from a Ventilation Lunatic

[GypsyDogs]

Having dogs, I feel your 'pain' with hair/debris

Friend gave us a food dryer.. and I wanted to filter the incoming air.. turns out, cheapo dollar store green scrubby pads make handy (and if necessary disposable) multi purpose filters.

[sternwake]

Despite the true furball nature of a sheepdog, Fiona does not really shed all that much hair, just grows it fast.

She is in need of a clipping, but my clippers committed suicide that last time I clipped her in December.

Noctua wants a screenshot of my order, the lot number, and my address to send me a replacement fan.

I had not thought of the green scrubbies as a filter. I've just been vaccuuming the exterior of my carbon filter once I notice the sides sucking in at higher speeds. That takes about 12 to 14 days.

I do not know how much air a de humidifier pulls in, but consider increasing the surface area of your filter to reduce restriction.

[sternwake]

Noctua says to expect the  replacement fan delivery  in 5 to 8 working days, and that if my other industrial  fan, which also spins up backwards on powerup, sometimes, keeps doing it, they would like to inspect it. They said I do nto need to return the failed fan, or what remains of it.




Here is what appears, to me, to be the overheated microprocessor that lost its ability to contain the magic smoke:



I have to give credit to a company that did not just deny any warranty coverage because I did not send them the failed fan. If I did sent it to them they would have seen I opened hte wiring loom to put a switch inline, and could have denied any warranty on that alone. I pretty much had to nip away at the center hub with side cut nippers just to see the CB, and I figured why not take pics and Email Noctua with them.

I am fairly confident that the processor overheated and failed, not sure the pics can relate that to their engineers, but it is nice that at lease some 'protocol' can be sidestepped to save time and effort on both ends.

[S Cello]

Here comes dumb question number 1:

Why does a little fan need a microprocessor? Does the fan do fancy things?

[CosmicVanna]

Here comes dumb question number 1:

Why does a little fan need a microprocessor?  Does the fan do fancy things?

microprocessor in controller provides pulses which drives the servo motor to turn the fan, also controls the speed. If temp controlled like in the Fantastic Fan, the circuit is microprocessor controlled via a thermostat sensor to control the fan's on or off. 
Old style fan motors were simple motors with voltage dividers to control the voltage hence the High Low Off speed switches, usually a rotary potentiometer. Some inexpensive plastic clip on fans have a slide position resistive switch to give different voltages for speed control. 
In a nutshell.

[sternwake]

The New Fan arrived today From Austria. I installed it with no switch, other than the Noctua speed controller. Both fans on or off, unless i disconnect The connector, or pull the fuse I installed in place of the failed switch on the older Noctua.

The Older fan I had used in its place for the last week, draws more than both NOctua's on highest speed and moves less air than one of them.

I measured the Noctua's amp draw at the very slowest possible speed. 0.02 amps, but I believe it is closer to 0.0017. They barely move any air at whatever rpm they spin at with the dial all the way down.

[sternwake]

Well the other NoctuaIndustrial fan from the original order has also failed. It has the same lot number as the original failed fan.

i checked all possible failure points (connections), before probing the solder joints on teh circuit board where the wires enter, and found 13.23v.

I added to the Email conversation I had back in April when the first fan failed and will await his response.

Back in April, he said the firing up backwards has not been something repeatable, yet the fan they sent as a replacement, just fired up in reverse 6 times out of 15.

i gave them the lot number of this fan, and this info. We'll see what they say and do.

I am more than a little bummed about this. I expect they will send me another warranty replacement but I cannot have nearly as much faith in their quality and reliability from here on out.

My regular 120mm backup fan is now employed in a different removeable shroud i put in my passenger side window over Fiona's perch, so I have lost some ability to exchange the air in my van.

i do have the 120Mm screaming banshee, but that fan is insane. Somewhere, I have another 120MM fan in hiding, but it remained hidden the last time I made an effort to find it.

[Matlock]

Back in April, he said the firing up backwards has not been something repeatable, yet the fan they sent as a replacement, just fired up in reverse 6 times out of 15.

i gave them the lot number of this fan, and this info.  We'll see what they say and do.

 "not repeatable"..... Well, I've got one that moon-walks on the 3rd or 4th power-up, repeatedly. I just switch it off and on again or turn the fan box around so it sucks out instead of blowing in. The Noctua speed controller isn't adjusted at all in my use. I keep it on a medium speed to exhaust my Indel fridge heat. Still not wired into a thermo control, for now, fridge gets sporadic use anyway.

[Blanch]

Well ......Somewhere, I have another 120MM fan in hiding, but it remained hidden the last time I made an effort to find it.

I don’t understand how I can live in 250 square feet and lose things, yet it happens all the time.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sternwake]

Well, I am still holding onto a storage unit, that I need to get rid of.

I was in there yesterday, I found the fan.

Matlock are you saying your fan will continue to spin backwards? mine usually makes that pulsing sound for a few seconds, then stops and waits for the impeller to stop spinning, then tries again.

When mine spins backwards it is slow enough that it cannot move much air, and of course the impeller blades are not designed to be reversible.

One time I returned from shopping and saw the one fan which just failed, continuously spinning backwards. I stopped it and it failed to restart. I checked all connections while the shroud was still mounted, no go, then I removed the screws which hold shroud to window and tilted it forward and the fan spun up and worked properly for another 3 months.

I expect a Austrian AM monday response and will bring up the fact that someone to whom I recommended their fan to is also having issues with it firing up in reverse. How long it will spin in reverse and how often it does this would be extra info to relate.