Bigger Stove

 
Muss44
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Post by Muss44 » Thu. Dec. 15, 2011 7:19 am

You can not just buy a dimmer switch that is used for lights and use it on a fan, because what it does is limit the amount of electricity going to the lightbulb. If you would put a regular light dimmer switch on a fan eventually it will burn up because it is only getting a fraction of the electricity it needs to spin. They make dimmers for fans. There are usaully 3 or 4 position which actually change the speed, not the juice going to it.

 
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oliver power
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Post by oliver power » Thu. Dec. 15, 2011 7:26 am

lowfog01 wrote:Hi guys,

This is off topic, kind of. I was thinking about the two speed stove fan and got to wondering if a dimmer switch - like you see for dimming dinning room lights - could be used to give my fan some speed control. Do they even have out lets with dimmer switches? I have one in my dinning room for the overhead light but this would be something to plug my fan into. Any thoughts anyone has would be appreciated. Lisa
Kind of the same thing Lisa. However, you'd want one for a ceiling fan (motor). Or, simply buy one like HITZER uses. A regular light dimmer switch will cause the motor to hum (not made for motors). I find running mine as low as possible is all anyone would need. When I say low, I mean as low as possible, yet not hear motor strain. Oliver

 
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Body Hammer
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Post by Body Hammer » Thu. Dec. 15, 2011 7:56 am

I have the same variable-speed switch that Fred has. I bought it for another stove. My TLC-2000 came with a speed control on it. I would like to think that the engineers at Harman know which motors can except a speed control and which ones can't. I know some exhaust fans like I have in my shop won't use one because they have built in start curcuit to get the fan up to speed then a switch to run mode. But most brush-less motors will accept a speed control. Like ceiling a fan or a blower on a stove. Lowfog, check with an electician to be sure, but I believe the dimmer switch for a light is not considered heavy duty enough for a motor. If anyone wants that speed control send me a PM. First one gets it.

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Thu. Dec. 15, 2011 8:06 am

Exactly BH, mine is definetly heavy duty compared to the couple light dimmer switch's I have in the house.It's called a "dial-a-temp." I suspect it was made for this purpose. Sorry Lisa, I don't remember where I got it, but I suspect at our local elec. supply store--I suggest you GOOGLE it & see what pops up. :)


 
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lowfog01
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Post by lowfog01 » Thu. Dec. 15, 2011 10:42 am

Thanks for all you thoughts, I'm going to go surfing and see what comes up. Thanks again, Lisa

 
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Body Hammer
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Post by Body Hammer » Thu. Dec. 15, 2011 3:00 pm

I got mine from SandHill Wholesale.http://www.sandhillwholesale.com/fans-controllers ... aea0e6f1ea
If that is what you're looking for Lisa, then look no further. I have one for free. PM me.

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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Thu. Dec. 15, 2011 3:38 pm

Ah man, your's is so nice & purty. ;)

 
Vinmaker
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Post by Vinmaker » Thu. Dec. 15, 2011 4:54 pm

That was an awesome link. It had a picture of a thermo control also. I was thinking of putting one on my stove. This one is magnetic and is a plug n' play. I will not have to drill and hardwire the motor and I am able to swap out motors which I plan on doing also.

This forum rocks!!!

Thanks!

Vin.


 
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I'm On Fire
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Post by I'm On Fire » Thu. Dec. 15, 2011 7:30 pm

Body Hammer wrote:I got mine from SandHill Wholesale.http://www.sandhillwholesale.com/fans-controllers ... aea0e6f1ea
If that is what you're looking for Lisa, then look no further. I have one for free. PM me.
I've actually been meaning to pick one of those up, just could never find one locally. Thanks for the link.

 
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McGiever
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Post by McGiever » Thu. Dec. 15, 2011 8:07 pm

If a 6' cord tickles anyone's fancy: Fan Speed Controller w/ 6 foot cord

 
Bear038
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Post by Bear038 » Thu. Dec. 15, 2011 8:38 pm

Jim,

Overall you will be happy with the stove you bought. Get the manometer, so you can fine tune the draw on the fire. Baro may work, or you may need a manual pip damper. Do you like to baby the stove, or do you like to load and forget? Baros seem to do better for those who want more "automatic" operation, and the MPD's are for those who like to run their stoves.

Last year I had a baro on my MKII, and this year I went to the MPD. Performance is way way better this year. Longest low burn this year was 40 hours plus. Heat out put is much greater as my set up sucked large amounts of heat air up the chimney.

One design problem you will find is the lower firebrick in the front. The front of the stove tends to burn out quicker than the rest. There are ways to raise the brick in the front, I raised mine to 7 inches from 5, and now the coal burns out evenly.

 
rberq
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Post by rberq » Thu. Dec. 15, 2011 8:54 pm

lowfog01 wrote:... wondering if a dimmer switch - like you see for dimming dinning room lights - could be used to give my fan some speed control
That's what I use. I made the mistake first of buying a router speed control from a wood-working site. It looked like it had a computer circuit board inside, and it worked very very badly with the fan. Then I bought a simple dimmer switch from Lowes and it works fine. I am careful not to turn it down too far, don't know if that would burn out the fan motor or not if I turned it too low.

I think the 3-speed fan switches work on the same principle as a dimmer switch, it's just that they have detentes to stop at three points so the lowest setting is not TOO low.

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