DC motor mod for insert blower

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Anyone ever swap out the AC motor on their blower to a DC one?

I'm curious because doing so would accomplish a couple of things- first, make it easier to install a battery backup for short periods, second, I believe it would make the blower more energy efficient.

Then I'd have to figure out an adapter to move the electricity from the AC to DC at the outlet. I think that part would be easy.

 

[armanidog]

You could convert DC to AC so you would not have to mess with changing the fan. Depends on how many watts the fan pulls as to how expensive it would be.
Lowe's has a 900 watt inverter for $65.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Power-Brig...jJ87SfV0vaHcqclSl45UfDksBuQMs7ChoCAckQAvD_BwE

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

You could convert DC to AC so you would not have to mess with changing the fan. Depends on how many watts the fan pulls as to how expensive it would be.
Lowe's has a 900 watt inverter for $65.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Power-Brig...jJ87SfV0vaHcqclSl45UfDksBuQMs7ChoCAckQAvD_BwE

I've given that some thought as well.

If I can get my daily wattage use down, and use an AC to DC adapter, which is much cheaper and smaller than an inverter, I'd prefer that. The blower runs 24/7 for probably 6 months every year (equivalent).

 

[esscontracting]

I know Delta makes a DC exhaust fans for bathrooms. They are a lot quieter and supposedly more efficient

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[allan5oh]

Computer fans! 12v and you can pwm them.

 

[begreen]

Just remember that plastic is considered a combustible.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Computer fans! 12v and you can pwm them.

Pwm?

 

[begreen]

Pulse width modulation - for speed control.

 

[RobbieB]

I just tested my battery / inverter combo on my Osburn 1100. 300 watt pure sine inverter and a Powersonic 35 AH, sealed AGM battery. At high speed the amp draw from the battery was 6.2A and low was 3.5. Where I usually operate was about 5A.

So I should be good for a 4 hour outage which will be enough for the stove to burn out.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Got to thinking about this again because a particularly long start up off the snap switch had me thinking it was toast.

It eventually started again, so I'm not gonna operate on a healthy patient. If it does die, I'll revisit this in earnest.

Until then, I'll not use up too much of this limited mental bandwidth figuring out things like pulse width modulation, which I'd likely forget if I don't use it right away.

Always remaining curious, though. And I do think a DC motor with an adapter would be either great standard equipment, or at least an option.

 

[jetsam]

Anyone ever swap out the AC motor on their blower to a DC one?

I'm curious because doing so would accomplish a couple of things- first, make it easier to install a battery backup for short periods, second, I believe it would make the blower more energy efficient.

Then I'd have to figure out an adapter to move the electricity from the AC to DC at the outlet. I think that part would be easy.

The efficiency part is debatable. Even if you get a more efficient DC motor, you've still got the efficiency of your rectifier to factor in. You'll probably wind up with a transformer+half wave rectifier style 'wall wart', and those are pretty inefficient.

If you want the fan to automatically run during an outage, you can put it on a UPS. Size it to run 8+ hours so it'll be ok it's a long time before you can put the generator on (power goes out while you're at work, for example). (This is making the existing fan a very tiny bit less efficient daily, and maybe ~25% less efficient during an outage.)

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

The efficiency part is debatable. Even if you get a more efficient DC motor, you've still got the efficiency of your rectifier to factor in. You'll probably wind up with a transformer+half wave rectifier style 'wall wart', and those are pretty inefficient.

If you want the fan to automatically run during an outage, you can put it on a UPS. Size it to run 8+ hours so it'll be ok it's a long time before you can put the generator on (power goes out while you're at work, for example). (This is making the existing fan a very tiny bit less efficient daily, and maybe ~25% less efficient during an outage.)

Sounds like you have some good knowledge about electronics. Before reading your post, I always thought a rectifier was just a synonym for proctologist. I'm definitely out of my depth on this one.

 

[jetsam]

In the cheapest version of an AC/DC converter, first a transformer lowers the voltage, which is not as efficient as possible. Then a half-wave rectifier (aka one power diode) cuts off half of the AC waveform. Maybe a capacitor to smooth out the other half, and you have yourself a cheap awful DC power supply. There are much better ways to do it, but when you buy a wall wart, assume that this is what you're getting. (This is, happily, becoming less and less true over time as solid state becomes cheaperthan copper transformers.)

 

[allan5oh]

Why not do some seebeck effect generators? Not sure how mant you would need or if it would be cost effective.

But your stove would be completely off grid.

 

[jetsam]

Why not do some seebeck effect generators? Not sure how mant you would need or if it would be cost effective.

But your stove would be completely off grid.

A 100W Devil Watt (which has built in fans and inverter) costs more than a lot of stoves. DIY solutions are much cheaper but there are significant engineering challenges that have been overcome in the commercial products.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Why not do some seebeck effect generators? Not sure how mant you would need or if it would be cost effective.

But your stove would be completely off grid.

Love this idea. High tech self contained wood stoves with blower.

 

[allan5oh]

http://www.instructables.com/id/Temperature-Control-With-Arduino-and-PWM-Fans/

Control the fans with this.

 

[SuperJ]

How about going this route?
https://www.practicalpreppers.com/power-solutions/thermoelectric-generators

 

[Mike M.]

Consider brush maintenance if you go to DC. The AC fan/motor is likely more efficient than a DC solution.

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[ckr74]

Consider brush maintenance if you go to DC. The AC fan/motor is likely more efficient than a DC solution.

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Muffin fans are most likely brushless. DC will be as efficient as AC if not a little better.